Genesis, essence and structure of pedagogical technology “Cooperative learning”

The emergence of pedagogical technologies and their mass introduction dates back to the 1960s. Reformation of the American and European schools was provoked by reinterpretation of the learning goals. However, the historical roots of some pedagogical technologies are much older than studies of J. Carroll and D. Bruner – renowned authorities in this area of research. One of these technologies is cooperative learning. Initially recognized as a key component of humanistic pedagogy of J. Dewey, this technology has been further developed in works of many Soviet and foreign scholars. In the 1920s, the works by J. Dewey had a serious impact on the reformation of the Soviet education system, which aimed to educate the entire population of the Soviet Union. However, for some reasons, the gradual introduction of cooperative learning into learning process took a break in the 1930s. Since the late 1990s, a serious pedagogical crisis has emerged in the Russian Federation, which cannot be mended by traditional education system; it encourages many teachers to look at the well-studied pedagogical technologies from a different perspective. Today the social order sets new requirements concerning a major breakthrough in training a person. Teamwork and analytical thinking skills, the ability to lifelong self-education and self-development require fundamental changes in the traditional education system. At the same time, for the successful implementation of pedagogical technology, it is necessary to resolve a number of issues related to the essence of the concept of cooperative learning and the definition of components. Research relevance is indicated, the historical roots and essence of the concept of pedagogical technology of cooperative learning are determined, examples of the practical application of models of this pedagogical technology are exemplified.

pedagogical technology, cooperative learning, activity-based approach, outcomebased approach, motivation, social interdependence theory, generative learning theory