Letter from the Co-president

Dear IASCE Members,

This issue of the IASCE Newsletter---our first for 2003---brings together an extraordinary list of resources and references related to cooperative learning.  What is striking about this compilation is the depth and breadth of voices.  For instance, recently, Elizabeth Cohen, David and Roger Johnson, and Robert Slavin have all published new work in the field.  These contributions represent the continuation of life-long programs of research that have contributed immeasurably to our understanding of the power and potential of cooperation. 

ASCD, the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development, has published a new resource that examines cooperative learning and assessment; this suggests that encouraging effective implementation of cooperative learning continues to be a priority for the organization that first published Circles of Learning more than 20 years ago. 

Indra Odina and Ivy Tan, members of the IASCE Forum, continue the Forum contributions with descriptions of the implementation of cooperative learning in Latvia and Singapore, respectively; these two pieces remind us that cooperative learning is a journey, a theme with many variations, and a song that requires many voices—both old and new—to be well sung and well sustained.

As part of our commitment to cooperative learning, IASCE is delighted to announce that our next international conference will be held in Singapore from June 21st to June 24th, 2004.  IASCE will join with the National Institute of Education (Singapore) to host this event. The 2004 conference will be IASCE’s first on the Asian continent. It coincides with a tremendous growth in cooperative learning and related educational approaches in the world’s most populous continent.

As with our 2002 conference in Manchester, England, IASCE 2004 promises to bring together a fruitful mix of new and old faces, all dedicated to promoting cooperation in education. Further details will be available soon—including a Request for Proposals. Watch out for them on the IASCE website: www.iasce.net. Please mark your calendars and tell your colleagues; we expect this to be a genuinely exciting event.

Special thanks to George Jacobs, our Newsletter Editor.  Please remember to send any abstracts, reviews, or other information for the Newsletter to gmjacobs@pacific.net.sg

As always, we have Joyce Lang and her colleagues at the Maine Support Network www.mainesupportnetwork.org to thank for the layout, printing, and distribution of the Newsletter.

Cooperatively yours,

Lynda

Lynda Baloche
IASCE Co-President