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Letter from the Co-president January 2005 Dear Colleagues: IASCE is pleased to bring you the first Newsletter for 2005. In this issue of our newsletter, we hear from several voices who joined us for our recent conference in Singapore. Thanks to Robyn Gilles and Yael Sharan, we have an interesting description of cooperative learning in Australia; we also have a report on the first JASCE conference. Richard Schmuck and Larry Sherman give us an account of their recent journey to a conference commemorating the work of Kurt Lewin. In Singapore, Dick told us how critical Lewin’s thinking was to the development of cooperation in education; the Poland conference--and Larry, Dick and Pat’s participation--are testimony to the importance of Lewin’s work. Their homage to Lewin--coupled with Robyn Gilles’ reminder that it is important for teachers to understand the theoretical perspectives and research that have informed cooperative learning-- remind us that the work we do has history and tradition, it has research and theory, and it has diverse voices from which we can all learn. As I was reading this newsletter, I noticed repeated references to the importance of well-developed teacher skills and careful teacher planning. It is good to be reminded that there is much more to cooperative learning than just selecting a strategy, putting students into groups, and having them shake hands at the end of the day, and say “good job.” Gilles reminds us that teachers need specifically to teach interpersonal skills to young children; Desbiens and Royer’s work suggests that direct teaching of social skills is also beneficial to students with emotional and behavioral difficulties. Meisinger’s research suggests that teachers need to be very deliberate in the procedural and thinking processes they teach students to use during cooperation. Chiu’s research indicates that teacher interventions do, indeed, have an effect on students during problem-solving; and Xun and Land discuss the role of the teacher in scaffolding problem-solving processes. Thompson and Chapman conclude that, in higher education, the successful implementation of cooperative learning relies upon effective teacher-management skills. Viewed together, the articles and journal abstracts in this issue remind us that teaching is complex and that the potential influence of teachers is both wide and deep. Recently, I’ve been thinking about teachers and teachings that have positively influenced my own life and work. One important influence for me has been the IASCE and the researchers and educators who founded the organization and supported it during its early years. My hope is that you too find the work of IASCE valuable. Please remember to contact George Jacobs about writing for future issues of the Newsletter and please to check the IASCE website for updates, information about conferences, and links to valuable resources and contacts around the world. Cooperatively yours, Lynda
Lynda Baloche
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