Collaboration, creativity and the co-construction of oral and written texts

Abstract

(2008). Collaboration, creativity and the coconstruction of oral and written texts. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 3(3) pp. 177-191. For guidance on citations see FAQs. AbstractIn this paper we explore how primary school children 'learn to collaborate' and 'collaborate to learn' on creative writing projects by using diverse cultural artefacts -including oracy, literacy and ICT. We begin by reviewing some key socio-cultural concepts which serve as a theoretical framework for the research reported. Secondly, we describe the context in which the children talked and worked together to create their projects. This context is a 'learning community' developed as part of an innovative educational programme with the aim of promoting the social construction of knowledge among all participants. We then present microgenetic analyses of the quality of the interaction and dialogues taking place as peers worked together on their projects, and how these collaborative processes and uses of the mediational artefacts were taken up by the children. In order to exemplify these processes, our analyses centre on a selection of examples of dialogues, texts and multimedia products of stories created by groups of 4th grade (9-10 year-old) children. Overall, the work reveals the dynamic functioning in educational settings of some central socio-cultural concepts. These include: co-construction; intertextuality and intercontextuality amongst oracy, literacy and uses of ICT; collaborative creativity; development of dialogical and text production strategies and appropriation of diverse cultural artefacts for knowledge construction.

Possibility thinking: culminative studies of an evidence-based concept driving creativity?

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The importance of dialogic processes to conceptual development in mathematics

“…Coconstruction can be seen in the language used by students while Chris was echoing and talking with Jacob (e.g., lines 24-25, lines 29-30 and lines 37-41). From the extract above, it is evident that two students, for example, took turns, argued their points of view (e.g., lines 8-9 Jacob and line 16 Chris), and reformulated and elaborated on the reasoning (e.g., line 33 Jacob), which Rojas-Drummond, Albarr 'an, and Littleton (2008) suggested as the key features of collaborative talk. The phrase in line 45 "the whole competition is in the second bag" is a new psychological tool that sums up Chris's new insight and enables him to carry it forward (Kozulin, 1998).…”

A Study on Creative Climate in Project-Organized Groups (POGs) in China and Implications for Sustainable Pedagogy

“…The social-cultural theory posits that intellectual development is achieved through dialogue and that education is enacted through the interactions between students and teachers reflecting the historical development, cultural values and social practices of the societies and communities in which educational institutions exist [29]. Thus, difficulty should be highlighted in separating out creativity from process of collaborative learning.…”