Cooperation is working toward a common goal. Collaboration results in collateral material. However, community may or may not be present and/or result from either cooperative or collaborative efforts.

AND COMMUNITY IS THE GOAL!

Which is why teachers should be careful about assigning cooperative and collaborative work without a clear goal in mind of fostering community.

Community cannot exist without a sense of trust and belonging; a sense that each member’s contribution is valued and necessary; and the belief that what the community produces bears significant impact on MORE than the community itself.

I have pondered this phenomenon a great deal recently due to my position with iMMEDIA and have come up with our Mission statement as follows: Shaping communities of impact through professional development targeting technology integration.

My point is that unless we visionize our student groups with the why; then the “what” and the “how” remain irrelevant and dysfunction results. The assignment may get done but not community resulted and in my opinion, we have done nothing more than drive the herd to market. I find this distasteful to the uttermost.

If there is not impact, members feel like they are given busy work. If the only goal is self enlightenment, members grow tired of the monotony of self centered foci.

If we ask them to cooperate, there must be a bigger reason than the subject matter alone. If we ask them to collaborate, the resulting collateral material should impact a wider audience than the group/class itself. It may work for awhile. But eventually everyone will see through the gloss and look elsewhere to satisfy their innate need to pursue the greater good.