10 Ways to Help Students Develop Collaboration Skills

Here comes another "C"! Have you noticed that many of the skills I've been covering in my 21st-century skills series start with a "C"? Those are the 4 C's of education; critical thinking, creativity, communication and collaboration.

​There are many 21st-century skills, but the 4C's lay the foundation for the others, in my opinion.

The focus of this post is collaboration; working with others to achieve a common goal or purpose.

It is imperative that students possess collaboration skills that will meet the demands of living and working in the 21st-century.

Help learners build a strong community network and to take advantage of all that their community has to offer - partnerships with local citizens, business owners, legislators, city officials, non-profits, educators, town libraries, historical societies - as well as to promote collaboration between them that work to meet the needs of the community. 

Design your curriculum around community collaborations. Rather than learn about government from a textbook, for example, have students work directly with government officials to write a bill.

Connect with farmers and conservationists to develop a plan that both protects livestock from wolf predation and wolves from extinction.

The relationship between students and community members is mutually beneficial. By bringing community collaboration into your curriculum, students become an asset to the community rather than a fixture, and the community becomes a key player in the education of its children.

Start making student/community collaborations a priority in your curriculum by implementing some of the suggestions below. It's important to note that this cannot fall on the shoulders of teachers alone.

For the following student/community collaborations to be successful, everyone will need to pitch in.

Collaborate! Pull together principles, administrators, board members, parents, community members, and most importantly, students.

​Better yet, let your students take the lead. Yes, kids can be the driving force of most of the collaboration opportunities listed below.

10 Ways to Add Collaboration Skill-Building to Your Curriculum

1) Build YOUR Community Network: 

If you are a parent or educator interested in including community collaborations in your curriculum, start by joining a town committee, club, or board.

This will provide exposure to the needs of the community as well as establish a solid network for future collaborations between your students and the community.

A few weeks ago I posted about a project one of my students was doing about horror films.

Within minutes, someone in my network responded to the post offering this student the opportunity to work alongside a community member curating a horror film festival.

Make some connections and start putting your ideas out there. Assure potential collaborators that students are contributors. They need your students as much as your students need them.

2) Write a Class Newsletter: 

A few years ago several of my students noticed some animosity between our student body and some of our direct neighbors.

My advisory got together to brainstorm ways to bridge the gap.

My students decided that they would write a newsletter about our school with student and project highlights, upcoming events that neighbors could attend, ways for neighbors to get involved, and so on.

My students created the newsletter, made the cookies, and personally delivered both to our neighbors.

​This small gesture helped our students build a stronger network for future collaborations. ​

3) Start a Community Garden: 

Several of my coworkers had the idea of starting a community garden. They connected students with local horticulturists, farmers, and nonprofits to build a produce garden right on school property.

​Our students collaborated closely with community experts to build a beautiful and prosperous urban garden.  ​

4) Start a Community Club or Committee: 

Have students start clubs or groups that extend out to include community members. A few years ago, several of my students started a community cleanup crew for an assigned PBL project (Find the resource here - Start a Club).

Together our students and the local community organized and participated in regular neighborhood cleanup events. 

Students might also consider organizing a committee specific to addressing community needs. Students and citizens, local business owners, city officials, non-profits, conservationists, colleges and universities, etc. would come together to tackle community issues and needs.

Check out my Community Action Projects on TpT for guidance. 

5) Host Community Events: 

Start networking with community members by not only hosting events open to the public, but also including students and community members in the planning and organizing of the events.

Our students have organized movie nights, spaghetti dinners, cook-offs, chess tournaments, exhibition nights, a gallery for local artists, and more.

Collaboration with the community was integral in the success of these events. 

6) Host a Speaker Series at Your School: 

One of my coworkers and a group of students organize a speaker series at our school every year.

The student committee observes and identifies important community topics and issues, they reach out to experts on those topics, they invite them to speak at our school, and open the doors to the public.

The student committee collaborates with local citizens to narrow in on interests and needs, and organizes speakers to meet those needs. Students also collaborate with community experts to speak.  

7) Transition to Project-Based Learning: 

PBL is community centered by nature. It requires collaboration on many levels. PBL emphasizes authentic learning experiences.

Students are expected to collaborate with community experts, have real-world learning experiences beyond the walls of the classroom, create a final product that makes a positive impact on the community as a whole, and share their work with an authentic audience.

Collaboration is an integral part of PBL. Collaboration skill-building is especially effective when the experience is student-led.

Check out past posts on PBL right here, and head to Experiential Learning Depot on TpT for PBL resources to get you started. 

8) Start a Mentorship Program:

One of my coworkers has been hard at work for years developing a mentorship program between our students and members of the community.

The students and community members not only develop a friendship, but the mentors get involved in our students' projects, bringing their network and collaborators to the table. 

9) Start an Internship Program:

There are so many reasons to encourage student internships, and building collaboration skills is on the top of that list.

The same coworker that works diligently on our mentorship program is also heavily involved in opening up internship possibilities to our students.

Several of our students apprentice at Urban Boat Builders where a diverse array of collaborations are at play.

​Students can further strengthen collaboration skills by finding and arranging their own internship opportunities. ​

10) Organize Legislative Days:

Encourage learners to collaborate with their local representatives to make positive change in the community.

Every year MAAP organizes "Legislative Day" where students from all over the state travel to Capitol building in St. Paul to discuss community issues with their legislators.

These conversations often turn into long-term collaborations.

​One of my students, for example, worked closely with her legislator to create a bill that would help ex-convicts be productive citizens by making job opportunities more accessible. 

Of course there are many more ways to help learners develop collaboration skills including problem-based learning, place-based education, hosting exhibition nights, educational travel, service-learning, etc.

It can be as simple as taking what you are ALREADY doing with your students and adding community partnerships to the mix. 

Next week I'm heading to Zion National Park with my family. I'm unsure at this point if I will have a post ready for next week. Keep an eye out.

​At a minimum, I'll post when I get home. Stay-tuned for a post on all of the ways to enhance learning while traveling. 

Good luck to you, and as always, feel free to reach out for questions or comments. ​Follow Experiential Learning Depot on Pinterest, Instagram and LinkedIn.