5 minute read
Introduction to the Collaborative Methodology
Working Together for Success
by Rodrigo Perezagua
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In a world that is every day more and more interconnected and dependent, collaborative methodology has become a powerful tool for addressing challenges, and achieving successful outcomes. But what exactly is collaborative methodology and how does it work? In this article, we will provide a simple and accessible explanation for those who have never participated in or have never heard of this way of teamwork.
What is collaborative methodology?
Collaborative methodology is an approach to work, in which people come together to achieve a common goal. Instead of working in solitary, participants collaborate, share ideas, knowledge and skills, and make decisions together. This approach is based on the idea that collective intelligence is more powerful than individual skills and that by joining forces we can achieve more meaningful and effective results.
W here does this trend come from? Problem-based learning is a didactic strategy in which students, organized in groups, study problems taken from real situations, with the aim of integrating knowledge and developing high-level intellectual skills. It originated in the 1960s to promote multidisciplinary and active learning of medical students, but it is currently used in multiple learning contexts, which have found that its use contributes to obtaining significant learning results and promotes autonomous learning (Latasa, 2012). And now is the main methodology for Erasmus + projects.
Key principles of collaborative methodology
© Rodrigo Perezagua
What are the differences between a trainer and a facilitator?
A trainer is a professional who designs specific training actions according to a training plan; implements them, delivers the training contents and advises and tutoring, both individually and in groups, the participants. This is common in formal education or in private academics.
The trainer evaluates both, the process and the results of such training action, impregnating his/her work with an approach aimed at improving the quality of training for the participants; and finally evaluates the process and the results of this training action, imbuing their work with an approach aimed at improving the quality of training.
A facilitator plans, guides and manages a group event to meet its goals. To facilitate effectively, you must be objective and focus on the “group process.” That is, the ways that groups work together to perform tasks, make decisions and solve problems. It is for this reason that the facilitator will have to adapt each program to the group that is going to carry out the project, it is not worth universal planning to be used year after year.
Participatory methodologies use a range of techniques to facilitate the process of learning and sharing. As such, the people leading or being part of the project are seen as facilitators rather than experts.
When people first engage in a participatory learning process, facilitators use a variety of techniques to:
• Help people feel comfortable to talk about local issues.
• Encourage people to share information, ideas, concerns and knowledge.
• Support group learning.
• Help people to communicate effectively.
• Lead group dynamics.
• Ensure that the work is practical and relevant.
• Invite the group to take control of the learning and sharing process.
Through observation, listening and asking relevant questions, facilitators demonstrate that each person’s contribution is important, helping group members to develop communication skills and promote the growth of their ideas.
Why this methodology?
This methodology has one main element which is the motivation of the participants, as in the non formal education, because they choose to be part of it. Through the participatory methodology they feel involved in the full process of the project, so they can see it as part of them. But before talking about motivation, let’s see what is this and from where it comes.
Attention is the mental capacity to focus on one or more aspects of reality and ignore the others. Attention involves an active focus of the mind, exclusively and for a specific period of time, with the aim of understanding something, knowing it and recording the data obtained in the memory.
Concentration is the ability to fix one’s attention on a single object, idea or activity, selectively, without allowing extraneous elements to enter one’s thoughts. Without attention and concentration it is not possible to store information (memory) and therefore learning.
Distraction is the constant fluctuation of attention from one stimulus to another without remaining fixed on any of them.
Motivation: is the energy that keeps individuals to stay focused, concentrate on tasks, and effectively manage or ignore distractions in order to achieve their goals.
Benefits of collaborative methodology
© Rodrigo Perezagua
Participative methodology and Communication:
The participatory methodology is mainly based on encouraging, through a wide variety of procedures and systems, interpersonal communication, as well as giving the student a leading role and participation, motivating him/her to exchange, reflect, share, resolve, etc.
Apart from this, the human-social factor of education has, as its fundamental basis, the phenomenon of interaction and the interpersonal communication that this produces.
Education is a practice with very clear objectives, with a multitude of dimensions but, above all, it is a communicative process. The foundation of education is the phenomenon known as educational communication, and the learner in the classroom, with all the exchange of communication messages between one another.
