Students connect with 'jigsaw' learning

In this story: Puzzle pieces Extra effort RELATED STORIES, SITES

By Bob Winstead
CNN SAN DIEGO

SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) -- A learning method that was once used to diffuse student tensions during desegregation could be effective in preventing violence in schools, according to teachers, parents and safety experts.

One San Diego, California, middle school began using the instruction method, dubbed "jigsaw learning," after a shooting at a nearby high school. Parents and teachers there said the teaching technique created a more amicable learning environment, which quelled brewing social problems among students.

Jigsaw learning, developed by social psychologist Elliot Aronson, has teamwork at its core, with students relying on one another to learn a subject. The cooperation required by the technique diminishes classroom competition and elevates the status of often-ignored or ridiculed students. Jigsaw’s name is derived from its method of making each student an informational puzzle piece that learning groups assemble to fully understand a subject.

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Aronson developed the learning method 30 years ago when schools in Austin, Texas, solicited his assistance in diffusing violence in desegregated schools.

"When schools were integrated, these kids were at each others throats," Aronson said. "We paid attention to what might be the underlying cause of this thing and determined it was the highly competitive nature of the classroom."

As competition decreases, so do hostility and anger, said Aronson, who is a visiting professor of psychology at Stanford University.

"If you work together cooperatively, then other people -- people who may be very different from you -- you'll learn to respect them more, and it makes it much more unlikely that you're gonna' tease them, taunt them, pick on them,” Aronson said. “If kids are not being teased, taunted and humiliated, they're much less likely to go on a rampage."

Joan McDaniel, acting director at the Center for the Prevention of School Violence, said the little-known and seldom-used jigsaw method has promise.

“The jigsaw classroom has potential in the realm of violence prevention as do many other teaching strategies,” McDaniel said. “The cooperative learning approach … is often used with a more traditionally identified violence prevention strategy -- conflict resolution.”

Puzzle pieces

A jigsaw classroom involves teachers separating youngsters into small expert groups of four or five students. They research a specific aspect of one topic, becoming experts in that area. An example might be plant growth, with some students becoming experts on photosynthesis as others learn about the effects of pesticides.

Students then form groups comprised of one representative from each expert group. They must rely on one another to learn all aspects of the assigned topic. Aronson said the method is appropriate for any subject because the instruction method changes, not the curriculum.

"Teachers will see, much to their astonishment, an atmosphere changing from one of tension and stress to one of inclusion, to one of pleasantness," Aronson said. "Friendships develop, people look at each other with interest, they look at each other with respect."

After a shooting at Santana High School near San Diego, staff development coach Patty Ladd, who trains teachers, convinced the principal to let her immediately begin using jigsaw at Dana Middle School in San Diego.

The school sits in an affluent suburb. But its diverse student body -- various ethnic groups, the very rich and the desperately poor -- creates the potential for social problems and student isolation.

Ladd said students began to behave differently once jigsaw classrooms began. "We've had a few letters from parents saying, 'whatever you're doing in the classroom, my kid is really engaged right now -- and happy,'" she said.

Extra effort

Not all parents like the idea of children teaching children. Some prefer direct teaching from paid professionals to peer instruction.

Jane Conoley, dean of education at Texas A&M University, studied the jigsaw method in Austin, Texas, in the mid 1970s. She said jigsaw is effective in enhancing the social status of unpopular children, but it requires extra effort from teachers who may already have more than they can handle.

Additional teacher planning is crucial to ensure that students have ample research resources. Teachers need to spend more time with less intelligent students and remain vigilant so smart kids do not dominate their groups.

In spite of the extra work, Conoley said jigsaw, while unfamiliar to many, succeeds in fostering friendships and respect among students.

"It is one of the mysteries of life," she said, "that one of the most researched, most successful school programs is not one of the most used."

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The Jigsaw Classroom

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