The Power of the Social Brain

Research has demonstrated that cooperative learning is one of the most highly effective teaching strategies, while new findings from neuroscience confirm the brain’s natural inclination to think socially. But simply putting students in a group is not enough. The authors of The Power of the Social Brain see “interdependent thinking” as the missing piece of the collaborative puzzle. This authoritative book provides practical strategies informed by research from neuroscience and education to help groups function more effectively and thoughtfully. By adding the “cognitive dimension” to cooperative learning, this book will help readers apply new protocols and strategies for more affirming and productive group work in classrooms and professional educational learning communities.

The Power of the Social Brain features:

• Fresh parallel insights on interdependent thinking from the arts, architecture, business, the community and sports.
• Approaches for leveraging cooperative learning to improve thinking, problem solving, performance and mutual support across a wide range of settings, including classrooms, teams and professional learning communities.
• Instructional strategies from experienced classroom teachers for teaching young people to think and work interdependently at home and at school.
• Reflective questions at the end of each section to help guide thinking, stimulate conversation and catalyse change within a learning community or classroom.