Collaboration and Learner Agency – What it means to me!
What does ‘Collaboration’ mean to me?
Collaboration is the process of working together with others, in order to achieve a goal or task. For me, collaboration occurs often throughout my life, mainly at school, but also at home and on the sporting field. I work together with my peers to accomplish group tasks in our classroom, across almost all of our subjects, especially English. Across the sporting environment, my teammates and I work and collaborate together, in hopes of scoring a point and winning the game. At home, I often collaborate with my parents when cooking meals, such as dinner. Collaboration is a method of working with somebody else, to make life easier for everyone.
Examples of Activities:
One example of collaboration this year in English was our Group Production of a Current Affair Segment. Our class formed groups of 4, and we were tasked with filming and creating a skit, similar to a segment from A Current Affair. I broke my shoulder in the beginning of the assignment, so our group was in a major disadvantage. However, we ended up completing the task, and receiving an A, through immense collaboration. We communicated and collaborated multiple times at home during the length of the assignment, so we could receive the best mark possible and meet the deadline.
Another example of using collaboration was during our Poetry Analysis that we practised in class. I was assigned into a group of 3, and we had to analyse a poem and find poetry techniques used. Through collaboration, I was able to find many techniques, that otherwise I would have missed if it weren’t for my peers. It allowed me to practise for our upcoming test, in which I was able to score 75%, which is was an A. Without the use of collaboration, I would not have found different poetry techniques, and would have scored lower in my test.
What does ‘Learner Agency’ mean to me?
Learner Agency is the initiative to take responsibility of your own learning. To me, I use Learner Agency often, especially during school when we have take-home assessments. Sometimes, I even use learner agency at home. This can be learning how to cook a new dish, or even finding a new way to take notes on something I am researching.
Examples of Activities:
One example of how I used Learner Agency this year was in our Poetry Anthology. When I finished creating my poems, I went back and researched better poetic techniques that I could include in my poems, allowing for me to improve them greatly. I did this multiple times, and when I finally submitted my Poetry Anthology, I received a very high 83%, which was almost 10% above and A.
Another example of how I used Learner Agency was in our Current Affair Segment Production. After I finished the editing and filming stage in our production process, I went back through the work and made a lot of changes through it. I researched how to improve the transitions between slides, and when I was finished in that stage, my work was very good. Through using Learner Agency, I was able to learn new things and improve my work immensely.