Thinking Interdependently

In its simplest form, thinking interdependently means working with others, “[asking] others about their experiences,” and “[sharing] production roles” (Costa and Kallick, 2009, p. 13). However, thinking interdependently goes beyond simply participating well in a group. Students who are able to think interdependently are simultaneously practicing several other habits of mind, such as “thinking flexibly, listening with understanding and empathy, thinking about thinking (metacognition), thinking and communicating with clarity and precision, and finding humor” (Costa and Kallick, 2009, p. 63). Beyond being able to function well within a group in an academic setting, it is vital for all students to learn how to work with people who have different opinions, to problem solve, and to encourage cumulative success. Because I believe these character traits are all important in teaching the whole student, thinking interdependently was a habit I chose to teach my students more explicitly throughout the year.

Reference

Costa, A.L., Kallick, B. Habits of Mind Across the Curriculum. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2009.

 
 

Explicit Teaching

I explicitly taught the habit thinking interdependently using the PowerPoint to the right, which includes information from Habits of Mind Across the Curriculum: Practical and Creative Strategies for Teachers (Costa and Kallick, 2009, n.p.). Students engaged with this PowerPoint by actively listening and participating in brief discussions when prompted throughout the lesson. Slide 1 simply re-introduces the habit we were going to be focusing on for the lesson, and slide 2 is where the habit was explicitly defined as “[asking] others about their experiences” and “[sharing] production roles” (Costa and Kallick, 2009, p. 13). In slide 3, I made a slightly more mature scenario for the students to relate to and then showed the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development’s (ASCD) video about thinking interdependently, watching from 0:16-0:58. After watching the video, the students “corrected” the scenario on slide 3 to align more with thinking interdependently, as seen on slide 4.

After the lesson, students completed a journal entry, pages 6-9 to the right, analyzing how the phrase “Many hands make light work,” relates to thinking interdependently. Several students identified that this is not always a true quality of teamwork, but that in order for a team to be successful, everyone needed to participate and put in equal effort. This activity showed me that I needed to further instill in my students the vocabulary of “thinking interdependently” instead of having my students simply refer to this habit as “teamwork” and showed me that students had the understanding that thinking interdependently was about everyone putting in equal work, as opposed to everyone benefitting from each others’ unique strengths.

 
 
 
 

Reinforcement:
‘House of Cards’

To reinforce the habit of thinking interdependently and have my students practice the habit with each other, the students participated in a card tower activity, see images to the right. During this activity, students were required to work together in groups of 5-6 to build the tallest card tower. The parameters of the game were simple:

  • Students could not use props, fold cards, or stick cards in between desks to stabilize their towers.

  • Students could not hold up cards; all towers had to be free standing.

  • All students had to work with only one hand — students had to imagine one hand was tied behind their backs.

  • Students had to abide by the rule for each round:

  1. Round 1: No talking at all!

  2. Round 2: Only one person in the group can talk.

  3. Round 3: Everyone can and should talk.

  4. Round 4: Everyone uses two hands (still building one tower).

 
 

Because students could only use one hand each, they were forced to rely on each other to build towers, and each round provided different parameters for how they had to work together. What I liked about this activity was that most of the students knew exactly how to build card towers — they had done it before; however, this task required them to solve an old problem in a new way (Costa and Kallick, 2009, p. 63). The most successful groups did not speak over each other and were willing to try whatever a member would suggest. While the students at this point were not consciously thinking, “Thinking interdependently is collaboration,” they were practicing this habit.

Following the activity, students completed a silent discussion by reading and responding to questions on different pages within their groups. These discussion pages can be seen in the document to the left.

Students identified that using one hand was extremely difficult, as was not being able to talk at all, as seen on page 1 to the left. However, students also identified that not all talking at once, staying focused, and being patient were key to staying on task. I appreciated seeing these responses because I have watched my students work in groups time and time again, and generally, they are less successful because they have lacked patience with each other or with the task. While I did not consider this reinforcement activity as my students mastering the habit of thinking interdependently, I did see my students practicing the habit while they worked as a team, asked each other questions, and allowed each other to speak up and share their ideas.

 

Reinforcement: Group project reflections

At this point in teaching my students how to think interdependently, it was becoming clear that they were actively using the habit without thinking about it. While they still were not using the vocabulary — students would not get into a group and say, “OK, let’s think interdependently to get this task done,” my students were listening to each other’s ideas, asking each other for their opinions, and collaborating in a much more inclusive way than before.

To reinforce this habit and the vocabulary of thinking interdependently, I asked my students to complete a reflection after a sequence of two sets of group projects: “Something out of nothing” and Black History Month boards.

Students first worked in groups for our “Something out of nothing” projects, as seen in the images below, wherein students had to make a working game or device out of trash — cardboard boxes, paper towel rolls, masking tape, etc. This project was spearheaded by the video “Canes Arcade” and resulted in student-made pool, vending machines, a car, and other devices. During this activity, the students displayed their internalization of thinking interdependently as they ran into numerous challenges and used each other’s ideas to find solutions.

 
 

The second project was the Black History Month tri-fold board about Stevie Wonder. This project was different in that it was a singular project that required the work of the entire class, as opposed to smaller groups working on various projects. The students elected three “captains" — one for the design team, one for the research team, and one who would act as the liaison between the two. I was extremely impressed with this broad act of teamwork; the students were able to self-manage themselves and use each other’s unique abilities in order to complete their project.

Again I had seen my students thinking interdependently without knowing that they were doing it. I was extremely encouraged at seeing the internalization of valuable character traits, such as listening to each others’ ideas, valuing the input of the whole group, and finding creative solutions to problems. At the end of the quarter, the students completed the Thinking Interdependently Team Project reflection, see to the right, to identify how how well they are individually able to demonstrate this habit, as well as to set a goal for the next quarter based on their progress.

In this survey many students self-identified themselves as being able to work effectively within a group, and many also felt they were able to problem-solve effectively with a group. Several students identified accepting the opinions and ideas of others as an area of improvement.

 

Reinforcement:
Academic presentations

To test whether my students were effectively internalizing the habit of thinking interdependently, I began to plan for more cooperative academic projects within my reading class, including a group presentation wherein students were required to work together to teach their peers about a specific topic and Socratic Seminar student-coaching pairs.

To the left, students are working on a group project about institutionalized racism. Each group was given a different sub-topic and were required to read multiple articles, create a poster, and then present their sub-topic to the entire group. During this exercise, I listened to students think interdependently by having academic debates, resolving and accepting their differences on how to present, and encouraging each other toward a successful presentation.

For the Socratic Seminar, which includes students sitting in an inner circle or an outer circle, with the former participating in the discussion and the latter taking notes on the discussion, I paired up the students into groups of two and created coaching groups. Students in the outer circle were responsible for tracking their partner’s progress and contributions to the discussion. Mid-way through, the students were allowed to have 4 minutes to coach-up their peers, and students in the inner-circle then completed the second half of their Socratic Seminar Discussion. I was so proud to see my students encouraging their peers to participate, especially those who were more shy, as well as to see them work together to craft stronger claims and evidence.

 

It was clear from both of these academic reinforcement activities that my students had internalized the ability to think interdependently, leading to both academic and personal growth.

 

Conclusion

Learning how to think interdependently beyond simply “playing well with others” is a character trait that is vital for all students to internalize in order to be successful in high school, college, and beyond. My instruction of this specific habit was both effective and impactful, as my students progressed from working in groups as telling each other the answers to working in groups as a collective partnership. My students now have the ability to problem solve within a group, to work with those who have different opinions, and to value those opinions. If I were to reteach this skill, I would likely concentrate more heavily on teaching the vocabulary associated with thinking interdependently. As it stands, I believe my students practice this skill well, but they may not always recognize that they are doing so. Overall, my students have found value in learning how to think interdependently, especially since my school model requires them all to sit in shoulder-partner pairs. I am extremely proud of the quality of teamwork they have grown to practice and believe they have the ability to carry this trait with them in their futures.