Effective Strategies to Teach Collaborative Learning Skills

By Sam Piha

Sam Piha

The Learning in Afterschool & Summer learning principles have been widely embraced by educators, youth workers, and researchers alike. Learning that is collaborative is not only an essential 21st Century learning skill, it is an employability skill. But how do you actually teach this skill? We ask Allison Kenny, long-time youth worker and Co-Founder of Glitter & Razz Productions and Director of Go Girls! Camp. Her responses are below.

Q: Why do you think young people learning to work and learn collaboratively is important? 

Allison Kenny

A: For one thing, it's simply more fun. Even for kids who initially struggle with collaboration skills, the process of building them decreases loneliness and isolation. Kids who are having more fun and feeling a sense of belonging learn better and more importantly, are happier people. I think this is the most important antidote to violence in schools- addressing loneliness. 

Young people also deserve a chance to learn the job readiness skills that prepare them for life in our fast-paced, flexibly thinking world. Every job in every field requires you to be part of an effective team. Humans were built to work together. We just often forget how.

Q: We know that to do this requires that young people learn certain collaborative skills. What skills do you think are foundational to good collaborative learning?

A: Saying yes- it's a crucial skill in theater improvisation and in life. It means going along with, changing and adapting someone else's idea without shutting it down. "Saying yes" also gives permission to put your own idea out into the world without judgement.

Give & Take- another life skill the theater offers. It means tracking who is center stage and when to step up vs. step back.

Boundaries- Often when young people struggle with collaboration, they are feeling annoyed, invisible or overwhelmed in their work with others. Remembering their power to say what they do and do not want helps. Teaching young people to set and respect one another's boundaries is crucial for successful collaboration.  

Q: How are these skills taught to a group of young people who will be expected to work collaboratively? Can you cite some specific strategies?

A: At Go Girls! Camp, we use theater and expressive art to teach collaboration. Our girls experience how good it feels to say yes to one another's ideas in theater games. "Yes, Let's" is a perfect example. One girl takes center stage with an idea and says, "Hey Go Girls! let's...." and fills in the blank with something all the other girls can DO with her. Imagine she says, "Let's swim with sharks!" All the girls in the group respond with, "Yes, let's!" and pretend to swim with sharks. We play round after round and debrief at the end. "What does this game teach us about working together? How will that help us in real life?"

We teach give & take through our play-making process. Each young person creates a part for the play overall. They get to see how their character matters to the story overall and how to share the spotlight. 

The best way we've found to teach boundary setting is through the Kidpower curriculum by Irene van der Zande. She has amazing books and free articles on the Kidpower website. It's all based in role play and features real life scenarios for kids, teens and adults. 

Q: In designing activities that require effective collaboration, what are essential elements or expectations that the leader must introduce?

A: The leader must be sure each participant in the group has a role. Young people want to be clear on which part they get to be in charge of. There must be an expectation that everyone in the group participate in some way, using roles to address a variety of learning styles. They should be clear how and when to ask for help. They should be given an opportunity to reflect on their experience- both in how it was to work together and how successful they were at the given task.

Q: If young people were working together and learning together through collaboration, what would it look like?

A: The room would feel safe and charged. Young people would be finding and using their own materials, working in close proximity to those in their group, celebrating and cheering one another on, solving problems and addressing conflicts, asking for help only when they truly need it. Everyone would be included. No one left behind.

Q: Do you have any additional comments?

A: Celebrating and appreciating one another is essential for collaboration. Young people can learn how to give and receive compliments, how to bolster themselves up and build self esteem, how to look for the good in one another. This creates a sense of belonging and a way to work with the inner or outer critics that tell kids they have nothing to contribute. 

At Go Girls! Camp, we end every day with a celebration circle, where girls write or draw on the things they loved and learned that day. Other times they celebrate themselves, each other or their teachers. We also teach how to give and receive feedback, so kids can deepen their skills, grow and achieve even more.

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Allison Kenny is an actor, writer, teaching artist, co-founder of Glitter & Razz Productions and Director of Go Girls! Camp. Since 2002, Allison has worked in the Bay Area as a theater teaching artist with kids ages 2-18. For 5 years, she studied Floortime Play Therapy with Dr. Ilene Lee and worked as an inclusion facilitator with kids on the Autism Spectrum. Allison served as a Youth Development Trainer and specialist with the YMCA of San Francisco and The Children, Youth and Families Minister at First Congregational Church of Oakland and an ECE Trainer to Preschool Teachers across Alameda County. In 2012, she became a Certified Instructor with Kidpower, Teenpower, Fullpower International and leads safety workshops for kids and families all over the Bay Area.

As a girl advocate, Allison believes women and girls are the world’s greatest natural resource. “We bring creativity, compassion, nurture, resilience, reliability and love to any challenge and situation. When we forget that, the whole world suffers.” Allison’s work is to create art, experiences, and books for girls and women to remember who we are and why we have value. In 2013, Allison published “Starring Celia,” a chapter book about a 4th grade girl who goes from being bullied to being a “Go Girl!”

The Power of Gratitude

By Guest Blogger, Allison Kenny, Co-Founder of Glitter & Razz Productions 

Allison Kenny

According to the Greater Good Science Center out of UC Berkeley, it’s a scientific fact that practicing gratitude makes us happier, healthier people. 

For the Go Girls! at Glenview Elementary, I frame it like this: “Gratitude is like a superpower. When you are feeling negative or angry or lost or sad or scared, try remembering the things in life that make you feel happy- the things that you are thankful for. These thankful or grateful feelings can lift you up and help you feel better. Gratitude makes us happy.”

Then we got to work making our very own Gratitude Journals. Simple. Tiny books. Girls love to fill them with sketches, lists, poems, watercolor, stickers- whatever they can get their hands on. And the focus is gratitude, or as I tell the littlest girls if they look confused, “parts of life that make you feel happy.” I asked the girls to choose a special place where they could keep these journals and come work in them when they need to use their power of gratitude. One 4th grader decided to tape hers to the back of her frog’s cage. Whatever works! Go forth and be grateful.

Check out a few tips from parenting expert and Go Girls! mom, Christine Carter on practicing gratitude at home with your kids.

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Allison Kenny is the co-founder/owner of Glitter & Razz and serves as the Chief Officer of People & Programs.  She has spent a good part of her life leading and participating in creative and community-based activities focused on personal transformation. Growing up in Phoenix, AZ as the dramatic and extroverted one in a house with 3 other sisters, she built her values through active engagement in softball teams, theater productions, show choir, and youth ministry programs. She was a natural leader from a young age who was particularly influenced by her role in WomanStory, a Phoenix-based organization that supports the spiritual and emotional development of women and girls in intergenerational, arts-based camps and retreats. To this day, she has a personal mission to create healing spaces for women.

Building Strong Connections: An Interview with Lynn Johnson - Part 2

by Sam Piha

Lynn Johnson

Lynn Johnson is a Bay Area entrepreneur and theater artist dedicated to building strong connections with creative & compassionate people to bring about positive social change. She is the Co-Founder & CEO of Glitter & Razz Productions. Lynn took some time between theater productions, to answer our questions. 

Q: As a youth development specialist and a person who I would describe as a big thinker, what should we be thinking about as we strive to grow and improve the afterschool movement? 

A: I am personally very focused on the need for greater attention for the social/emotional health of young people.  We have all heard the stories of how bullying and relational aggression are ravaging our schools and other learning spaces.  We see kids all the time experiencing depression and disconnection and stress and anxiety and having very little resources to navigate these challenges.  I believe that, as our families and institutions and communities see more and more emotional pressures from issues related to the economy and the environment, it is taking a toll on our kids that we are not quite holding ourselves accountable for.  

We know that kids can’t learn if they don’t feel safe.  In youth development frameworks, providing emotionally safe places and spaces is foundational to the practice.  However, from what I have seen in the field, we don’t go far enough in actually providing the skills and the subsequent time to practice those skills that children and youth need to learn how to regulate their own emotions, to navigate risk, to stand up in support of themselves and each other.  I see a lot of people who care about youth and feel like that caring is enough to make kids feel safe.  It’s crucial, sure, but it’s not enough.  Young people feel lost about what to do with all of the feelings going on inside them because adults rarely give them the time and space to really honor and work through those feelings.  I believe that afterschool can provide that time and space as long as afterschool professionals understand how to teach the skills that will lead to good social/emotional health.  There are organizations that are steeped in research about how social/emotional learning leads to better academic performance and I think that the afterschool field should partner with organizations like these and understand this research. 

Secondly, as part of looking at social/emotional learning in afterschool, I think it will be very important for the field to look more into single-gender learning spaces.  More research is showing that both boys and girls are being limited by the current ways that classrooms are set up.  Boys, who tend to be more physical learners, are suffering through classes where mostly female teachers are expecting them to face forward and “pay attention.”  Girls, who tend to be more focused on relationships, are feeling a lot of pressure to succeed at all costs as they compare themselves to others. They are in classrooms that don’t often support their need to learn through relationships and collaboration.  These same studies are showing that learning can often come easier in single-gender spaces where teachers can be more sensitive to the specific needs of their group of girls or group of boys rather than just trying to play to the middle.  The flexibility that afterschool offers could make it the perfect environment for providing these kinds of dynamic single-gender learning moments.

Lastly, I also have to talk about the role of strong leadership in the afterschool movement.  I believe the field should put a lot of time and energy into promoting and supporting innovation and creativity among leaders and even making room to be influenced by the bold, brave thinkers from other fields.  There are a number of educational movements that I am inspired by right now – community schools, integration of technology tools in classrooms, social entrepreneurship, etc.  I think that any and all of these approaches can improve afterschool.  It doesn’t really matter which approach it is as long as there are outside-the-box thinkers involved at all levels – program, management, district, policy – who hold a strong vision with high expectations and are willing to stick to that vision even if it feels unpopular or uncomfortable to others. 

Q: You mentioned that you “design, create and deliver learning products and processes.”  Can you talk more about these and how afterschool professionals might access these tools?

A: In addition to sending Glitter & Razz teaching artists out to lead our methodology with kids in afterschool programs – like our Go Girls! Afterschool Clubs or our Active Imagination Program for Boys – it is also important to us that we provide opportunities for afterschool professionals to learn from our methodology to provide similar programs without having to bring someone else in.  We have a 2-Day Make a Play Change the World training workshop and a shorter 3 hour workshop called The Peace Place: Classroom Management through Rhythm & Ritual, both designed to help professionals access the arts to create more compassionate and connected classrooms.   

We are also excited that, this month, we are premiering a couple of brand new products for use in homes and classrooms.  Our first book, The Brand New Book: The Creative Kids’ Guide to Doin’ Tough Stuff and Lovin’ It will be out by the end of January and includes lots of activities for kids as well as a section for the grown-ups who love them.  We have also just released our Celebration Cards, a deck of cards that promotes the power of gratitude by helping kids and adults practice gratitude together.  We have both a home and classroom set of cards.  In the coming months, we will be creating more products and will keep your readers posted. They can also keep in touch with us on our website or on our Facebook page.

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Lynn Johnson is the Co-Founder & CEO of Glitter & Razz Productions. She knew that she wanted to be an actor when she was just 5 years old and has spent her whole life centered around the learning, teaching, and creation of theater.

After graduating from Northwestern University, she founded TurnStyle Teen Theatre, a multicultural teen ensemble. The company used the process of creating original productions to explore themes central to the lives of its members. Later, in Chapel Hill, NC she designed and directed a number of community-based educational programs that focused on literature, oral history, community building, and personal narrative.

Lynn transferred her direct youth service experience to work as a trainer and organizational development consultant at the Community Network for Youth Development (CNYD). Lynn is also a founding member of OutLook Theater Project (with Rebecca Shultz), a community-based professional theater company that explores social issues from a queer perspective.

Building Strong Connections: An Interview with Lynn Johnson - Part 1

by Sam Piha

Lynn Johnson

Lynn Johnson is a Bay Area entrepreneur and theater artist dedicated to building strong connections with creative & compassionate people to bring about positive social change. She is the Co-Founder & CEO of Glitter & Razz Productions. Lynn took some time between theater productions, to answer our questions. Lynn''s full bio is at the end of Part 2 of this conversation. 

Q: Can you offer us a brief description of Glitter & Razz, the organization that you co-founded?

A: Glitter & Razz Productions is a company that supports the social/emotional learning of kids and their families through theater and expressive arts-based programs and creative products.  In addition to leading school-break camps, afterschool classes, parties & events for girls and boys ages 4-11, we also design, create and deliver learning products and processes for parents, families, educators, and youth work professionals related to bringing more empathy, creativity, compassion, and connection to the places and spaces where kids live, work and play. Glitter & Razz also has a dynamic Youth Intern program where we work with young people ages 13-18 as stipend-based volunteers and paid employees who work alongside and learn from professional teaching artists supporting younger children.

Q: You are currently doing programs within the school day at Glenview school in Oakland. Can you describe the goals of this program and the strategies you are employing? 

A: We are currently in a multi-year partnership with Glenview Elementary School to implement and integrate our Go Girls! Theater Project into their school.  Based on our Make a Play Change the World Methodology, Go Girls! Theater Project is a program for elementary school-age girls that accesses theater and expressive arts to teach and reinforce key social/emotional challenges unique to the girl experience.  

Glitter & Razz has developed this program over the last 5 years from a strong background in arts education, youth development, drama and expressive arts therapies.  Up until this point, the program has been successfully implemented exclusively in out-of-school time settings (summer camp and afterschool) and has been specifically redesigned for this partnership as a whole-school intervention.

In its first year, the Glenview Go Girls! Project is focused on all girl students from grades K-5.  This choice was made due to the fact that Glenview’s data revealed that most of the challenging social/emotional issues were stemming from girl/girl friendships as well as girls lack of tools in navigating the pressures of girl/boy social dynamics.   Year 1 of Go Girls! is made up of in-school elective classes, afterschool classes, day-long retreats for girls to acquire and practice the necessary skills to address these issues.  Year 2 will begin to integrate boys into the programming.  

The Go Girls! Project expands even further as it includes professional development for staff in the form of classroom observations, coaching, and instructional tools for teachers as well as a 12-session parent education that bridges the art and science of raising girls today.  Systems are currently in place to measure the effectiveness of the program through pre and post-test assessments of the girls and their parents.  We plan to measure the changes in attitude and behavior as a result of participation in Go Girls!

The visual and performing arts skills that are taught in Go Girls! are specifically designed  to promote active listening, public speaking, literacy, empathy, reflecting on work, giving and receiving feedback, facing fears and overcoming challenges.  In addition to these process-based skills, the girls also learn key social/emotional skills through the content of the art itself.  Each session of Go Girls! is centered around a particular theme related to forming pro-social, peaceful, self-actualized ideas and action.  The major themes in this project are:

• Facing and standing up to bullying and relational aggression
• Overcoming perfectionism and feeling comfortable making mistakes and taking risks
• Learning what it means to make and be a good friend

Q: Would you reflect on the Learning in Afterschool & Summer learning principles?

A: At Glitter & Razz, we are completely aligned with the 5 Learning Principles as defined by the Learning in Afterschool & Summer project.  I have been a teaching artist and youth worker leading arts-based experiences with children and youth for 20 years and I am passionate about the opportunity for kids to learn in creative and engaging ways during out-of-school time.  What I admire so much about the LIAS principles is that they simply breakdown the essential elements common to all high-quality out-of-school time learning experiences – it doesn’t matter the content.  So, although my programs are centered in the arts, I feel like our main responsibility is to provide an active learning environment that honors the diversity of learning styles and to help build the essential skills that young people need to create success in their own lives and contribute to something bigger than themselves.  The 5 principles very effectively express this idea and put us in the same boat as every other out-of-school time program focused on quality learning – from science to cooking to sports to leadership. As a result the LIAS principles help to create a common vocabulary amongst providers and ultimately strengthen the field.