What happens when we collaborate?

As a team, we unpacked our observations of the children’s responses to the provocations we provided inviting them to share their wonderings. A common theme began to emerge: the theme of collaboration. We were noticing in our documenting and discussions with children that they were beginning to gravitate to others to work side-by-side on shared projects. This instinctive inclination to work with others was expressed beautifully by Jack, who was working with Raf on a craft provocation:

I was wondering about finding diamonds. Jack

I was wondering about the beach.

I was wondering about finding diamonds at the beach. Jack

What makes you say that? 

Because I wanted my idea to join up with Raffie’s. Jack

This lead us to look at the idea of collaboration. We began by asking the children to share their ideas about what the word “collaboration” means.

I think it means when someone’s idea connects with another idea. Alba

I think it means you join two ideas together. Jonathan

I think it’s when one thing goes together with another things. It mixes up and turns into one big thing. Miro

When one idea makes another one. Tobias

I think it means connecting on to someone else’s idea. Miles

It means that someone thinks of something and then another person thinks of something that could match to theirs. Daisy

It’s when two people put one idea with another idea. Enid

It means when you get one idea with another one. Iggy

It means you come together and you have the same idea. Kind of. Elsi

So basically, collaboration means when somebody says something and you say something on top of that, so for example, if I said we should build something, and someone else says, I was thinking about the same thing, and then the other person says they have an idea what to build – and that’s basically it. Louis

The children shared what “collaboration” looks like.