The Conversation of Mankind

Collaborative Learning and the "Conversation of Mankind"
by Kenneth A. Bruffee

"Education is not a process of assimiliating "the truth" but, as Rorty has put it, a process of learning to "take a hand in what is going on" by joining the conversation of mankind."
-Kenneth A. Bruffee

I chose this quote to start because I feel it really embodies the meaning of the entire piece. Collaborative learning is a technique that we've all been experiencing since pre-school. Personally, I have had really positive experiences, but I also have had disastrous results. Reading Bruffee essay made me consciously recognize that all the peer editing/grading, group projects, and class feed back these past years have been a type of learning technique. I agree, through collaborative learning I have gained a lot of knowledge, a lot faster. Knowledge communities are helpful to the individual’s growth. After all I believe that communities are the reason for individual success.

However a failed community or a failed attempt at using collaborative learning can cause destruction. I can think back to many of my experiences where I was put into a group and told to answer an ambiguous question. The results came out unanimously: all of the groups didn’t answer the question. Or it was not exactly what the teacher was hoping the results would be. So how do you guarantee the success of knowledge communities? I think a lot of it has to do with the individuals themselves. If the individuals aren’t committed or part of different knowledge communities it cause issues.

“Without successful teachers the community will die when it’s current members die, and knowledge as assented to by that community will cease to exist.” So how do teachers fit into this technique? Bruffree claims that teachers are one of the largest knowledge communities. In this learning technique the only issue is who has authority. Where does the sole power lie? I think that power or authority goes to the community or even individual who is part of more Knowledge communities than the average person. Or the person with power could be the expert of one thing .