Collective Student Efficacy : Developing Independent and Inter-Dependent Learners

"In 2016 John Hattie's number one effect size from 200 influences on learning was revealed as collective teacher efficacy: teachers with the belief that they can improve their students' achievement. This book is based on our thoughts that this powerful belief could also exist between students, enhancing their achievements but also preparing them for real world encounters and job demands. Not just skills of collaboration but, essentially, the confidence to know that they can pursue ambitious goals together. The main barrier we face is the lack of research, apart from one study, about collective student efficacy. We see this book as a platform for setting the scene for research to be carried out, by establishing what appear to be the main factors influencing students' collective belief in their ability to succeed, either as a pair, group, team or individually. Another issue, perhaps the reason for the lack of research, is the difficulty involved in deciding whether students actually have the belief that they can collectively succeed or whether they are simply carrying out the teacher's wishes for the task in hand. In asking teachers to experiment with this topic, we have emphasized the need to find ways of determining how far this belief exists, and how this manifests itself"--