Cooperative Learning Communities: Context for a New Vision of Education and Society

Living in families and neighborhoods disintegrated by industrial mobility, migration, freeway intrusions, and the multiple distractions of modern life, many of us in today's world long for an experience of true community^ Yet we have a very hazy idea of what this might be or how we could achieve it. We seem resigned to defining community merely as a place where many people live and work but do not necessarily care about one another or interact in any meaningful way. In some of these communities people increasingly dislike leaving their homes for fear of bodily harm or environmental pollution, both physical and social. Schools reflect this fragmentation and alienation of the general society. Instead of being a safe haven for learning and growth, they often are sites where a few people engage in strenuous rivalry while others feel imprisoned and wait only for the parting bell. Many of those who sincerely want to teach or learn find their efforts frustrated by endless requirements and distractions which seem to have little to do with either human relations or intellectual