In the letter, “Erasing social divide: It’s more than just about putting children of different backgrounds in same classroom” (March 4), the writer pointed out that just because students from different socio-economic groups are in the same classroom does not guarantee that these students will bond which each other.

In order for this bonding to occur and adding on to the suggestions by the writer, another area to pay attention to is what takes place while students are in class together.

Teachers with the Ministry of Education are likely familiar with collaborative learning, also known as cooperative learning.

In this learning methodology, students sometimes work together in small groups of two to four members.

The key to success in collaborative learning is that students develop a feeling of what is known as positive interdependence.

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When students feel positively interdependent with their group-mates, they feel that their outcomes are positively correlated.

In other words, students believe that what helps one group member also helps the others, and what hinders one group member also hinders the others.

Thus, students who feel positively interdependent will want to help each other and, as a result, will develop bonds, just as this occurs among the members of other groups who sink or swim together, such as an orchestra, a sport team or a dance group.

Research with students of different ethnic groups in the United States suggests that collaborative learning can positively impact relations among students from different backgrounds.

Teachers play a major role in promoting positive interdependence among students. For example, teachers may organise groups in which members have different roles, different information or different tools, and each student needs to contribute accordingly in order for the group to reach its goals.

Teachers also need to guide students to develop the various social skills necessary to promote effective peer interaction.

The hope is that not only will collaborative learning lead students to learn more and to bond with students different from themselves, they will also expand their feeling of positive interdependence beyond small classroom groups to encompass the entire school, community, nation and world.