Editing Elliot Aronson (section)

===Jigsaw Classroom===
[[File:Elliot Aronson 2001.jpg|thumb|Aronson in 2001, shortly after he began to lose his eyesight to [[macular degeneration]]]]

Aronson led the development of a classroom technique for defusing inter-group tension and promoting self-esteem. It was discovered that it is rare for classrooms of students to cooperate towards a common goal.
In 1971 the newly [[desegregation|desegregated]] schools of [[Austin, Texas]] faced a crisis of violence between ethnic groups.<ref name="averting">{{cite news |last=Gilbert |first=Susan |title=No One Left to Hate: Averting Columbines |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/27/health/27CONV.html |access-date=7 July 2010 |newspaper=New York Times |date=March 27, 2001  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110126034819/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/27/health/27CONV.html |archive-date=January 26, 2011 }}</ref>
Aronson, then at the University of Texas, was called in as a consultant by a school administrator who was also a former student.<ref name=bdp /><ref name=averting />
Aronson noticed that the schools' highly competitive atmosphere was exacerbating the already tense ethnic rivalry.<ref name=bdp />
Together with his graduate students, he developed a model of teaching practice to encourage a culture of shared goals and mutual support.<ref name=bdp />
In the [[Jigsaw (teaching technique)|jigsaw classroom]] approach, pupils are divided into small groups, mixed by [[Race (classification of humans)|race]] and by ability, to work co-operatively on a task.<ref name="enc_edu" />
The classroom material—for example a biography of a historical figure—is broken into sections, and one member of each group is responsible for reading each section.<ref name="enc_edu" /> Members with the same role from each group gather in "expert groups" to discuss their sections. They then return to their own groups and take turns to present what they have learned. They are then assessed individually on all sections of the material.<ref name="enc_edu" /><ref name="Brophy">{{citation|first1=Jere |last1=Brophy|title=Motivating Students to Learn|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EepiejSCsqUC&pg=PA203|access-date=11 July 2010|year=2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-4106-1021-8|pages=203–204}}</ref><ref>"OVERVIEW." The Jigsaw Classroom. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 June 2016.</ref> This division of responsibilities means that students are motivated to listen to each other and each of them experiences a role in which they are valuable to others.<ref name="enc_edu">{{citation|first1=David |last1=Levinson|first2=Peter W. |last2=Cookson|first3=Alan R. |last3=Sadovnik|title=Education and sociology: an encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yzi-6VOVcUcC&pg=PA117|access-date=11 July 2010|year=2002|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-8153-1615-2|page=117}}</ref>

Comparisons with traditional classroom environments showed that the jigsaw classroom has positive effects on academic performance, self-esteem and attitudes towards other ethnic groups.<ref>{{citation |last1=Aronson|first1=Elliot|last2=Bridgeman|first2=Diane|title=Jigsaw Groups and the Desegregated Classroom: In Pursuit of Common Goals|journal=Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin|volume=5|issue=4|year=1979|pages=438–446|issn=0146-1672|doi=10.1177/014616727900500405|s2cid=143393196}}</ref>
The technique has since been applied in hundreds of schools across North America.<ref name=bdp /> From its initial application at third- to fifth-grade school level, it has been expanded to other educational levels. This success encouraged Aronson to apply his research to other policy issues including energy conservation and the treatment of the elderly.<ref name=bdp />
In the aftermath of the [[Columbine High School massacre]], Aronson advocated for jigsaw classrooms as part of an approach to defusing the social divisions underlying school violence.<ref name=averting />