The Power of the Social Brain

Teaching, Learning, and Interdependent Thinking

“As the authors point out, as a society and in our institutions, we spend almost no time learning how to think, learn, and work together. Thinking with others is its own skill and it is high time people thought about how to optimize this skill. This is exactly what this book seeks to do.” 

—Matthew D. Lieberman, Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles 

Research has demonstrated that cooperative learning is one of the most highly effective teaching strategies, while new findings from neuroscience confirm the brain’s natural inclination to think socially. But simply putting students in a group is not enough. The authors of The Power of the Social Brain see “interdependent thinking” as the missing piece of the collaborative puzzle. This authoritative book provides practical strategies, informed by research from neuroscience and education, to help groups function more effectively and thoughtfully. By adding the “cognitive dimension” to cooperative learning, this book will help readers apply new protocols and strategies for more successful, affirming, and productive group work in classrooms and professional educational learning communities.

Book Features:

• Fresh parallel insights on interdependent thinking from the arts, architecture, business, the community, and sports.


• Approaches for leveraging cooperative learning to improve thinking, problem solving, performance, and mutual support across a wide range of settings, including classrooms, teams, and professional learning communities.


• Instructional strategies from experienced classroom teachers for teaching young people to think and work interdependently at home and at school.


• Reflective questions at the end of each section to help guide thinking, stimulate conversation, and catalyze change within a learning community or classroom.

Contributors include Robert J. Garmston, Shirley M. Hord, David Hyerle, Bena Kallick, Laura Lipton, Patricia A. Roy, William A. Sommers, Bruce Wellman, Judy Willis, Pat Wolfe, and other experienced practitioners.

Arthur L.Costa is a national and international leader in the area of thinking. Pat Wilson O’Leary is a consultant in school districts across the country to facilitate the implementation of cooperation among students and adults. Together, they have collaborated over the past 32 years co-training cooperative learning, cognitive coaching, and Habits of Mind.