Tribes Philosophy

The Tribes process fosters a sense of

belonging, which we believe is vital to a student's ability

to feel safe, respected, and willing to risk. Students

who feel part of a community, who value and respect

each other and their teachers, learn. It's that simple.

More than 1,000 studies on the benefits of cooperative

learning support the use of small group methods. Reports

from schools using Tribes show at least 75% reduction

in behavior problems, dramatic decline in school violence,

and increases in academic achievement. Tribes

has been studied by the Research Triangle Institute under

a U.S. Department of Education grant

and cited as a model program to teach students social

skills (first grade-high school) and for use in special

education classrooms.

Tribes is not a curriculum;

Tribes TLC® is a process,

a step-by-step sequence of strategies to achieve specific

learning goals.The Tribes process

is founded on four guiding principles:

Mutual Respect

Attentive Listening

Appreciations/No Put Downs

The Right to Pass

At Colby, we added a fifth guiding principle:

Personal Best.

Students learn a set of collaborative skills so they

can work well together in long-term groups called tribes.

The focus is on how to:

help each other work on tasks

set goals and solve

problems

monitor and assess progress

celebrate achievements.

The learning of academic material and self-responsible

behavior is assured because teachers use methods

based upon brain-compatible learning, multiple intelligences,

cooperative learning, and social development research.

At Colby, we following Tribes processes in all that

we do. Our faculty and staff also work in supportive

tribes and enjoy the resulting participatory democratic

process and creative collegiality.