The Use of Cooperative Learning as a Social Enhancer in Physical Education

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the cooperative teaching method on the development of social helping behaviour. An experiment was conducted over 9 months, 2 hours a week, in 1989-1990 with four groups of 11-year-old girls. In groups 1 and 2, the cooperative teaching method was used and the pupils did their physical exercises in pairs. One of the pair did the task, while the other observed and helped in physical and psychological ways. The aim was to learn together as well as possible. In Group 1 (n = 20) the girls were systematically assigned new partners every 3 weeks. In Group 2 (n = 24) the girls themselves chose their partners for every lesson. Group 3 (n = 27) worked individually. The Control Group (n = 24) were given no information or instructions from the researcher. The results showed that the pupils in Group 1 were more willing and motivated to help and give physical and psychological support, give instructions and correct errors than the other groups. The results from Group 2 were unexpected. It would seem that working with the same person all the time does not promote social development. The study suggests that it is possible to develop helping behaviour, even in school, if children are given the opportunity to practise it with several other children.