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Teaching
Cooperation through Elementary School
Physical Education
"All
for one, one for all" - Alexandre
Dumas
Today's elementary schools are diverse,
dynamic environments that can be a challenge
to teach in. Some of the many challenges
that elementary school educators face
include: successfully engaging students
in the learning process, multicultural
diversity in classrooms and communities,
and educational programs promoting the
inclusion of all children. It is these
kinds of challenges that have led many
of us to explore, or at least consider,
different approaches to our teaching
in order to achieve best
practice for the students
in our classes.
Cooperative learning is a teaching
approach with the goal of helping all
students attain the educational standards
and interpersonal skills required for
successful involvement in a multicultural,
diverse, and inclusive world. As we
all know, cooperative learning involves
organizing students into learning groups
for particular periods of time or for
set tasks. This is coupled with the
expectation that all the students will
contribute to the learning process and
the associated learning outcomes (Metzler,
2000).
Why Cooperative Learning?
A considerable volume of research has
been conducted on the effectiveness
of cooperative learning; in fact the
number of studies is over 600! A few
of the benefits of cooperative learning
over competitive or individualistic
instructional approaches include: higher
achievement levels, increased productivity,
higher-level reasoning, greater creation
of new ideas and solutions, better transfer
of learning, more time-on-task, and
improved personal relationships.
Although there has been a wealth of
research on cooperative learning in
many school curricula areas, there has
been relatively little generated in
the area of physical education (Metzler,
2000). Mawer (1999)
stated some of the benefits achieved
with a cooperative learning approach
in physical education are the development
of interpersonal and social skills,
and improved time-on-task. Therefore,
the potential for it as a teaching approach
in physical education should not be
lost on physical educators. The very
nature of physical education content
lends great potential for the use of
cooperative learning as a teaching approach
(Rink, 1993).
This is because our programs allow cooperative
learning opportunities to positively
impact student learning in all three
domains: affective, cognitive, and psychomotor.
Brown and Grineski (1992),
in a position paper concerning the negative
effects of competition in physical education
programs, stated that students have
been consistently involved in numerous
competitive activities based on the
premise that society in general is competitive.
They further suggested that societal
daily activities tend to be far more
cooperative in nature. Employers in
today's workplaces actively recruit
and hire employees who have interpersonal,
pro-social, and personal communication
skills. However, nearly two decades
later, it can be argued that the physical
education programs provided for present
day schoolchildren continue to be dominated
by competition.
Elimination games are still found in
the gymnasia and on the playing fields
of our schools. It is commonly accepted
that a major goal of physical education
programs is the development of motor
skills, and that the provision of extensive
and appropriate practice is a necessity
for this to occur. Yet, competitive
activities are normally associated with
minimal practice experiences and limited
equipment, thereby reducing the opportunity
for motor skill learning. The practice
of just throwing out a ball and letting
the game begin (with minimal or no teaching
present) does little to promote student
learning. A teaching environment where
one child wins at the expense of everyone
else, or where the majority of children
spend considerable amounts of time uninvolved
and observing others, is not encouraging
the promotion of motor skills or the
enjoyment of physical activity for life-long
healthy living.
For true learning to occur during physical
education teachers need to use approaches
that provide for numerous practice opportunities.
These approaches need to encourage the
development of the motor skills necessary
for successful involvement in physical
activity, while also fostering a love
of movement that will continue with
the child into their adult life. Maximizing
learning opportunities is an ideal that
cooperative learning can promote.
Words of Caution
Rink (1993) does,
however, provide a word of caution for
us concerning cooperative learning experiences
in physical education classes. She suggests
that it is possible for teachers to
design cooperative experiences that
support some of the social and affective
goals in physical education without
students learning physical education
content. Rink further states that cooperative
learning experiences need to be designed
so they contribute, not only to the
social and affective goals of physical
education, but also to the psychomotor
goals.
Additionally, it needs to be understood
that the simple provision of group activities
in physical education classes will not
provide children with the benefits associated
with cooperative learning. This is because
not all group and partner activities
constitute cooperative learning. Physical
education teachers need to be aware
of a number of factors that are required
to successfully implement cooperative
learning in their teaching. First, it
requires the teacher to commit time
to the process. Without the commitment
to assist the development of interaction
and communication skills, teachers attempting
to utilize cooperative learning in their
classes might not achieve the goals
associated with this teaching approach.
Outlined below are additional factors
necessary to enhance cooperative learning
in the classroom.
Using Cooperative Learning
Effectively in Physical Education
The selection of groups is a vital ingredient
in the success of cooperative learning
situations, and is also an integral
thread throughout all five of the essential
elements. Students need to be grouped
heterogeneously, resembling the gender,
socio-economic, skill level, and multicultural
diversity of the class. Smaller groups
offer greater advantages in the amount
of participation allowed. For example,
pairs or trios promote maximum participation
and increased opportunities for communication
and involvement. The choosing of group
members is also an important issue;
teacher assigned groups or random grouping
are more effective than student-selected
groupings.
The Five Elements
For maximum benefit of participation,
all cooperative learning activities
need to comprise the following five
key elements.
1) Positive
Interdependence - Structure
tasks so students are dependent on each
other to achieve their goals (e.g. establish
common goals, divide work equally, limit
resources to promote sharing, require
a group effort, and conduct evaluation
on group performance).
2) Individual Accountability
- Hold students accountable for their
actions and decisions. (e.g., activities
should require the effort and knowledge
of all the group members so group members
will participate and contribute to their
full ability).
3) Face-to-Face Interaction
- Provide opportunities for students
to support, encourage, and praise one
another in their learning. This can
assist in higher achievement and the
establishment of better personal relationships.
Group size is vital to this element
of cooperative learning. Meaningful
face-to-face interaction cannot occur
with large group size; groups with 2-4
members are an ideal size.
4) Collaborative Skills
- Collaborative skills include listening,
conflict resolution, supporting others,
taking turns, and sharing. Simply telling
students to work together, to take turns,
and to listen to others will not work.
Collaborative skills need to be modeled,
verbalized, and reinforced by teachers
and delivered in a systematic manner
(similar to how other academic concepts
and skills are taught).
5) Group Processing
- Group processing refers to the time
allotted for discussing the experiences
being presented to the students. Group
members can discuss what actions were
helpful, or unhelpful, and make suggestions
about possible behaviours or decisions
for future experiences (e.g. verbal
reflection occurs at the end of an activity
to demonstrate understanding and facilitates
the development of social skills).
The ability for achieving successful
cooperative learning decreases unless
all of these essential elements are
present. Therefore, plan to include
and provide for all of these elements
in your teaching to ensure optimum student
learning experiences.
The potential, and need, for elementary
school teachers to include cooperative
learning experiences in their physical
education classes is immense. Essential
features of a quality elementary school
physical education program include student-centred
activities and instruction that support
and develop:
- skill learning
- self-management and self-discipline
- the inclusion of all students
- personal responsibility
- cooperation and diversity
Cooperative learning experiences, if
taught correctly, can foster the development
of these skills in children. During
the elementary school years much of
the development of skills, attitude,
and knowledge in the affective, cognitive,
and psychomotor domains takes place.
Therefore, the inclusion of cooperative
learning experiences in elementary school
physical education classes can only
serve to support the overall development
of children to their full potential.
The 1990s saw an emergence of concern
from respected leaders of physical education
regarding the future of the field. To
survive such issues as competition for
space in school timetables, financial
cutbacks, and a general lack of understanding
of its importance, physical education
teaching needed to change. It needed
to become more student-centred with
a concerted focus on student learning,
or face the possibility of elimination.
As we near the end of the 21st century's
first decade, one can argue that we
still face such questions concerning
our future. Consequently, it is time
for physical education teachers to seriously
look at the successful engagement of
all students in learning. The inclusion
of cooperative learning experiences
is one way that the quality of physical
education programs can be enhanced and
create the changes necessary to pre-empt
the predicted demise of the only school
curricula that impacts the whole child
- physical education!
References
Brown, L., & Grineski, S. (1992).
Competition in physical education: An
educational contradiction? Journal
of Physical Education, Recreation &
Dance, 63 (1), 17-19, 77.
Dumas, A. (1906). The
three musketeers. London: J.
M. Dent.
Mawer, M. (1999). Teaching styles and
teaching approaches in physical education:
Research developments. In C. A. Hardy
& M. Mawer (Eds.), Learning
and teaching in physical education,
(83-104). London: Falmer Press.
Metzler, M. W. (2000). Instructional
models for physical education.
Massachusetts: Allyn and Bacon
Rink, J. E. (1993). Teaching
physical education for learning.
St. Louis: Mosby Year Book.
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