Cooperative learning in the field of getting to know and understanding the world around us and in teaching science and social studies

Abstract

Cooperative learning enables the process of construction or co-construction of knowledge, contributes to the development of self-regulation in learning and supports learning in the sociocultural context. Research has shown that despite the observed positive effects of cooperative learning, practitioners are still reluctant to plan their teaching practice and teach using cooperative learning activities. This paper presents the results of a research aimed at examining the prevalence of cooperative learning of children aged 5 to 10 in the field of learning about and understanding the world around us and teaching Science and Social Studies, as well as examining the attitudes of preschool and primary school teachers towards the benefits and weaknesses of cooperative learning. The results of the research, which were obtained using a systematic observation and scaling, indicate: that the representation of cooperative learning in our educational practice is very low, that there is a certain connection between the representation of cooperative learning and the nature of the teaching content, and that the importance of cooperative learning is recognized by teachers when it comes to achieving social well-being, and to a lesser extent when it comes to achieving the personal well-being of children.

Keywords

• cooperative learning
• field of getting to know and understanding the world around us
• teaching science and social studies
• the context of learning and teaching
• the nature of the learning content.