Social Adjustment and Cooperative Work in Primary Education: Teachers' and Parents' View // Adaptación y trabajo cooperativo en el alumnado de educación primaria desde la percepción del profesorado y la familia

Abstract

Cooperative work is useful in education, as it has a positive impact on students' social, emotional and academic spheres. This study aims at assessing whether working in Cooperative Groups (CG) in class promotes prosocial and adaptive behaviour, and decreases maladaptation in Primary Education (PE) students. Participants in the study were 78 students attending 3rd and 4th Year of PE. The effectiveness of the intervention -from the perception of teachers and family- was assessed by using a pre-test/post-test design with a Non-Intervened Group (NIG). Results were analysed through an Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). Results were more significant from teachers' perception than from family's perception in the variables: prosocial, adaptive and maladaptive behaviour. The intervention has proven to be effective in improving prosocial and adaptive behaviour in students. However, differences are observed between the perception of teachers and family when assessing the behaviour of children.