Attitude of physical education teachers toward cooperative learning depending on the ownership and teaching experience

Abstract

Cooperative tasks enhance learning, interaction and communication amongst students. Thus, this research aims to analyze the attitude of Physical Education teachers towards cooperative learning and possible improvements in different qualities in relation to ownership of the teaching center and teaching experience. The sample was made up of 455 Physical Education teachers (70.8% men and 29.2% women, aged from 30 to 50), and an inferential statistical analysis was carried out using different tests (ANOVA and Welch). The results of this investigation show that the attitude of the teachers who work in state schools is more positive than those working in semi-private schools as regards improvement of responsibility (p=.002) and group discussion (p=.000). Additionally, teachers who teach in state schools consider that cooperative learning improves group communications (p=.000) and group cohesion (p=.001) to a greater extent than teachers who work in semi-private and private schools. Moreover, the teachers with less teaching experience have a more positive attitude towards cooperative learning than the teachers who have more teaching experience, because the former consider that this method improves different skills in the students, such as socialization and social interaction, the acquisition of habits of coexistence, responsibility and co-responsibility, interpersonal relationships, group discussion, etc.