OPTIMIZATION OF GROUP COHESION THROUGH RESTRUCTURING SOCIAL NETWORKS BY USING MOTOR SKILL GAMES IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION LESSON

Abstract

The class of pupils has all the features specific to a primary social group; and high-cohesion groups are considered to be capable of establishing much easier their performance standards. The premise of our experimental study started from the belief that physical education is one of the disciplines which might substantially contribute to the pupils’ personal and social development. The experiment we conducted, consisted in implementing, in the physical-education lessons, a set of 6 categories of motor skill games, applied to the 9^th-10^th grades, for three semesters, with a view to improving the group cohesion, as well as the participating pupils’ interpersonal relations and personality traits. The research data highlighted the efficiency of our teaching approach, leading to the conclusion that the higher cohesion of the class of pupils, the improvement of the interpersonal relations, and the development of the personality traits – all these may be achieved by adequately taking over several categories of motor skill games, originating in non-formal education.