Cooperative learning model for the improvement of emotional intelligence in primary education students in physical education

The aim of this study was to assess the effects on the three Emotional Intelligence dimensions of an intervention of the pedagogical model of Cooperative Learning in Physical Education. A total of 29 students from a public Primary School in the southeast of Spain, with an average age of 11.20 (+/- .41 years), participated. The instrument used was the Trait-Meta Mood Scale (TMMS), reduced version, adapted to the Spanish population by Fernandez-Berrocal et al. (2004). The study followed a pre-post design, without a control group, through the implementation of a cooperative teaching unit of eight sessions using the alternative sport of Ultimate Frisbee. The results showed significant improvement in the three dimensions of Emotional Intelligence, in addition to finding 100% fidelity, by two researchers external to the intervention, in the validation of the Cooperative Learning didactic unit. As a main conclusion, the importance of cooperative interventions in a natural context for the improvement of emotional skills of attention, clarity of feelings and emotional repair of students in Primary Education in Physical Education is highlighted.