Abstract:

The Cooperative Learning started its diffusion in schools in the mid-60 's of the previous century. Along his journey it has met many oppositions but, despite of resistance, it has spread in recent years, in the University context, as well as in all school levels. The reasons for this success can be found in the close relationship among theory, research and application that characterizes this area of study (Johnson, Johnson and Smith .2007). In the Italian context the situation is particular: school level, application of cooperative practices seems to have had a gradual spread; in terms of research, we observe this phenomenon with some perplexity due perhaps to perceive , in the various models proposed, a substantial presence of behaviorist array, in contrast with cognitive and constructivist sociocultural paradigms, landmarks of Italian educational research in recent years.
The Italian school system suggests, among the objectives at both national and local level, to use in class active learning processes. Students should exchange ideas, explore different viewpoints, share their findings and prepare individual and group processes. Unfortunately, in practice, teaching and learning are far from these expectations. For most of the time the teachers hold lectures, explain, pose questions to the entire class and control tasks, manage totally the lesson and it is very rare that students have the opportunity to start a speech.
The CL is an effective response to this condition. It is primarily as a collection of educational principles which, in a systemic perspective, define how students can learn from each other while working together in the creation of schoolwork (Boekaerts, be binding on, Vedder .2006). Learn to coordinate efforts with a view to common purposes can be a condition of improved educational performance (Comoglio .1998). One of the main factors that determine the students ' school success is the ability to read and comprehend written text. Reading is one of the ways through which our thinking knows the reality; it is the tool that allows you to acquire new ways and new procedures to process the information and organize experience. It represents, together with the writing, an essential component of cognitive development through which man manages the text and its content, and then develop them.
In those circumstances, in the following paper, the study group presents a field survey carried out in some primary school classes and conducted through the application of "Complex Instruction" by Elizabeth Cohen in order to verify: on one hand whether and how the application of cooperative method causes effects on pro-social behaviors of pupils, promoting solidarity and altruistic relationships; on the other hand to observe to what extent this methodology can improve comprehension of the written text.

Keywords:

Cooperative learning, pro-social conduct, reading comprehension, sociocultural paradigms.