Abstract:

The paper is devoted to the development of social skills of pupils with special educational needs through cooperative teaching methods. The concept of cooperative learning was understood as structured work in pairs, or in groups with elements of positive dependence, individual responsibility associated with the process of social learning and reflection. The main goal of the survey was to find out the current state of development of social skills in the examined pupils with special educational needs and to compare it with the situation four years ago, i.e. whether they have developed. A standardized questionnaire formed by A. Mezera was used as a research tool, which maps the level of 12 social abilities of pupils. Based on the analysis of the results of the questionnaires and their comparison, it was found that the examined pupils still have considerable shortcomings in most of the expected social abilities. The greatest shortcomings among the surveyed pupils with mental disabilities were shown in their ability to praise each other, establish conversation and social contact, admit mistakes and errors, express the opposite opinion or resist the pressure of the environment. The author describes, illustrates and recommends the application of selected methods of cooperative teaching to the development of social skills of the studied pupils.

Keywords:

Social skills, pupil with special educational needs, cooperative learning, cooperative methods.