Tematização dos jogos cooperativos numa abordagem de educação para a saúde: um experimento didático nas aulas de educação física nos anos finais do Ensino Fundamental

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze how the thematization of cooperative games, based on a health education approach and guided by the theory of salutogenesis, can contribute to fostering reflections on the promotion of mental health among students in the final years of elementary school in Physical Education classes. The research was developed through a qualitative approach, using the formative didactic experiment as a research method, grounded in the theory of developmental teaching. The study was conducted in a public municipal school in Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil, with a group of 6th-grade elementary school students. The following instruments were used for data production: teaching plan, field notes, discussion circles, students’ productions, and mood cards. The pedagogical intervention consisted of implementing a teaching unit focused on cooperative games within a health education approach, emphasizing reflections on mental health promotion over the course of eight classes. The results indicate that the thematization of cooperative games promoted the strengthening of social bonds, increased student engagement, contributed to the development of a sense of belonging, and enabled reflections related to cooperation, self-esteem, and social interaction. As an educational product of the research, a pedagogical handbook was developed, organizing theoretical foundations, methodological guidelines, and study task proposals for the thematization of cooperative games from a health education perspective. This material aims to provide theoretical and methodological support for teaching practices involving cooperative games oriented toward health education in the school context. It is concluded that Physical Education teaching, when guided by critical frameworks and a salutogenic perspective, can become a powerful space for health education, fostering reflections on mental health promotion in the school context by articulating bodily, emotional, and social dimensions of human development.