Prepared by,

Neetha J. Punamadam
Sem 1, English Optional
B.Ed 2019-21
Titus 11 Teachers College,
Tiruvalla
 PEER TUTORING
• Peer- Someone belonging to the same group.
• Peer tutoring- Educational assistance method or an
academic support programme.
• A teaching relationship between two or more
students in a group where one of the students act as
a tutor for the other(s)
• Tutee (Peer) + Tutor (Peer) = Peer Tutoring
• One student (tutor) with advanced knowledge of a
particular subject tutoring another student (tutee)
who needs assistance in that subject.
 Background
• First introduced by Andrew Bell (educator) in 1795.
• Been a popular choice for mixed ability classrooms
ever since.
• Falls under the category of ‘social constructivism’.
 Definitions of Peer Tutoring
• The system of instruction in which learners help each
other and learn by teaching. (Goodlad and Hearst)
• The process of having learners help each other on a
one-to-one basis. (Dueck)
• It is the acquisition of knowledge and skill through
active helping and supporting among matched
companions. (Topping)
 Characteristics
• Tutor- more knowledgeable, skilled and has the
ability to influence others.
• In teaching- learning situations, to tutor means to
coach, teach or instruct another or do so among
themselves.
• Actively engages students in learning.
• Promotes mastery, accuracy and fluency in content
learning.
• Group must be close in age, skills and learning styles.
 Types of Peer Tutoring
• Incidental Peer Tutoring
• Structured Peer Tutoring
• Unidirectional Peer Tutoring
• Reciprocal (bi-directional) Peer Tutoring
• Class-wide Peer Tutoring
• Cross-age Peer Tutoring
 Incidental Peer Tutoring
• Takes place when a student guides some of his group
members to learn something by the way they interact
in or out of the class
• For eg., tutoring taking place when Ram shares some
tips on how to improve fielding performance in the
playground
 Structured Peer Tutoring
• Takes place when peer tutoring is
implemented in specific cases and
for specific subjects, following a
well-structured plan prepared by
the teacher.
• When a trained peer tutor teaches
linguistics to his classmates, as
planned by their English teacher,
it is Structured Peer Tutoring
Unidirectional Peer Tutoring
• Here a trained tutor teaches the entire time, and
the child with some disability remains the
student in pair.
• When John takes up the role of peer tutor by
assisting his blind classmate Abram throughout
the year, it is Unidirectional Peer Tutoring
Reciprocal Peer Tutoring
• It takes place when the students
in a peer team exchange their
roles as tutor and tutee.
• Eg., When Roshan teaches
Matthew Commerce, and
Matthew, in return teaches
Roshan Economics.
Class-wide Peer Tutoring

• This type of peer tutoring involves

breaking the entire class into pairs.
• Each student participates in
reciprocal peer tutoring by
providing prompts, error correction
and help to their partner
Cross-age Peer Tutoring
• Occurs when an older child is chosen to teach
a younger child.
• More effective type of peer tutoring
Framework
 Setting goals: Lay down the specific curriculum goals
and objectives.

 Selecting and structuring the content: Select the

subject area, instructional materials and then
organize the matter logically

 Scheduling of tutoring: Select the peer teams, set up

classroom tutoring environment
 Tutor training: Train students in roles of tutor and
tutee

 Remediation: Conduct further discussion regarding

pair behaviours

 Logistic support: Keep the scheme as simple as

possible by optimizing time, space and resources.
Ensure efficient planning and coordination,
minimum conflict and overlapping
Ideas for Peer Tutoring
• Discussion and Technology Activities
*Think-Pair-Share
*Internet Tour Guide

• Writing Activities
*New Endings
 Merits of Peer Tutoring

• Allows active learning and pupil enjoyment

• Inculcate sense of responsibility in students and
reduces misbehaviour in the class
• Improves pupils’ self confidence and self-esteem
• Provides opportunities for leadership and social
responsibility, promotes interpersonal relationship
• Improves classroom motivation through active
participation and reward system
• Promotes the development of higher level of
thinking skills
• Leads to better performance in exams
• Demonstrate higher level of cognitive reasoning
• Provides strategies to accommodate diverse learning
groups
 Demerits of Peer Tutoring
• The lack of time reduces the systematic peer training
and on-going evaluation and monitoring
• Permits lesser content coverage compared to teacher-
led instruction
• The tutees, often labelled as less capable than tutors
tend to resist being tutored by age mates
• Success largely depends upon tutor preparation
• Requires more organizational time
• ‘Over tutoring’ might create a negative situation
• A chance for cheating might happen
Suggestions
Care in choosing the tutor- key factor
Teacher should be around to observe how the tutoring
is progressing
Individual or group tutoring may be considered
depending on the level of difficulty of the lesson
Avoid negative interactions
After a tutoring activity, an evaluation of both parties’
performance should be undertaken in order to guide
future tutoring events