Peer teaching

PEER TEACHING

IT’S MAGIC WHEN IT HAPPENS

By Stephanie Hirschman
LinguaHouse
Apr. 8, 2024

I’ve been referring to peer teaching in various blogs recently, so it’s about time I explained what this is and why it’s so valuable. Peer teaching is when students share knowledge and insights with other students, shifting the focus from the teacher as the all-powerful expert to the learners themselves.
The benefits are self-evident: teaching something is an excellent way to consolidate a deeper understanding in oneself. Furthermore, recognizing that everyone has something to offer others in a class setting is a vital ingredient for a healthy learning environment.

Peer teaching opportunities
There are lots of ways to create opportunities for peer teaching to take place. Asking students to check answers to an exercise in pairs is a classic example of when this might occur naturally, as students debate which of them has the correct response and explain why, e.g., “It can’t be present perfect in this sentence because there’s a specific past time reference.”
Although many teachers and students may see this stage as a rather mechanical formality and even a way to spin out the lesson a little longer, it has real value, and teachers should encourage pairs to treat this as a serious step on the path to learning.
In fact, any interaction, however brief, where students converse in the target language offers opportunities to pick up new words and structures from each other or consider pronunciation. This happened to me in a Spanish class - while I was trying to formulate my own answer to a question, my partner told me their idea and I learned the useful word “sobre” (meaning about). It was exactly the word I was missing and now I’ll always remember it, and the person who I learned it from.

Make it explicit
While checking answers in pairs can be seen as leading to implicit peer teaching, it can also be more explicitly staged. For example, Linguahouse worksheets such as Smell-o-vision sometimes split vocabulary input between A/B pairs of students with the instruction to share answers after completing their halves of the exercise. Jigsaw reading activities perform a similar function. Explaining vocabulary or summarizing a text for someone else are both examples of peer teaching.
On other occasions, students are asked to share opinions, experiences or facts in pairs. In multinational classes this can develop intercultural competencies and lead to enhanced understanding. I remember a pair of students in one class who came from countries with deep-seated historical differences learning a lot from each other as they shared ideas in class over a period of weeks. They emerged with a much more positive image of each other’s countries and people.
Other types of explicit peer teaching occur when students are asked to give each other feedback on a speaking or writing task, using criteria supplied by the teacher. Linguahouse exam preparation course worksheets often ask students to evaluate their own speaking and writing, but these activities could be adapted for students to evaluate each other. This type of activity benefits both parties. In order for this to be successful, the class needs training in offering and receiving feedback, which in itself is a skill that transfers to work and social contexts. One guideline to teach and follow is that feedback should be supportive, constructive and specific.
Finally, teachers need to create a class culture that values mistakes as opportunities for learning. This can include teachers modelling mature behavior in response to mistakes; for example, students love pointing out typos on worksheets and slides and I always thank them for spotting the mistakes, and if I can, put them right immediately. We want students to react positively when a classmate disagrees with their response or cannot understand their pronunciation.

Working together
The key to promoting more incidental micro-episodes of peer teaching during lessons is to make sure that students work in pairs or groups which "gel". Students who feel intimidated by their partners will not be in the right frame of mind to learn from them; the same is true if they perceive their partner as lower level. If you can, plan pairs or breakout rooms carefully to ensure the right combinations.
It is often stated on teacher training courses that a higher-level student working with a lower-level student is the ideal setup. I’m not convinced. While this pairing certainly helps activities to move forward, it places too much responsibility on the higher-level student. Either they’re basically doing the task alone, or they’re waiting for their partner to contribute. Peer teaching does not mean asking a high-level student to teach class content. If a student’s level is much higher than others in the class, they should be moved to a different class. If that’s not possible, consider raising the general level of challenge in the lessons, or offer them differentiated or extension tasks.
I’ve also observed that relative age can be a really important consideration for students from certain L1s and cultural backgrounds. If deferring to older people is the norm in their home culture, students may be passing up opportunities to peer teach, out of respect, or unwilling to take on board ideas from younger students. This needs to be borne in mind when setting up pairs or groups.

Conclusion
We’ve seen that there may be countless opportunities for students to learn from each other in class and that peer teaching can extend beyond grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation content, as students are introduced to new information and other points of view and attitudes.
Keep your eyes and ears open for peer teaching taking place in your lessons. When it happens, take a moment to point it out and offer some praise – students may not realize how valuable these interactions are. And be sure to pat yourself on the back too – to some extent, you enabled this magic to take place.

Tags: Teaching ESL; Classroom Management

Adapted from: https://www.linguahouse.com/blog/post/peer-teaching-its-magic-when-it-happens. Accessed on April 17, 2024. © 2008–2024 LinguaHouse.com. All rights reserved.