Week 9 - Peer Teaching

Peer/Reciprocal Teaching in its instructional model, was not what I expected it to be entirely. Throughout my own education I believe it to be very similar to cooperative learning, except with the difference of explicitly teaching a peer something you know. However, there is much more to it than just that.

PRT is often mistaken for cooperative learning, like I had previously.

PRT is a highly inclusive instructional model that utilises the requirements of collaboration and group thinking and students providing instructional support for each other’ (McAllum 2014 p.27). Students learn to self-regulate and control their own learning and to becoming teachers of themselves through the model (Nurmi & Kokkonen 2015).

Gurvitch & Metzler (2010 p.33) states that 'students can provide many of the interactive functions of instruction, once shown/prepped by the teacher', therefore in schools, you may see this approach being utilised in a setting where the theme is 'I teach you, you teach me' (Metzler 2017). This may be in a dance unit, or perhaps a skill based less where students break down the fundamental movement skills.

It address different learning domains with the variable being whether the student is the tutor or the learner (refer to appendix 1.1).

Throughout my research into the model, I discovered that it is an ‘inclusive [approach] and enables teachers to use evidence gained through the reciprocal conversations to continually adjust and target teaching to meet the needs of [a] diverse [range of] students’ (McAllum 2014 p.32). I discovered it can also be an approach that benefits those whom usually are not privileged in a traditional-based classroom, specifically students that may have specific learning difficulties or barriers to education normally.

Appendix

Appendix 1.1

Table 1. Instructional models' teaching and learning assumptions, themes and domain priorities.*

*Snapshot of the table

(Gurvitch & Metzler 2010 p.33)

References

Gurvitch, R. and Metzler, M., 2010. Theory into practice: Keeping the purpose in mind: The implementation of instructional models in physical education settings.Strategies,23(3), pp.32-35.

Image 1 <https://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/peer-teaching/>

Image 2 <https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/featurephilia/story/peer-learning-can-students-learn-from-each-other-html-1356294-2018-10-05>

McAllum, R., 2014. Reciprocal Teaching: Critical Reflection on Practice. Kairaranga, 15(1), pp.26-35.

Metzler, M., 2017.Instructional models in physical education. Taylor & Francis.

Nurmi, A.M. and Kokkonen, M., 2015. Peers as teachers in physical education hip hop classes in Finnish high school. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 3(3), pp.23-32.