Part of life at school asks children to try to do better than other children. But another very important part of school and later life is working with and helping other people. Children learn well in both ways.
Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) means having children help other children to learn. Sometimes older children help younger children, and sometimes more able children help less able children of the same age.
It is important that Peer Assisted Learning is set up in a way that makes sure that the student who is helping gets something out of it, as well as the student who is helped.
Peer Assisted Learning is used for only a small part of the school day. Research shows it increases the effectiveness of regular teaching by the class teacher, which still forms by far the biggest part of schooling.
The idea of Peer Assisted Learning is a very old one. Today, Peer Assisted Learning is spreading rapidly in many parts of the world.
Many Peer Assisted Learning projects work on reading, the most important skill of all. But Peer Assisted Learning has also been used with a very wide range of other subjects, including mathematics, spelling, writing, languages, science, thinking skills and computer skills. If it is organized properly, the helpers gain as much as, if not more than, the students who are helped. So helpers are not just being 'used'. To be able to help in a subject, you have to really get to understand it well and be able to explain it. So helping helps the helpers learn faster, too.
There is no doubt that Peer Assisted Learning 'works'. There is a lot of research over many years proving that in Peer Assisted Learning projects, the helpers improve in the subject area as much, if not more than, the students who are helped, but at their own level. Many studies show that Peer Assisted Learning also improves how both helper and helped feel about the subject area - they get to like it more. Also, in many cases the helper and helped grow to like each other more, and get on better. There are also many reports of both helper and helped showing more confidence. The research clearly shows that peer helping is a highly effective way of using school time.
Some projects have helpers and helped students of the same age, and some have older children as the helpers. If the helpers and helped are not too far apart in age and ability, there is more chance of the helper improving in the subject as well. Some schools are now also organizing Peer Assisted Learning with pairs of the same ability, where the job of helper switches from one to the other (this needs very careful planning).
Peer Assisted Learning takes time and care to set up properly, and it is the professional teacher who has the skill to do this. Careful plans must be made for matching students, finding the right sort of materials, training helping and helped students, and many other points of organization. However, this time is worthwhile, to ensure the Peer Assisted Learning is very effective. Like any other way of effective teaching or managing learning, setting up peer helper projects needs enthusiasm, careful planning and hard work on the part of the teacher. Peer Assisted Learning is not an easy option.
Some elementary schools are now offering all young children the chance to be helped by a peer, and all the older children the chance to be a helper. This serves to settle the young children into the school socially, and gives a boost to the older children, who feel very grown-up and responsible. Peer Assisted Learning is often more and more popular with children as they move up through the school. For many pairs, Peer Assisted Learning has good spin-off in terms of better social harmony and more interest in other subject areas.
Topping, K. J. (2000). Peer Assisted Learning: A practical guide for teachers. Cambridge, MA: Brookline Books.
Topping, K. J. (2001). Thinking, Reading, Writing: A practical guide to paired learning with peers, parents & volunteers. Continuum International: New York & London.