Peer teaching is becoming popular day by day. Peer-to-peer tutoring helps students learn any subject with a more positive attitude. Moreover, it also helps them to become more confident in themselves. Teachers all over the world have recognized the benefits of peer tutoring. That is why students also prefer this method of teaching. 

In this article, we will discuss why you should choose peer tutors to learn any subject by focusing on the benefits of peer tutoring. But before that, let’s understand how peer-to-peer tutoring works.

Peer-to-peer Tutoring – What is it and How it Works?

The goal of peer tutoring is to help students practice academic skills and master content by pairing them up with another student. For teachers on a larger campus, peer tutoring may help cater to students who need specific attention. However, nowadays, peer tutoring is being used even outside the campus to gain its overall benefits for all students.

Types of Peer Teaching

• One-Way Peer Teaching – This refers to teaching a student any disorder by a trained tutor. This method helps children with disabilities like autism, visual impairment, or disorders like dyslexia or ADHD.

• Two-Way Peer Teaching – This method encourages pairing up two children one with a disability and another without a disability and teaching each other. Each of the students gets to play the role of a teacher and take active participation in the method.

• Class Wide Peer Teaching – This is commonly practiced in schools and colleges. The teacher groups the entire class into pairs. The goal of each pair is to help each other in learning the chapter or understanding a topic. This method is highly beneficial since each student gets an opportunity to role-play.

• Cross-age Peer Tutoring – This teaching method is becoming more popular day by day.  Under this method, a senior student with higher intelligence and knowledge of a subject teaches a junior student. The younger students tend to feel more comfortable while being tutored by a student. 

Some Peer Teaching Strategies 

• Roleplay
• Using prompts
• Goal- Setting
• Reward System
• Reciprocal peer tutoring or RPT

5 Reasons Why You Should Choose Peer Tutors

• Motivational Benefits

Students do not feel intimidated when learning from peer tutors. Moreover, they tend to be more engaged and active in the sessions. Thus, it helps the students to avoid test anxiety or academic stress. The students tend to become more confident about themselves and learn in a fear-free environment. Therefore, they can show improvement not only in their academic score but also in their mental development.

• Near Peers as Role Models

Near peer role models or NPRMs are the people whom we tend to compare in terms of age or experience. Peer tutors can be the best role models for learners. Students tend to relate to them personally and this gives them the motivation to achieve what their peer tutors have achieved. NPRMs can be of the same age or same gender or same background. They have the power of boosting the motivation of the learners.

• Better Learning Habits

In addition to offering valuable study and time management advice, peer tutors can also help students navigate their academic and personal responsibilities. Learners tend to develop better learning habits by learning the correct approach to different subjects. Better learning habits help students perform well in their exams. Besides, it also helps them excel in their career. Thus, peer teaching helps learners achieve both their academic and career goals.

• Improves Social Skills

One of the best benefits of peer tutoring is that it encourages the learners to be active in an engaging and interactive learning session. When a student teaches other students to learn a skill or a topic, they both start interacting with each other. Continuous interactions with peers help the learners develop effective communication skills. Thus, it helps in improving social skills. Moreover, peer tutoring is said to reduce anti-social behavior in students.  So, there is no doubt that developed countries are now focusing more on peer teaching.

• Helps Students with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder or ADHD

Peer teaching strategy has a great effect on students with ADHD. Students with ADHD struggle with attention and social skills. Peer-to-peer Tutoring can help these students build strong relationships. Moreover, it can also help them to engage in conversations and improve their communication and social skills.

Peer teaching is one of the most innovative and effective methods of teaching that benefits both the teachers and the learners. So, many apps and websites are offering peer-to-peer teaching sessions online and offline. My Tutor aims to connect students from different schools and grades through peer-to-peer Tutoring. You can get all the required information from the website. Similarly, you can even download the My Tutor app to register either as a learner or a peer tutor.