The existing research shows that adequate tutor training is an important part of peer counseling programs.
Student -2- student is an after-school peer counseling program implemented by a middle school in California. With the help of excellent eighth-grade students, it provides students with counseling in all subjects. Student -2- Students are selective when recruiting tutors. Qualified eighth-grade students who meet the minimum GPA requirements and show high citizenship must complete the application process and obtain the approval of the teacher before they can be paired with students with difficulties. Then, the project consultant matches the tutor with the student according to who looks suitable academically and socially. Tutors receive high-quality training and cooperate with students in an effective way.
The program significantly improved the scores of all participants in the core theme letters. In the evaluation of the plan, participants also showed an enhanced sense of responsibility, the completion of homework and a significant improvement in work habits.
2. Use the reward system.
In another peer teaching program, the sixth-grade students of general reading education courses in middle schools in central and western cities are assigned to a pair of people with the same ability or a pair of middle schools. In this program, high-achievement students and low-achievement students study successfully together. Similar to student -2- student, students receive training before tutoring.
Different from the common practice of peer counseling, this peer counseling program includes a reward system to encourage students to participate and complete tasks. During the course, the teacher supervises all activities and issues lottery tickets to students who perform well in counseling or task behavior. Students write their names on the tickets they won and collect them every week. Every weekend, the teacher will draw the names of several students, and each student can choose a small prize from a box of cheap toys.
The evaluation of the whole class peer counseling model with good behavior reward shows that students' letter scores have been significantly improved. A lottery system to strengthen participation and task behavior is displayed to overcome the challenge to students' enthusiasm.
3. Emphasis on confidentiality, active reinforcement and sufficient response time.
Student -2- Student's tutor is taught to show three important things in any given tutorial: confidentiality, positive reinforcement and sufficient reaction time when asking questions. During the training, instructors are also instructed to explain the direction, design extra exercises, pay attention to and correct mistakes, and provide positive feedback and encouragement.
4. Choose study exercises and appropriate tools.
Simply grouping or pairing students and telling them to "work together" will not automatically produce results. You must consciously arrange learning exercises and choose the right tools for them. Only in this way can students really participate in peer learning and benefit from peer teaching.
5. Use group strategy:
In order to promote successful peer learning, teachers can choose from a series of strategies:
Buzz Groups: Divide a large group of students into groups of 4-5 people and think about a problem. After about 20 minutes of discussion, one member of each group introduced the findings of the group to the whole group.
Affinity group: 4-5 students in each group are assigned specific tasks and work outside the official contact time. Show the group's findings to the whole counseling group at the next formal meeting with teachers, groups or group representatives.
Answer and comment group: one group is assigned a topic for discussion in the course, and other groups form "critics", who observe, provide comments and evaluate the group's statements.
"Teaching-Writing-Discussion": At the end of a teaching unit, students must give short answers? Ask short questions and prove their answers. After completing the questions individually, the students compare their answers with each other. Subsequently, the whole class discussed and examined a series of answers that still seemed reasonable and the reasons for their validity.
6. Use role-playing and modeling.
In the first week of the sixth grade reading project, the project staff explained the counseling procedure and lottery, simulated the various components of the project, and effectively demonstrated the methods of praising and correcting peers through role-playing.
7. Emphasize the importance of active learning.
At present, many learning institutions are promoting teaching methods involving "active" learning, which provide students with opportunities to ask their own questions, discuss problems, explain their views and participate in cooperative learning through teamwork to solve problems and projects. Criticism, role-playing, debate, case analysis and comprehensive projects are other exciting and effective teaching strategies, which can stimulate students' enthusiasm and encourage their peers to learn.