Peer learning bridges knowledge gap

Peer learning enhances learning capabilities, says study by NGO

Overcoming fears: Students performing at ‘Little Leaders – Little Teachers’ orientation camp organised by Vandemataram Foundation.

Addressing the need to improve the learning levels of the school students a civil society organisation has started a campaign to promote peer-learning.

Vandemataram Educational Research and Training Centre (VERTC) in Aksharavanam based at Kalwakurthy in Nagarkurnool district has for the past two years experimented on approaches of peer learning with good results, which are reflected in significantly increasing the students’ learning ability.

A study conducted by academic groups indicated that as many as 85% of the students are not learning as they were unable to connect with what their teachers were teaching for 85% of their classroom time, vice-president of the Vandemataram Foundation V. Sripathi Reddy told The Hindu during his recent visit here.

Teacher orientation

It is neither the teacher nor the student to blame, the problem lies in the growing disconnect between the two, he said. “At VERTC we have done research and have conducted pilot projects and even orientation camps for the students of various government schools for the past two years,” he added.

Last year as many as 1,600 students from government schools were trained by the VERTC in Mahaboobnagar district in a 40-day training camp. During the training period the higher learning ability students taught the lower learning ability students.

“All our efforts and experiences have endorsed the fact that peer group learning is very effective and the Teaching-Learning programme through our ‘Little Leaders – Little Teachers’ initiative held in various schools has paid rich dividends in the form of enhanced learning among the students,” Mr. Reddy said.

Facilitator role

VERTC has designed activities for the children and teachers in such a way that students can learn from their initial levels to their expected levels through practice in peer groups monitored by the student teachers.

In this system the teacher plays the role of a facilitator instead of a teacher and the student will try to address the problems among themselves and reach the teacher if it was beyond their level of comprehension.

They are learning from the fellow students without any hesitation or inhibitions, he added.

“This programme which was initially designed for the learning of mathematics yielded wonderful results.

The students enjoyed learning on their own at their own pace without the fear of being stamped as dullards or losers,” Mr. Reddy said.

“The lower learning ability students were able to shed their fear of mathematics and they started to get curious about it. They began practising math with confidence and a new found zeal to learn,” he added.

The learning was not confined to learning mathematics. Once they felt confident about their inquisitiveness and realised they were capable of learning, they made great progress in other subjects also.

The gap between a teacher and a student is reduced in this system, Mr. Reddy said.