Buddy+Program+and+Peer+Tutoring

**Buddy Program and Peer Tutoring**
Peer tutoring through buddy programs can been used as a method of including special/additional needs students in mainstream classes, while increasing many facets of their academic and social achievements. In special education, peer tutoring is described as a process where one student instructs another who has a learning difficulty, disability or special need (Temple & Lynnes, 2008). With only 17% of students with special/additional needs attending mainstream schools receiving in class support, buddy based peer tutoring allows teachers and learning assistants to direct their specialised attention to students who require individualised one-on-one assistance (Burks, 2004).

While used predominantly in primary school settings, buddy peer tutoring has the potential to be adapted for secondary schooling. As outlined by Temple & Lynnes (2008), there are a number of models of peer tutoring that can prove effective and any one of these models could be used to include special/additional needs students in a mainstream class environment.


 * 1) **Bi-directional/reciprocal:** each of the members of the pair alternate roles between being the tutor and being the student. Only certain members of the class are involved in the program.
 * 2) **Class wide tutoring:** this involves breaking the whole class into buddy pairs. This is one of the best options in regards to an inclusive setting, as certain students are not singled out in front of their peers and as a future teacher is a promising option.
 * 3) **Uni-directional:** one student in the pair is trained to facilitate the learning environemnt and permanently takes on the role of the tutor.

media type="youtube" key="pw2iJyzRdbQ" height="314" width="382" align="center"

//This video shows one way of setting up the classroom for Class wide peer tutoring//

While peer tutoring can be used beneficially in regards to a wide range of special needs, it is Autism Spectrum Disorders that see the greatest improvements (Laushey & Heflin, 2000). Autism is a condition that is characterised in the classroom by students who lack developed social skills and who have an inability to imitate the behaviour of their peers and those around them (Laushey & Heflin, 2000). In order to combat this, Laushey & Heflin (2000) found that students with Autism benefit from interaction with peers without autism, therefore buddy peer tutoring has been found to increase the positive social interaction between peers. Through using the class wide model of peer tutoring, students are able to see academic improvements in areas such as spelling, maths, reading, vocabulary and health (Burks, 2004). Students with Autism who typically have difficult staying focussed have increased engagement with the curriculum material and a reduction in disruptive classroom behaviour (Burks, 2004). Involving the whole class allows students to develop skills that can be can be applied to variable situations, as they interact with a wide variety of personalities that will assist them in real life situations (Laushey & Heflin, 2000). This model also avoids signalling out students with special needs, which has been found to have greater long-term benefits (Laushey & Heflin, 2000). Peer tutoring also allows students with Autism and other special needs to experience leadership, which helps them to achieve a sense of belonging in the classroom, thus improving students relationships with their peers (Temple & Lynnes, 2008).

When implementing buddy programs and peer tutoring into the classroom, it is imperative that the students who are acting as the mentor/tutor receive training that will empower them to lead the student with special needs to the most beneficial outcome (Temple & Lynnes, 2008). From an administration point of view, this program requires additional planning time, however it has been found that special needs students rely less on teachers and learning assistants – therefore becoming more independent (Temple & Lynnes, 2008). In the classroom, the buddy program can be extended further than social and academic benefits, as students buddies can assist special/additional needs students to become part of the mainstream classroom through helping to manipulate the physical environment and being someone they can rely on in emergency situations such as fire drills (Mastropieri et al, 2007).

By using a visual chart or graph that shows the students who their buddies are, helps to clarify the program, especially for students with Autism (Laushey & Heflin, 2000). This buddy peer tutoring could be used in any KLA to include students with learning disabilities and special needs. As a future teacher I would use buddy peer tutoring in any area where students with a disability or special needs were having difficulty with either the curriculum, or to increase the cohesion of the class. This would be achieved by pairing up members of the class with students who require assistance and who would benefit from this program. Ideally, I would implement this program regularly for part of the day/lesson.

Burks, M. (2004), Effects of Classwide Peer Tutoring on the Number of Words Spelled Correctly by Students with LD. //Intervention in School and Clinic, 39.5,// 301-304. Laushey, K., & Heflin, L. (2000), Enhancing Social Skills of Kindergarten Children with Autism Through the Training of Multiple Peers as Tutors. //Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30.3,// 183-192. Mastropieri, M., Scruggs, T., & Berkeley, S. (2007), Peers Helping Peers. //Educational Leadership, 64.5,// 54-58. Temple, V., & Lynnes, M. (2008), Peer tutoring for inclusion. //ACHPER Healthy Lifestyles Journal, 55.2,// 11-14.
 * Reference List**

**Definition: ** Peer tutoring //is the system of instruction in which learners help each other and learn by teaching. Tutoring schemes, known variously as Peer Tutoring, Cross-Age Tutoring, Youth Tutoring Youth, and Each One Teach One, have used students to teach students, students to teach children, non-professional adults to teach adults and children, and children to teach children. In every case of peer tutoring, a professional teacher organises the activity of the non-professionals (tutors) as they minister to the needs of the ultimate beneficiaries of the process (Martin, 2000). // **This teaching strategy is useful for various reasons **, as it: It also gives students the opportunities to:
 * Involves students directly in the teaching and learning process
 * The act of teaching others enhances student's own learning
 * Encourages collaboration between learners
 * Enriches learning environment
 * Shares responsibility for teaching between teacher and learners
 * Uses expertise in the learning group
 * Can be viewed as a strategy for dealing with individual differences in the classroom (Martin, 2000)
 * Enhance their understanding of fairness
 * Their self-esteem
 * Their proclivities toward sharing and kindness
 * <span style="font-family: Candara,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Their mastery of symbolic expression
 * <span style="font-family: Candara,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Their acquisition of role-taking and communication skills
 * <span style="font-family: Candara,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Their development of creative and critical thinking ( <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Candara,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Department of Education and Communities, 2011)
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Candara,sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">I have been on prac at a primary school and a high school and during my time at these schools I saw this strategy being utilised, thus, this strategy can be used at any year level.

<span style="font-family: Candara,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Department of Education and Communities, 2011//,// // Peer Tutor program // , accessed 26 July 2011 online at < <span style="font-family: Candara,sans-serif;">[] > //<span style="font-family: Candara,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Martin, ////<span style="font-family: Candara,sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">K. 2000, // //Alternative Modes of Teaching and Learning//, accessed 26 July 2011 online at <<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: Candara,sans-serif;">[] > By Estelle KOutsikamanis - u3049594