‘Shared Reading’: an experiment in peer tutoring in the primary classroom

Orchestrating Success in Personal, Social and Educational Areas: Using Peer Support

“…Pagett claims that collaborative work of this type empowered children with additional control over their own learning and helped to make reading more interesting and enjoyable. Success was also reported in Atherley's (1989) inquiry where significant reading gains were found for a group of senior primary school pupils engaged in a 12-week peer tutoring programme. Furthermore, along lines suggested by Winter (1986), social improvements were noted where:`children who had formerly been aggressive and argumentative in their behaviour towards their peers showed remarkable patience and commitment when in the``teaching'' role' (p. 151).…”

“…There are others who are less approving. Atherley (1989), for example, regrets that`parents' and teachers' doubts about the acceptability of children``doing the teachers' job for them'', however, and the value of peer tutoring for the tutors who are considered to bè`w asting their time'' has prevented the adoption of this valuable pedagogic strategy in all but a few schools in Britain in recent years' (p. 145).…”

“No Fears With Peers”: A Personal Reflection on Peer Group Tutoring in the Context of Reading Development

“…"The belief that the gains of the children informally acting as tutors would be adversely affected by helping their less able peers was not supported since the tutors made more reading gains than the tutees" (Atherley 1989).…”

Reading Research in Great Britain in 1989

“…Further studies aimed at supporting slow readers focus on peer tutoring. Atherley (1989) reports work with a group of 27 poor readers (France 1979) with an average age 10.9 years. A control group was included in this study which read independently for 15 minutes each day.…”