The Absolute Truth About Peer Tutoring Strategies

By Linda Ruiz


There is no denying the power and the importance of being educated, much less having a degree. The citizens of the modern generation have undoubtedly formed this bias towards people who are degree holders. Most of the time, people would favor those who have academic achievements within their belt over those who do not have any certificate to boast about.

Due to this, the youth of today are often urged by their parents to really study hard and excel in everything, as much as possible. Learning has become a chore, a very tedious one, at that. It is not surprising, then, that most students have difficulty keeping up, what with all the pressures coming from both the parents and the teachers. To be able to keep up, they need the help of fellow students who have gone through the same dilemmas as they have but have risen up to the challenge with the help of peer tutoring strategies.

A peer tutor often involves a student who acts out the role of a teacher to his or her fellow student. To become a peer tutor, first and foremost, the tutor has to be of the same level as his or her tutee. It could be that the one teaching and the one being taught share the same schedule, or have the same major classes. They could be trying to obtain the same degree, and they could be in the same academic level.

This method is often characterized as being two similar students reenacting the classroom environment in a less formal setting. The tutor is the expert on the academic material who is passing on learning techniques to the one having a hard time digesting the facts, which in this case is the tutee. It is often seen as one of the most effective ways to learn.

One of the main benefits of having a peer tutor is the fact that the one teaching you has had the same struggle, so he knows exactly how you are struggling with the material. He understands the frustrations that a struggling learner has, and they know the potential roadblocks that block the way to success. Having overcome these blocks recently themselves, they can give out some ideas on how to effectively work things out.

He can also connect with you in a way no other instructor can. He can effectively connect the lesson to actual student life, because you are affected by more or less the same issues and have more or less closer interests. He can even make cool mnemonics from the hottest song lyrics, something that even your professor can never come up with.

A tutee have the energy and enthusiasm that makes them optimistic and up to teaching even the most impossible student. This is mainly because they see it as a new function aside from the roles that they are very much accustomed to play. They are mainly drawn to the job because they can relate to the struggle, and they want to do their new role well.

There is also a beneficial partnership in this kind of tutoring. The tutee does not only benefit from the vast knowledge he will learn, the tutor will also improve his socialization skills as well. Thus, peer tutoring is a give and take process, which makes it quite the success.

Friendships are often inevitable in this relationship. Since both parties have already done a lot for the other, a certain feeling of fondness ensues. Sometimes, they can even help each other out all through university alive and hopefully unscathed.




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