How Peer Tutors Can Influence High School Students: Positive Role Models Enhance Learning

When peer tutors assume the role of being a positive influence for high school students, the lives of those students can change for the better, almost immediately.

The article “Class wide peer tutoring” offers information on peer tutoring for teachers, parents and students.

Every high school class has potential leaders and followers. At one time or another, every high school student will experience peer pressure from other students. The kind of peer pressure they are under is not always positive. In fact, it can be very negative and having a friend who is a peer tutor helps.

For example, Freddie, in grade ten, is having difficulty with his chemistry. He finds it difficult to concentrate because of negative, peer pressure. Several other students in his class are engaged in trafficking. At the request of his teacher, Darius who is a promising, young student from another class, becomes his peer tutor. He knows that there is a problem between the students and immediately arranges to separate Freddie from the others. Freddie succeeds in his course, while the others do not.

When there are peer tutors who are able to influence high students in a positive direction, it usually proves to be beneficial to both students and their teachers. There are times when students do not feel that their teachers are approachable, but they are comfortable confiding in a peer tutor. Being a confidante is only one of the roles of a peer tutor.

Being a tutor can prepare a high school student to become a teacher, while it helps the tutee, the person being tutored, over the humps and bumps of his or her education. Some peer tutors are more suited to the role and most enjoy the responsibility. It is also a learning experience for them. Many students become volunteer tutors or paid peer tutors later.

High school students who are having problems with various courses can request one-to-one peer tutoring. Most teachers are willing to assign appropriate tutors. They appreciate the honesty and integrity of a high school student who recognizes his or her need for a tutor.

Teachers often sense when a student is having difficulty in a class setting. The teacher may have a large class and spending a lot of time with just one student may not be feasible. One-to-one tutoring by a peer tutor appropriately placed with another high school student, frees up the teacher’s time and meets the learning needs of the student.

How can a peer tutor help a student?

Peer tutors can help other high school students by getting to the root of existing problems, like bullying from peers. By being a good listener, he or she can ferret out the root of other concerns like learning problems. A student may have the inability to read or calculate properly or difficulty understanding what he or she is reading. Many high school students need assistance with computer or other skills.

Some students are visual learners while others are auditory learners and different approaches taken by peer tutors can prove helpful to students.

A positive peer tutor can reinforce the learning experience of another high school student who is having difficulty through added incentives or rewards and giving ongoing encouragement. For example, the peer tutor can spend extra time with the high school student during lunch and breaks, or even after school. He or she can use appropriate models or examples to explain course material in a more detailed manner than the teacher has time to do. He or she can answer the student's questions in a comprehensive manner.

The positive peer tutor can help a high school student become and stay focused on the course material that he or she has to learn. Many times, students who are having difficulty become frustrated or distracted. They need appropriate directives in order to deal with their emotions, as well as to refocus properly.

Peer tutors can be fun to work with on projects. Students who are open to learn from them, respond well to them. Success in high school is important to most students and doubly important to their peer tutors who take pride in the success of the students who they are tutoring. They often become friends for the rest of their lives.