Ava Seccuro staff writer
It’s that time of the year again; amid the palpable stress of teachers scrambling to finish lesson plans, assignments and projects galore seem to be flying from the four corners of the world right into students’ laps. It seems never ending, but there’s a solution to this impending doom that students are universally feeling: peer tutoring.
Peer tutoring, although it’s not taught by actual professionals in the field, is quite helpful for students facing the impending stress of exams. More often than not, it offers a relatively less stressful learning environment for students who might cringe at the idea of facing teachers; the one person who decides the fate of your grade.
The impacts of intimidation or any other negative psychological experience tarnish the learning environment and more importantly hinder the productivity of students. So, given the opportunity, having a peer or someone who shares the same perspective in the education system is most likely going to produce a more nurturing environment and therefore better learning outcomes.
Sometimes, learning from people other than our teachers can introduce a fresh perspective on a certain topic. And in this case, we can learn the most from our peers since we, more or less, experience school from the same point of view. If we surround ourselves with the right people, they motivate and push us to become a better version of ourselves and even exceed our own expectations.
This system doesn’t only benefit the students who need tutoring. A study conducted by the British Psychology Society iterates that learning to teach is “extremely effective” and reflects a better understanding of the content reviewed. Students collaborating together not only benefits both parties involved, but could also potentially produce better test scores for both the tutor and the tutored.
Although peer tutoring is offered in our community, its benefits are only reaped if one puts in a lot of effort to seek it out; and if we really want to positively change the way that students learn, that should not be the case. Despite the school’s efforts to try and make peer tutoring services more accessible, many students are still left in the dark. It’s understandable that this program won’t gain the attention it deserves unless students are educated about it.
As of now, the peer tutoring mecca in our community is centered around the college and career center, but whether or not the majority of students know about the program, is questionable. For years, peer tutoring has and will continue to be offered on Tuesday’s at lunch. What we can do to encourage and facilitate this style of learning is to advertise it and keep spreading the word about it.
Don’t be afraid to try a new style of learning. Sometimes, a change of pace can refresh the mind more than following an overly structured routine. We have the world at our fingertips; it’s time we collaborate and utilize the benefits of our exposure to one another.