Pupils Helping other Pupils with their Learning: Cross-age tutoring in a primary and secondary school

Abstract

The study describes cross-age tutoring in two very different settings: a rural primary school and an urban secondary school. In each setting the aims were social as well as academic; the academic focus was on language work, including reading. In the primary school, Year 4 pupils (aged 8-9 years) worked with reception pupils (aged 4-5 years) to produce story books with illustrations and a text which incorporated individualised key words. In the secondary school, Year 9 pupils (aged 13-14 years) worked with Year 7 pupils (aged 11-12 years) whose reading age made it difficult for them fully to access the curriculum. In the primary school both boys and girls were involved; in the secondary school, only boys. There was no clear pattern of improvement in the language skills of either group of tutees but both felt more positively about reading. There were some indications that relations between younger and older pupils were developing in positive ways. In both projects the tasks were clearly defined and even the 8-year-old pupil tutors had a sound grasp of what the tutoring process entailed.