An anatomy of peer learning: An examination of the implementation, operation and significance of peer support at Newham College of Further Education

The research contained in this PhD examines peer learning at Newham College of Further Education. The implementation of peer learning in the college is examined. It is demonstrated how a more successful approach to implementing peer learning was developed by involving managers, teachers and students in designing their own schemes of peer learning. A case study of the two peer learning schemes is described. It is shown that both schemes significantly improved students' academic performance when prior academic performance and approaches to studying were controlled for. However, despite having similar structures, the schemes appealed to different kinds of students. This illustrated how peer learning schemes are affected by the contexts in which they operate and the need to research them with reference to this context. It is demonstrated how peer learning both reflected and challenged traditional divisions of teaching and learning. It reflected these divisions in two ways. The peer facilitators' teaching role and the learning role of the students facilitated were reflected in the different ways their involvement in peer learning affected their approaches to studying. Also, people's views of peer learning reflected their views of teaching and learning more generally. However, the peer facilitators, by learning as they taught, began to see the role of learners as involving elements that previously they had seen as the preserve of teachers. The implications of these findings for approaches to teaching and learning are explored. In conclusion, it is argued that peer learning schemes need to be viewed within the wider context of teaching and learning. As such, they are part of the tools that teachers and learners can use to support their work, rather than being a magical cure for poor levels of retention and achievement