I mentioned the What's Next? 21 Ideas for 21st Century Learning report from Charles Leadbeater and the Innovation Unit last week but after finally sitting down to read it fully I thought I would point out one particular section that I feel is of special interest to users of Beanbag (one way or the other.)
Chapter 5 of the report focuses on the concept of peer tutoring, that is having children become tutors to other children in the same school. This is pretty standard in the good ol' USA as I understand it but this report covers the largest experiment in peer tutoring so far in the UK which took place in 125 primary schools in Fife.
The early results are positive apparently and a major benefit has been "on the self-esteem and motivation of the child who is the tutor."
Beanbag is obviously more about traditional tutoring models than peer tutoring though we do have an interest in the concept of near-peer tutoring (not sure if thats an official term but it has a certain ring to it!) with under and post graduates becoming involved in the tutoring process, bringing with them recent experience of the curriculum and study methods and an ability to hopefully relate better to the student. This is something we would like to explore in the future in addition to offering the best possible service to the traditional tutor community.
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