Developing a Collegial Approach to Initial Teacher Education: the Westminster B.Ed Primary Internship Project

This paper describes Hong Kong research into peer tutored instruction in reading. Tutors were trained to use Paired Reading, a technique appropriate for use across a range of ability levels, and adaptable for reading instruction in languages and orthographies other than English.

The Hong Kong research confirms that peer tutors can successfully deliver reading instruction, with both tutors and tutees benefiting in terms of enhanced reading proficiency, intrinsic motivation to learn, and self‐concept. It also suggests some factors which may enhance the effects of peer tutoring upon achievement. For tutees these are content coverage, peer self‐concept and intrinsic motivation to study. For tutors the predominant factor is locus‐of‐control.

Interestingly, tutors’ instructional behaviours during tutoring sessions appear not to have any effect on tutoring outcomes, except in so far as they might slow down coverage of the material being read.