Socio-academic patterns of participation in reciprocal peer tutoring

1) Research topic
The purpose of the presentation is to convey the significance of reciprocal peer tutoring when trying to strengthen the communities in the classroom. The presentation is based on a three-year research project which investigates how an intervention with reciprocal peer tutoring in science/technology and mathematics in 4th grade, contributes to the students' interest, participation and learning outcomes.
2) Theoretical framework
The starting point is theory of communities of practice and inclusive forms of practice (Lave & Wenger 2003, Booth, 2011) as well as research on peer learning (Thurston et. al, 2020; Tiftikci, 2021). When we investigate school practices, it is characteristic of student participation that the academic is constantly intertwined in social contexts of significance. Participation in the student community implies learning together and in collaboration with others, where the students feel involved in the academic area and accepted for who they are. There is thus a close connection between acceptance, participation, and performance. When the intention is for more students to be included in the student community, research shows the importance of ensuring that students have something to be together about - not only socially, not only academically, but "socio-academically" (Schmidt, 2017).
3) Methodology
The research project reported investigates a 13 week intervention with reciprocal peer tutoring. It involves 25 teachers in the Danish primary and lower secondary school, 16 intervention classes and 10 test classes, a total of approx. 570 students. The total empirical data consists of pre- and post-tests, pre- and post-questionnaires, teacher and student interviews as well as video observations of 90 lessons. This paper will especially highlight results from observations and teacher interviews.
4) Expected results
We present analyzes of student dialogues and teacher's experiences, in which the following questions are discussed: How do social and academic aspects play together? What group dynamics does the student collaboration offer? What patterns of participation unfold, and what are the consequences for inclusion and exclusion processes in the classroom?
5) Relevance to Nordic educational research
In the Nordic countries, there is a tradition of creating dialogical classrooms and supporting student’s conversations, but often no collaborative structures are used that are grounded in the subjects’ didactics. The paper brings new knowledge to the dialogical tradition, which Dysthe (2004) has been pioneering in the Nordic region.
Booth, T. (2011). The name of the rose–Inclusive values into action in teacher education. Prospects, 41(3), 303–318. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11125-011-9200-z.
Dysthe. (2004). Det flerstemmige klasserum: skrivning og samtale for at lære. Klim.
Tiftikci, N. (2021). SYstematiseret KLassekammerathjælp (SYKL). En brief systematisk forskningskortlægning over studier, der undersøger socialt og fagligt udbytte af SYKL. Retrieved 13.01.2022 https://sykl.kp.dk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Tiftikci-2021-SYKL-review.pdf
Schmidt, M. C. S. (2017). Klassekammerathjælp – sociofaglig inkludering og ekskluderingsmekanismer. Specialpædagogik, 37(3/4), 85-97.
Thurston, A., Roseth, C., Chiang, T.-H., Burns, V., & Topping, K. J. (2020). The influence of social relationships on outcomes in mathematics when using peer tutoring in elementary school. International Journal of Educational Research Open, 100004. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedro.2020.100004