PEER‐MEDIATED INSTRUCTION: A REVIEW OF POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS FOR SPECIAL EDUCATION

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to describe an alternative teaching approach in which students serve as instructional agents for their peers. This teaching approach, referred to commonly as peer‐mediated instruction, incorporates the same basic features of effective instruction that have been delineated in the empirical literature. However, in these programs children serve as mediators in the delivery of instructional content. We describe a few peer‐mediated instructional approaches that have been used effectively with students who encounter academic and behavioral difficulties and discuss some of the relative advantages and disadvantages in the use of these methods. In addition, we propose a variety of ways in which these approaches can be used in general and in special education classrooms and review many of the pragmatic concerns associated with their implementation.