Table Of ContentEDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
Allen J. Edwards, Series Editor
Department of Psychology
Southwest Missouri State University
Springfield, Missouri
Phillip S. Strain, Thomas P. Cooke, and Tony Apolloni. Teaching
Exceptional Children: Assessing and Modifying Social Behavior
Donald E. P. Smith and others. A Technology of Reading and
Writing (in four volumes).
Vol. 1. Learning to Read and Write: A Task Analysis (by Donald
E. P. Smith)
Joel R. Levin and Vernon L. Allen (eds.). Cognitive Learning in
Children: Theories and Strategies
Vernon L.Allen (ed.). Children as Teachers: Theory and Research
on Tutoring
In preparation:
Gilbert R. Austin. Early Childhood Education: An International
Perspective
Antonio Simoes (ed.). The Bilingual Child: Research and Anal-
ysis of Existing Educational Themes
Erness Bright Brody and Nathan Brody. Intelligence: Nature,
Determinants, and Consequences
Donald E. P. Smith and others. A Technology of Reading and
Writing (in four volumes).
Vol. 2. Criterion-Referenced Tests for Reading and Writing (by
Judith M. Smith, Donald E. P. Smith, and James R. Brink)
Vol. 3. The Adaptive Classroom (by Donald E. P. Smith)
Vol. 4. Preparing Instructional Tasks (by Judith M. Smith)
Herbert J. Klausmeier, Richard A. Rossmiller, and Mary Saily
(eds.). Individually Guided Elementary Education: Concepts
and Practices
Samuel Ball (ed.). Motivation in Education
Children as Teachers
THEORY AND RESEARCH ON TUTORING
Edited by
Vernon L. Allen
Department of Psychology
University of Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin
ACADEMIC PRESS
NEW YORK SAN FRANCISCO LONDON 1976
A Subsidiary of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers
Copyright © 1976-the Board of Regents
of The University of Wisconsin System.
Copyright is claimed until 1986. Thereafter all
portions of this work covered by this copyright
will be in the public domain. This work was developed
under a contract with the National Institute of Education,
Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.
However, the content does not necessarily reflect the policy
of that Agency, and no official endorsement
of these materials should be inferred.
ACADEMIC PRESS, INC.
Ill Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10003
United Kingdom Edition published by
ACADEMIC PRESS, INC. (LONDON) LTD.
24/28 Oval Road, London NW1
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Main entry under title.
Children as teachers.
(Educational psychology series)
Includes bibliographies.
1. Peer group tutoring of students. I. Allen,
Vernon L., (date)
,
LC41.C46 371.394 76-2940
ISBN 0-12-052640-9
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
List of Contributors
Numbers in parentheses indicate the pages on which the authors* contributions begin.
Vernon L. Allen (9, 113, 235, 253), Department of Psychology, University of
Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
Michael Argyle (57), Department of Experimental Psychology, Oxford, England
Victor G. Cicirelli (99), Department of Psychology, Purdue University, La-
fayette, Indiana
Robert D. Cloward (219), Department of Psychology, Rhode Island College,
Providence, Rhode Island
Emory L. Cowen (131), Department of Psychology, University of Rochester,
Rochester, New York
Linda Devin-Sheehan* (235, 253), Wisconsin Research and Development Center
for Cognitive Learning, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
Robert S. Feldmant (113, 235), Department of Psychology, University of
Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
Norma Deitch Feshbach (81), Department of Education, University of Califor-
nia, Los Angeles, California
Stephen Hansell (199), Social Psychology Laboratory, The University of Chi-
cago, Chicago, Illinois
•Present address: Suffolk County Youth Bureau, New York.
tPresent address: Department of Psychology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Rich-
mond, Virginia.
xi
Xli LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
Willard W. Hartup (41), Institute of Child Development, University of Minne-
sota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Peggy Lippitt (157), Human Research Development Associates of Ann Arbor,
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ralph J. Melaragno (189), System Development Corporation, Pacoima, Cali-
fornia
Fred C. Niedermeyer (179), Southwest Regional Laboratory, Educational Re-
search and Development, Los Alamitos, California
Donald Ronchi (199), Center for Human Resource Research, College of Ad-
ministrative Science, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
Theodore R. Sarbin (27), Adlai E. Stevenson College, University of California,
Santa Cruz, California
Fred L. Strodtbeck (199), Social Psychology Laboratory, The University of
Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
Grant Von Harrison (169), Department of Instructional Research, Development,
and Evaluation, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
Preface
Though I realize that it may be an unusual occurrence in the world of
publishing, the title of the present book-Children as Teachers: Theory and
Research on Tutoring—does reflect quite accurately its contents. The use of
children to tutor other children in school is the central theme of this volume;
secondary themes of the book are helping relationships in general, and cross-age
interaction by children. These closely interrelated topics have been the object of
widespread interest expressed by social scientists, educators, and policy makers
within the past several years.
This volume brings together original work of persons who are intimately
knowledgeable about recent advances in theory, research, and applications in
this field. The book is addressed primarily to professionals who have a scholarly
interest in these areas, but at the same time the interests and problems of
practitioners are not slighted. The problem areas examined in the book should
be of particular interest to social scientists and educators.
Several important features of the present book are worth mentioning at this
point. This book brings together for the first time a multidisciplinary group of
scientists who focus their attention on the specific problem of tutoring by
children in the schools and on the more general problem of cross-age interaction
among children. The first two parts of the book establish the basic theoretical
xiii
XJV PREFACE
and empirical foundations for practical programs discussed in later chapters. A
wide range of theoretical perspectives is offered in Part I. Following Allen's
discussion of the relevant historical background, original theoretical contribu-
tions are proposed from the perspectives of role theory (Sarbin), ethological and
cross-cultural research (Hartup), and social skills theory (Argyle).
Several chapters in Part II discuss original empirical research relevant to
cross-age interaction and the impact of tutoring on both the tutor and the tutee.
These chapters report interesting new scientific information on topics having
obvious practical implications: social class and ethnic differences in tutoring by
young children (Feshbach), teaching by siblings (Cicirelli), nonverbal skills and
consequences of tutoring for the tutor (Allen and Feldman), and the use of a
variety of nonprofessionals as helpers (Cowen).
A central feature of the present volume is the discussion of a wide range of
tutoring programs that operate in the schools (Part HI). The authors of these
chapters (Lippitt, Harrison, Niedermeyer, and Melaragno), who have all been
responsible for initiating a variety of cross-age tutoring programs in the schools,
give us the benefit of their extensive observation, practical experience, and
research. Evaluation of large tutoring programs in the schools is dealt with in the
chapter by Strodtbeck, Ronchi, and Hansell, and that by Cloward.
Finally, two useful chapters in Part IV of the book summarize and integrate an
extensive amount of previous work. One chapter critically reviews existing
research on tutoring by children. In another chapter, research and experience are
utilized in suggesting the advantages and disadvantages of several alternative
decisions when establishing a tutoring program in the school.
Material in most of the chapters in this volume was presented earlier (in
somewhat different form) at a research conference held at the Wisconsin Center
for Research and Development in Cognitive Learning, University of Wisconsin,
Madison. Appreciation is expressed to the National Institute of Education for
providing funds, through the Wisconsin Research and Development Center, that
made the conference possible. I am grateful to Professor Richard A. Rossmiller,
director of the Center; Dr. William R. Bush, deputy director; and Professor
Herbert J. Klausmeier, former director, for their constant support and en-
couragement throughout the stages of planning, organizing, and conducting the
conference.
My research assistants during the time of the conference, Dr. Robert S.
Feldman and Ms. Linda Devin-Sheehan, richly deserve my thanks for the
indispensable and cheerful help that they gave on so many occasions. Thanks are
also due to Dr. Patricia S. Allen for advice and suggestions during the prepara-
tion of this manuscript. Finally, my thanks to Derek and Craig Allen: By playing
"school" so often with their friends they drew my attention vividly to questions
concerned with teaching and helping by children.
I
Theoretical Cons•i di erat• i• ons
The basic theme of the present book is captured aptly and succinctly in the
title of an article by Jerome Bruner (1972): "The Uses of Immaturity." In that
article Bruner discusses the enormous difficulties created for the young by the
necessity of delaying their vocational identity; for a lengthy period of time it is
possible to enact only one legitimate role, that of student. Not until fairly late in
the life cycle can a young person make serious job decisions and start to clarify
his identity as an adult.
As one means for dealing with the psychological problems associated with
prolonged schooling in a technological society, Bruner proposes giving students
more responsibility for the education of their fellow students. In his words, "I
would strongly urge . .. that we use the system of student-assisted learning from
the start in our schools" (Bruner, 1972, p. 63). In contrast to the traditional
competitive structure in the school, Bruner urges that education should be a
"communal undertaking." By giving older children some responsibility for
helping others—especially younger children—the "intermediate generation" of
youth could gain a sense of purpose and useful participation all too often lacking
in their lives.
1
2 THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS
The tocsin sounded by Bruner was echoed in a recent important and provoca-
tive book (Coleman, 1974). In this book, which is the report of the Panel of
Youth of the President's Science Advisory Committee, several social scientists
take a critical look at the environments available for young persons while making
the transition to adulthood. At present one of the most pervasive contexts in
which youth are socialized into adulthood is, of course, the institution of the
school.
In one section of the book, members of the Coleman panel attempt to
formulate alternative environments for the socialization of youth. The panel
asserts that two broad categories of objectives must be met if any environment is
to qualify as being satisfactory for youth. The first objective is a self-centered
one, consisting of the traditional goal of the schools: the acquisition of cognitive
and noncognitive skills necessary for an individual to function adequately as a
contributing member of society. The second class of objectives proposed by the
authors is more unusual, and centers on others rather than self: that youth
should have an opportunity for responsibilities that affect the lives of other
persons. In the panel's words: "Only with the experience of such responsibilities
can youth move toward the mutually responsible and mutually rewarding
involvement with others that constitute social maturity" (Coleman, 1974, p. 3).
To help reach the second objective (social maturity) the panel offered several
recommendations, one of which was establishing programs of part-time teaching
for older children in the schools. Having the responsibility for teaching younger
children—or for caring for younger persons, the elderly, the sick, or persons
otherwise dependent—ensures that a youngster will engage in behavior that is
important because of its consequences for other people. Through such experi-
ences a child learns the kind of behavior required of a socially responsible adult;
unfortunately, the opportunity for such relationships traditionally has not been
recognized as an important component of the school curriculum.
Immaturity does, then, have its uses, to return to Bruner's words. Further-
more, by helping other persons a child is being helped himself as well—whether
or not he realizes it. The social analysis and related proposals in the Bruner
(1972) article and the Coleman (1974) report are finding concrete expression in
some schools. The spirit of these recommendations is reflected in the many
tutoring programs in which older students help younger children. A large
number of tutorial programs using children to teach other children are currently
in operation throughout the United States, and are beginning to appear in
Britain (Goodlad, 1975). A recent report has stressed that peer tutoring tech-
niques are especially appropriate and useful for the understaffed schools in
developing countries (Klaus, 1973).
Preliminary results reported from tutoring programs have indicated strongly
that when a child helps teach (tutor) another child in school, both the older and
the younger child may profit in terms of better academic achievement and
THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS 3
improved personal-social behavior (Gartner, Kohler, & Riessman, 1971). Unfor-
tunately, children do not have many opportunities either in or out of school to
interact in a responsible and helpful way with children older or younger than
themselves; a tutoring program does provide a structured setting for cross-age
interaction.
The present book constitutes a forum for the exploration of structured helping
relationships among children in school (i.e., tutoring). The research and theory
discussed by the authors will deal with both the cognitive and social con-
sequences of tutoring for the helper and for the child receiving help. In a more
general sense, then, it is clear that the broader theme of this book is cross-age
interaction and its consequences for children.
The book contains chapters on recent theory, empirical research, and practical
work being conducted by experts in this problem area. Since tutoring and
interaction among children of different ages can be analyzed from several
different points of view, a multidisciplinary effort is essential. The diverse issues
related to teaching by children are examined by authors who represent several
different disciplinary perspectives. The instructional material used in tutoring
sessions in school is the domain of educators and curriculum specialists; the
optimal conditions for learning in children and the assessment of effectiveness
are types of problems dealt with by educational psychologists; the potential
impact of tutoring on socialization of children would interest developmental
psychologists; social psychologists are concerned with social interaction and with
the psychological processes that mediate the effects of tutoring; sociologists
might pose questions about the impact of this innovation on the social structure
of the school and the relationship of the school to the community. Thus, the
problem of children teaching children in the school represents a nexus in which
several areas of social science meet, each discipline asking different kinds of
questions and bringing different perspectives to the analysis of a single phenom-
enon.
A brief overview of the structure and organization of the present book may be
helpful. Included are four major sections: Theoretical Considerations, Helping
Relationships With Children, Tutoring Programs in Schools, and Problems and
Possibilities. The presentation of broad theoretical and historical perspectives in
the first major section establishes a foundation for later chapters in which
research and applied programs are described. Theoretical concepts introduced in
these four chapters will often find application in research and applied programs
discussed in later sections.
The second major section of the book (Helping Relationships With Children)
consists of chapters that report research on the tutoring relationship, and
discusses helping in a more general sense. Most of the studies were designed as
short-term experiments to test specific hypotheses. Complete tutoring programs
in the schools are not the primary concern of this research, but in the last
