What teacher wouldn't want to the respect from a student normally given to an experienced peer rather than the "respect" students give to their authority-figure school teachers? I can't imagine that many people would argue against peer-based learning given the benefits that it has. There will probably be more discussion about how it can be used effectively in schools. Here's some quick thoughts on that.
If the report found that the experienced-peer adults who formed part of the interest-driven online groups were themselves avid hobbyists and creators, then teachers might benefit from sharing the work they do within their subject so that students could see this hobby/creative element in their teachers. Students perspective might change if they saw their teachers doing the work that teachers asked students to do. A book I'm currently reading on writing instruction suggests that students benefit by seeing their teachers write. Can this perspective be extended to all subject areas?
Unfortunately, the analogy between the report's peer-based learning groups and school breaks down becaus school mostly lacks the interest-driven element that interest-driven groups have. For the analogy to be complete, we would have to learn to interest students to the point that they see school subjects as something worth devoting their interest to. That seems like an enormous challenge given the prescriptive nature of our school curricula, but it is nonetheless an implication of the findings of peer-based learning in interest-driven groups.
Another option would be to let students study what they are interested in--an individualized curriculum. This is likely to be unmanageable in a school setting where learning is typically measured and reported in an standardized way. It would also be beyond the means of the teachers to be experienced peers in every field the students chose to study. This doesn't have to be a problem as long as schools can find some way to measure student's learning. Perhaps, students could be given the non-content-specific learning goals we have for them and asked to explain how they were met in their investigations.
Or, in an effort to steer learning towards peer-based learning in the absence of student-interest we can allow for students to work together. Of course, there we run the risk of students not actually learning, but letting their partners do the learning for them. This would work best in the case of two motivated students. I don't believe this attempt to promote peer-based learning would be as ideal as either of the first two.
This is a great summary of the problem with an attempt to get peer based learning principles to overhaul education. I wonder if it would be possible to indulge in a school-wide, once a month, day where all the students, teachers, administrators, staff and parents are all invited to come to the school and hang out, make stuff, jam and pursue their interests. A lot of cool stuff could come out of such an endeavor. Try getting THAT past the admin.
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