Aleksandra Vadnjal, Mojca Stergar, OŠ Dekani

It can be frequently noticed in school that younger pupils are really pleased when they attract attention of the older ones. They like it when someone dedicates his/her time to them, so peer-learning is a perfect possibility bringing benefits to all – pupils who teach as well as those who are taught. Seneca, a Roman philosopher, already defended the statement: “To teach is to learn twice.” (Deutch, 2008). Each pupil who teaches needs first to learn his/her part of the task, then to pass that knowledge in a sound way, and, finally, to check if the other pupils gained that knowledge. An example of peer-learning was also performed at our school. The aim of the activities was to find out how pupils learn from each other, what is their motivation for teaching each other and what can teachers as planners and observers learn from these activities. Firstly, with the help of pupils, video instructions how to make origami boxes were shot, then the activity was carried out with 4th-class children with the help of older pupils as volunteers. Children developed in the activities where they played an active role as teachers and pupils higher-order thinking, since they needed to adapt the way to deliver the information to the experience and prior knowledge of the other pupils. They improved also various social skills, good cooperation, mutual help as well as values and beliefs they learn from each other.