ABSTRACT
Much of this book so far has focused on the potential of peer interactions – the benefit they bring to the classroom when things go well. But as we noted in chapter 1, when real teachers in real classrooms attempt to get their students working together with peers, it doesn’t always go well. Students do not automatically engage with peers in helpful ways. They get stuck, they go off topic, they disengage, they don’t understand. Most of us have had enough failures with peer interactions that our successes – the times when students are working well, speaking excitedly, engaging with language, and making progress – can feel like some sort of magic. So we want to assure you that there are things we can do as teachers to make peer interactions more effective. How we organize our classrooms and what we do before, during and after peer interactions impacts on how well they work. The trick is that teaching with peer interaction requires different styles of teaching than teacher-fronted instruction.
