ABSTRACT
A peer is an equal, and a peer group is a group composed of individuals who are equals. In terms of a school the children in the classroom are members of a peer group, usually age peers, and their interaction is that of equals. In the classroom the teacher is separated, temporarily at least, from his own peer group; and he is faced with a very different, younger peer group which may represent for him the 'enemy' to be conquered, or youthful 'animals' to be tamed and restrained, or the educands to be won over and taught. The classroom is in many senses an artificial reproduction of the conflict and stresses of the larger society, and the child has to be educated in attitude development as well as trained in skills of social interaction, discussion, compromise and mediation. The class has virtually two leaders: there is the leader of the peer group, and the institutional leader, the teacher.
