« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
Chapter 3: Conclusions and Recommendations
3.1 Peer Education Schemes
3.1.1 Elements of peer education
Peer education in schools has been shown to be more helpful to the pupils carrying it out (the "educators") than to the target group. No evidence has been found that suggests that peer education is more effective in transmitting knowledge to the target group than traditional adult teacher/ pupil systems of education. It has been found to be used most commonly in contexts of health and social education, covering issues such as sex, drugs and alcohol. Peer educators in peer education schemes were found to benefit in terms of increased knowledge, confidence and self esteem. In some contexts it was found that pupils in receipt of peer education attached more credibility to information passed to them by their peers than they did to the same information passed on by their parents or teachers.
None of the schemes examined in the course of this research covered road safety, although some participants suggested that road safety might be covered successfully in peer education programmes. Some workers in this area have indicated that once a successful system of peer education has been developed, this can be used to promote and support pupil learning in any subject.
The evidence suggests that peer education requires a commitment from schools to support the educators and others involved in the programme. These others might include teachers and outside experts on the subjects covered by the peer education programme. The peer educators themselves would also require training, support and time allocated to allow them to carry out their activities.
3.1.2 Sustainability of peer education schemes
Even if road safety peer education could be introduced successfully into at least some secondary schools, certain pre-requisites would affect the sustainability of such a scheme.
Teachers interviewed in the course of the research indicated a willingness to include RS in existing peer education schemes. This suggests enthusiasm in those who are already involved in peer education to accommodate another topic in the programme. However, it may be more difficult to recruit teachers not already experienced in peer education to take on a road safety peer education programme, if they have no previous experience of peer education.
Management and structure of any scheme and the production of resources are all issues that would have to be considered in introducing a road safety peer education scheme. Where there are no subject specialists in-house, expertise would have to be brought in, such as happened in the successful peer drugs and alcohol education project (The Peer Education Project), based in Dundee. Community Education workers support the pupils, liaise with participant schools and manage the project. Road Safety Officers would be the nearest equivalent to Community Education staff, but it would be important to evaluate the outcome that might be expected from a road safety scheme, and the likely demands that would be made of RSOs.
Given the demands of peer education work in terms of timetabling, training and support and the lack of evidence that it benefits the target group, it is not recommended that RSS introduce a large-scale peer education programme in secondary schools across Scotland. It is, however, recommended that RSS consider targeting one particular age group, who would benefit as educators rather than as the target of a peer education programme. While there is not a great deal of research on this aspect of peer education, the literature review for this research and anecdotal evidence referred to above suggest that peer educators can benefit from taking part in the programme.
Adviser and teacher interviewees agreed that, to succeed, peer education RSE should be linked to existing programmes, rather than developed as a discrete one-issue package. For example, RSE might be covered within a peer education programme that dealt with a range of issues to do with risk assessment and personal safety.
The S2-S4 age group is recognised by road safety educators as the most difficult to target and the most encouraging findings from the current piece of research indicated that S2 peer educators engaging with P7 pupils in a peer education programme dealing with drugs and alcohol were effective teachers. They also noted the information that they had acquired to pass on to P7 pupils was equally applicable to themselves. Arguably, peer education would operate as a means of educating the educators while they believed that they were working to inform younger pupils.
Role of RSS in peer education
The role of RSS in S2-S4 peer education would be to facilitate a peer education programme that could be adopted and adapted as appropriate by user schools. It is recommended that RSS work with peer educators and Road Safety Officers to design a generic resource that could be adapted for use in different school settings.
The resource should include:
- Materials developed for use by peer educators. The peer educators themselves should have some input to this.
- Guidelines on training. The most commonly used training has involved non-teachers as trainers. The role of RSOs as trainers should be considered.
- Means of monitoring the project.
The materials and systems thus developed should then be piloted across a small number of schools in Scotland through their integration into existing peer education schemes. They should then be evaluated and recommendations made for their improvement and possible adoption across Scotland.
Not all schools currently use peer education. Given the range of requirements for successful peer education, it is possible that some schools might never introduce such schemes. It is recommended that RSS explore a variety of ways of introducing and supporting peer education for RSE in secondary schools by "piggy backing" on to existing peer education schemes.
In order to do this, it is suggested that RSS work with two or three schools with existing peer education schemes or "buddy" schemes where some topics are covered voluntarily. The purpose of this would be to examine how RSE could be taught as part of existing peer education schemes. The names of schools who indicated that they would be willing to assist RSS in this work will be passed on to RSS, and contact should be made with these schools to ascertain their willingness to pilot a RSE peer education scheme. This pilot work should be evaluated carefully. It is suggested that the pilot explore the following issues:
- Recruitment of peer educators
- Training required by peer educators
- Role of RS personnel
- Role of teachers
- Resources required by all participants in the scheme
- Effect of peer education programme on educators' knowledge and attitudes
- Effect of peer education programme on target pupils' knowledge and attitudes
- Management issues for schools and RSOs involved in running the scheme
It was noted that in three of the schools taking part in the research, more girls than boys worked as peer educators. It is recommended that in pilot schools, an equal number of girls and boys be recruited, as far as possible, to become peer educators.
Using the framework above as a means of evaluating peer education in RSE, it is recommended that RSS set up a working group to monitor a peer education strategy for road safety in Scotland. It is recommended that this group comprise Road Safety Officers, teachers, pupils and peer education practitioners/specialists and that the group has a finite life span of one year maximum.
The issue of the stage at which peer educators should operate must also be addressed. Two main possibilities exist. One is that senior pupils (S5 and S6) cover RSE as part of a peer education programme for younger pupils (S1-S4). The other is that younger pupils (S2-S4) become peer educators for P7-S1. These options are not mutually exclusive, and the rationale for each is presented below. It would be possible to compare, across school sites, the effectiveness of S2-S4 pupils against S5-S6 pupils.
S2-S4 pupils as road safety peer educators
One of the main barriers to peer education is timetabling and time allocation. As pupils move through secondary school, more and more demands are made on their time and the curriculum is a key (some would say the main) consideration. Senior pupils may have very little time to devote to a new topic, such as RSE. Pupils of that age may also be more interested in driving and motor-bike riding than in some of the road safety issues that affect younger pupils.
In one of the peer education schemes described above, S2 pupils were seen to be very effective educators of P7 pupils. In the process, the educators themselves were learning about the topics of drugs and alcohol, and it was believed that this made them less likely to harm themselves through drink or drug abuse than some of their own peer group. This ties in with some of the literature examined in the literature review above, which found that the peer educators might be the main beneficiaries of the process. Traditionally, road safety educators have found the S3-S4 age group hard to reach and equipping pupils in this age group with information to help younger pupils address issues of road safety could help both age groups.
In addition, the S2-S4 pupils might feasibly support JRSO work already taking place in some primary schools, and the peer educators could link to work taking place through JRSO. By doing this, they might help develop some new resources for primary pupils, as well as supporting RSOs working in this area.
S5-S6 pupils as peer educators
S5 and S6 pupils may have less time to work as peer educators because of the constraints of timetabling teaching for exams. They do, however, have an authority with S1-S4 pupils that reportedly makes them more likely to be listened to by younger pupils. It may be more difficult to engage older pupils in transmitting road safety messages to younger pupils, as the older pupils may be more interested in their role as young drivers and issues connected with driving than with road safety generally. However, if road safety were to be adopted as a theme to be covered under an umbrella peer education programme, featuring as one of many topics to be addressed under Personal Safety, Personal and Social Education or similar, its inclusion might help both the educators and their target audience.
« Previous | Contents | Next »