Prior research on peer literacy teaching tends to be conceptualized as peer tutoring and often focuses on the cognitive aspects of reading (e.g., skills, strategies). In this multiple case study, we draw on theories of identity and positioning to propose a conceptual shift from tutoring to mentoring to also describe the affective and relational dimensions of peer literacy teaching. In our analysis, we explore how two 11th graders positioned themselves as readers and mentors in a cross-age literacy mentorship class in a public high school in the northeastern United States. Data sources include mentor interviews, field notes, and artifacts. Our multiphase coding process identified three main themes: the importance of (a) texts and (b) relationships and reciprocity to mentors’ positioning, and (c) complexities of the mentor position. Findings suggest that school-based opportunities for youth to work collaboratively to understand their own and others’ reading processes may contribute insights into both the affective and the cognitive aspects of peer literacy teaching.
AlfassiM. (1998). Reading for meaning: The efficacy of reciprocal teaching in fostering reading comprehension in high school students in remedial reading classes. American Educational Research Journal, 35(2), 309–332. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312035002309
2.
Bowman-PerrottL.DavisH.VannestK.WilliamsL.GreenwoodC.ParkerR. (2013). Academic benefits of peer tutoring: A meta-analytic review of single-case research. School Psychology Review, 42(1), 39–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/02796015.2013.12087490
EdgcombM. R.CroweH. A.RiceJ. D.MorrisS. J.WolffeR. J.McConnaughayK. D. (2010). Peer and near-peer mentoring: Enhancing learning in summer research programs. Council on Undergraduate Research Quarterly, 31(2), 18–26.
5.
FrankelK. K.FieldsS. S.Kimball-VeederJ.MurphyC. R. (2018). Positioning adolescents in literacy teaching and learning. Journal of Literacy Research, 50(4), 446–477. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1086296X18802441
6.
FuchsL. S.FuchsD.KazdanS. (1999). Effects of peer-assisted learning strategies on high school students with serious reading problems. Remedial and Special Education, 20(5), 309–318. https://doi.org/10.1177/074193259902000507
7.
GlennL. N. (2012). Playing for real: Texts and the performance of identity. In AlvermannD.HinchmanK. (Eds.), Reconceptualizing the literacies in adolescents’ lives (3rd ed., pp. 3–28). Routledge.
8.
GutiérrezK. D. (2016). Designing resilient ecologies: Social design experiments and a new social imagination. Educational Researcher, 45(3), 187–196. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X16645430
9.
HarréR. (2012). Positioning theory: Moral dimensions of social-cultural psychology. In ValsinerJ. (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of culture and psychology. Oxford University Press.
JunS. W.RamirezG.CummingA. (2010). Tutoring adolescents in literacy: A meta-analysis. McGill Journal of Education, 45(2), 219–238. https://doi.org/10.7202/045605ar
14.
McVeeM. B.BrockC. H.GlazierJ. A. (Eds.) (2011). Sociocultural positioning in literacy: Exploring culture, discourse, narrative, and power in diverse educational contexts. Hampton Press.
15.
MilesM. B.HubermanA. M.SaldañaJ. (2020). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook (4th ed.). Sage.
16.
MojeE. B.LukeA. (2009). Literacy and identity: Examining the metaphors in history and contemporary research. Reading Research Quarterly, 44(4), 415–437. https://doi.org/10.1598/RRQ.44.4.7
17.
OkkingaM.van SteenselR.van GelderenA. J. S.SleegersP. J. C. (2018). Effects of reciprocal teaching on reading comprehension of low-achieving adolescents. The importance of specific teacher skills. Journal of Research in Reading, 41(1), 20–41. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9817.12082
18.
PalincsarA. S.BrownA. L. (1984). Reciprocal teaching of comprehension-fostering and comprehension-monitoring activities. Cognition and Instruction, 1(2), 117–175. https://doi.org/10.1207/s1532690xci0102_1
19.
PatersonP. O.ElliottL. N. (2006). Struggling reader to struggling reader: High school students’ responses to a cross-age tutoring program. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 49(5), 378–389. https://doi.org/10.1598/JAAL.49.5.2
20.
PluthM. D.BoettcherS. W.NazinG. V.GreenawayA. L.HartieM. D. (2015). Collaboration and near-peer mentoring as a platform for sustainable science education outreach. Journal of Chemical Education, 92(4), 625–630. https://doi.org/10.1021/ed500377m
21.
RekrutM. D. (1994). Teaching to learn: Strategy utilization through peer tutoring. The High School Journal, 77(4), 304–314.
22.
RosenshineB.MeisterC. (1994). Reciprocal teaching: A review of the research. Review of Educational Research, 64(4), 479–530. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543064004479
23.
ShanahanT. (1998). On the effectiveness and limitations of tutoring in reading. Review of Research in Education, 23, 217–234. https://doi.org/10.3102/0091732X023001217
24.
SpörerN.BrunsteinJ. C. (2009). Fostering the reading comprehension of secondary school students through peer-assisted learning: Effects on strategy knowledge, strategy use, and task performance. Comparative Educational Psychology, 34(4), 289–297. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2009.06.004
25.
TatumA. W. (2014). Texts and adolescents: Embracing connections and connectedness. In HinchmanK. A.Sheridan-ThomasH. K. (Eds.), Best practices in adolescent literacy instruction (2nd ed., pp. 3–19). Guilford Publications.
26.
TenenbaumL. S.AndersonM.RamadoraiS. B.YourickD. L. (2017). High school students’ experience with near-peer mentorship and laboratory-based learning: In their own words. Journal of STEM Education: Innovations and Research, 18(3), 5–12.
