Introduction

Pair Learning manifests the global paradigm shift in education, and benefits people in multiple ways.

Pair Learning can save more money than a country spends on entire educational system. How?

Pair Learning provides this saving through resolution of main contradiction faced by traditional educational process, the contradiction between frontal education where “one is talking, many are listening,” and a need in differentiated approach to every student, “every student needs the individual teacher.”

Pair Learning: What Does It Mean?

It means that one student teaches another student. In contemporary Pair Learning, the students in pairs are working with each other according to the specific algorithm.

Pair Learning maximizes students’ accomplishments via maximum utilization of all resources available to the school or university: teacher’s and students’ capabilities, educational potential of family and media, museums, exhibitions, and, of course, computers and Internet.

Who Invented the Pair Learning?

The most ancient predecessor of Pair Learning is 25 centuries old: Socratic Dialogues. Socrates was not talking “to anybody,” but rather “eye to eye.” With his sophisticated questions, Socrates helped his counterpart “giving birth” to the conclusion.

Next predecessor of Pair Learning is 2 centuries old: pair method used by Pater Gregor Girard to teach poor children in Switzerland. In his school 4 teachers worded with 400 students! What could they do? Girard said, “You will teach each other and switch the partners.”

Since then, the Pair Learning was evolved by efforts of thousands teachers. We are thankful to all of them! Now, thanks to their work, we have rules and algorithms for pair classes. These rules and algorithms are simple and practical, while providing high quality of learning.

Pair Learning: Effects

First of all, it should be clear that Pair Learning doesn’t discard other learning formats, frontal education and self-education, rather improves and strengthens their accomplishments.

Frontal education has been proven by 400 years of success. However, it cannot resolve the important contradiction in learning-education process: contradiction between unification, uniform approach, needed by teacher and differentiation, individual approach, needed by student.

This contradiction could be resolved, for instance, by reduction of group size. This is the most popular solution. However, this solution comes at a price, literally. As a result, this solution doesn’t fly because “unfortunately, there is no money!” Pair classes provide for much better solution: with 100% differentiation, individual approach to every student, it doesn’t cost a penny more!

Pair Learning not only provides for high learning achievements; it also provides, at “no additional cost,” multiple important educative and social effects.

Who Benefits from Pair Learning? First of All, Students!

Pair Learning is literally a good luck to any student, the natural environment for development of their best talents! Pair Learning brings liberty to the school life. The student’s liberty in pair classes takes realistic shape:

• Learning time is managed by students: dialogue partners decide on their own when to begin, make pause, and finish the work;
• Pace of work is controlled by students; every pair works as long as students’ quickness of wit allows: quick learners get everything fast, and can learn more in the same timeframe; slow students need more time to fill the gaps in understanding;
• Students posses sufficient liberty to select the topics and exchange them with other students;
• Students on their own choose the “teachers,” i.e. the partners in pair. The more students are there in the group, the easier each student can choose an appropriate “teacher” who “can better explain the topic”;
• Students on their own choose the most comfortable place for learning: more light, warmer or cooler, closer to the window or to the door, etc.

Hence, the Pair Learning provides the students with multiple liberties: in time, in pace of work, in topic of learning, in choice of partner in pair, and in choice of comfortable place for learning.

Experts say that even one of these liberties provided by Pair Learning to the students is a sufficient motivator to learning. Realistically, Pair Learning provides five! This is why Pair Learning solves the problem of motivation completely, at once, and for free! This fact benefits not only the students, but teacher, too – we’ll talk about teacher’s benefits later in more detail.

Who Benefits from Pair Learning? Parents, Too!

Parents of students learning in pairs observe pleasant changes in their kids:

• Children willingly go to school! Many of them enjoy learning! Parents see that because kids tend to spend longer hours in the school;
• Eventually, kids less and less conflict with each other and with parents. Children resolve the conflict situations easier.

When parents mention that, they ask teacher, “How come?” Teacher explains that children stay longer at school because their motivation to learning increased. Conflicts disappeared because children greatly improve their communication skills while working in pairs… Children become more socially competent.

• Later, parents notice that kids get A’s and B’s only;
• More attentive parents later, in two or three years, notice that their children became healthier: they get cold less frequently than before, and other health problems steadily came to nought.

Who Benefits from Pair Learning? Teacher, Too!

“Teacher” is the person who educates, teaches, i.e. school teacher, college teacher, university professor, etc. The teacher who uses Pair Learning notices the positive changes such as:

• Students are strongly motivated to learn, they are active and happy in the classes;
• No wonder, there are no problems with students’ behavior both in class and at breaks;
• Students’ learning and educating improves not only in major classes, but also in other classes such as arts, sports, etc.

Teacher’s function changes; now, teacher is not a “supervisor,” but rather a “conductor” of learning group:

• Teacher helps students choosing the appropriate partners for work in pairs;
• Teacher helps students to properly work in pairs by using the algorithms for pair work;
• Teacher pays more attention to slow students; quick learners are provided with additional tasks;
• Teacher better controls learning accomplishments by working with student in pair;
• Teacher takes care to provide the classroom with enough sources of knowledge such as books, magazines and “strangers”;
• Now, teacher isn’t busy with students’ behavior; however, students impose stronger requirements on teacher’s knowledge, and teacher has to meet these requirements.

Who Benefits from Pair Learning? Entrepreneur, Too!

Any industry leader, from small business to International Corporation, wants to deal with highly qualified, highly motivated employees focused on efficient teamwork. His dream is to hire employees who already possess all these qualities.

One can be sure that students in the process of Pair Learning acquire strong communication skills and reliable social competence. It is clear that these features are “the must” for good teamwork, and provide a company with massive benefits.

Who Benefits from Pair Learning? Politicians, Too!

If Pair Learning improves knowledge, skills and capabilities, then society in general and, specifically, economy wins a lot. Here you can find officially documented statistics of learning accomplishments: http://www.paarschool.com/paar-ns-ger-6.php .

If Pair Learning improves the emotional culture, social competency and conflict prevention, then the entire society wins, while police and jurors are less loaded. Cost reduction here could be enormous!

If Pair Learning provides for better health, the entire society benefits, and healthcare cost reduces.

If Pair Learning at no extra cost transforms students into the expert teachers, then school on its own can meet its need in highly competent experienced teachers.

Naturally, all these reductions of cost are enormous! Maximum result to society at minimum cost is the main goal to politics and politicians, isn’t it?

No wonder that party that overtly supports Pair Learning approach can attract a lot of voters at next elections.

Parting Words Before You Start Using the Pair Learning

Pair Learning is so simple that its implementation doesn’t incur any extra cost; moreover, it saves a lot of money at any scale, including the national economy.

Pair Learning approach is overtly demonstrated in available videos; they show the main components of the Pair Learning process. These videos, 10 minutes each, illustrate the Pair Learning approach in action, in the process of educating adults and kids in school classes.

If you need any additional information, please, contact us. I wish you best!

Sincerely,
Grigorij Gromyko

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