The experience of cross-cultural peer teaching for a group of mathematics learners

Abstract

Despite the post-1994 government’s efforts to put the necessary legislation in place and to work hard to reform the  education system in South Africa and improve standards, inequalities still  exist in many schools. Instead of focusing on the barriers to learning in schools, this paper, within the framework of the asset-based approach, describes the experiences of  learners involved in a cross-cultural peer teaching initiative between a privileged private  school and a township school in Port Elizabeth. The aim of the project was to explore the possible advantages of cross-cultural peer tutoring of certain sections of the new Mathematics curriculum  for both the tutors and tutees, especially to see whether the township learners’ understanding  of the learning content could be improved. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used to collect the data. The results showed that the township learners’understanding of the mathematic topics dealt with during the peer teaching session was enhanced and that both groups gained from the cross-cultural peer teaching interaction.