Standard 13: Focus on Authentic, Meaningful, and Direct Peer Interactions

"Children learn better when they are able to work with friends and interact with friends in the classroom. Group projects will be better completed when children work with real friends rather than with non-friend peers…With peers, children can argue, negotiate, and figure it all out. Some researchers have speculated that these life skills come more from peer interactions than through interactions with adults. And those language skills are absolutely essential.” Dr. Brenda Schick, University of Colorado

Peer interaction is essential for many aspects of human development, from birth onwards. Students learn a great deal through interactions with others, and interactions with peers are particularly important. The positive effects of having authentic peer interactions are widespread. Interactions with friends and classmates are essential to social emotional development, incidental learning, the knowledge of how to work in a group, as well as the development of personality. As importantly, involvement in discussions and arguments scaffold the development of language and cognition. There are many skills that can only be learned during rich, cognitively interesting interactions. Throughout childhood and adolescence, students learn to discuss, negotiate, argue, debate, and create emotional bonds during interactions. These interactions allow students to develop the language skills associated with a particular form of discourse, such as argumentation. There are also cognitive skills required for certain types of discourse, such as seeing a problem from multiple perspectives.

Often, interactions with peers are richer in terms of discussion and argumentation than interactions with adults. These discussions force students to think of alternative perspectives and to learn complex relationships. With peers, students learn the kinds of evidence that are legitimate and which debate tactics are acceptable, credible, and productive.

Despite the essential nature of peer interaction, students who are D/HH often have more difficulty accessing interactions with hearing peers due to communication access challenges. This may be particularly true when a student needs the services of an interpreter to access interactions. The presence of an adult in peer interactions can interfere with some types of peer interactions. Students who are D/HH should be in a learning environment that allows and supports authentic peer interactions and opportunities for true friendships. When this is not available, school teams should monitor the social-emotional impact and seek to build these relationships via online interactions and through day and summer programs.

As mentioned in the Communication Plan, the IEP team must consider the availability of deaf/hard-of-hearing role models and peers of the same communication mode and language. Educational placement, therefore, should provide social interaction with peers and friends, in addition to access to curricular materials. Students who have difficulty communicating with hearing peers, either through spoken English or an interpreter, may need an educational placement that includes more students who are D/HH to ensure peer interaction.

Other ways for students who are D/HH to have contact with other peers who are D/HH include school-sponsored regional activities and private summer camp programs that are specifically for students who are D/HH. These programs also provide access to Deaf role models. Similarly, older students can participate in the Junior National Association of the Deaf Youth Leadership Programs, Explore Your Future and other programs focusing on older students who are D/HH. When placement options limit peer interaction, it is important for the students who are D/HH to have some rich peer experiences outside of the school day. The team should explore other options such as video conferencing with other programs or schools with students who are D/HH. Special field trips with other schools or programs may allow for the interaction of students who are D/HH with peers or deaf/hard of hearing role models.