December 11th, 2019 | Updated on June 29th, 2022
Various factors in the academic environment can have an influence on student learning, some of which can be contradictory.
The process of determining the importance and accuracy of information from learning material, teachers, and peers can be overwhelming.
In part, the classroom features that students attend to depend on what they prioritize and value. You will find a lot of information on this topic on grademiners and many other authoritative online sources.
Certain relationships and interactions among students are an essential and normal part of the learning process.
Such relationships, which have the potential to be reciprocal, can have a positive influence on a student’s lifelong learning patterns.
Some students, for instance, are more receptive and open than others. They seek out and value input from their peers on most decisions. Others, however, isolate themselves socially to avoid interaction with their peers.
It is important to examine different factors and variables that can affect student learning. Such variables include the purpose of the classroom environment, learning, and motivational considerations, as well as developmental variations.
According to a book by Henry Stack Sullivan published in 1953, people experience certain changes in their inter-personal needs as they mature.
For example, the need for friendship that preadolescents experience changes into a desire for sexual expression at the onset of puberty.
Consequently, their sense of self-worth tends to become synonymous acceptance by peers of the opposite sex and sexual attractiveness.
Late adolescence comes with a need for sexual expression combines with friendship. This is the stage where people focus on building lasting relationships.
Influence Of Peer Relationships On Education
When it comes to the learning environment, the value of peer relationships tends to increase as that of family relationships stays stagnant or decreases.
Peer influence is at its peak during adolescence years. The opinions and demands of school peers, therefore, can often overpower personal and/or family needs.
The learning culture changes as students continue to develop cognitively and biologically. This is why the relative stability of peer relationships can easily take priority over teachers and academics in higher education.
Essentially, the influence of peer relationships tends to increase with the development and age of the student, and so do the roles of peers.
Younger students, on the other hand, find it easier to find the yearning and motivation to learn apart from their friends and classmates.
They focus on the values they perceive or gain from their family members and teachers. In contrast, older students seek out peers who seem to have similar values and interests.
Positive peer influences, however, can help older students value their education and apply more effort to learning.
Researchers continue to study and discuss the effects of peer relationships on education. The broad consensus, according to most studies conducted on how relationships can influence student learning, is that peer relationships can have a huge effect on student learning.
The question of how they affect learning, however, is quite difficult to determine and answer.
According to the theory of behaviorism, relationships among students can affect learning only as much as they motivate or fail to motivate each other academically.
If, for example, your schoolmates encourage and motivate you to learn, then the chances are that everyone in your peer group will value learning.
On the other hand, if your peer group does not see the importance of education, you will probably lack the encouragement and stimulation needed to learn on your own.
According to the social learning theory proposed by Albert Bandura, vicarious, or observational learning stems from watching others and then replicating their behaviors.
Students who build relationships with peers who value learning and frequently engage in learning activities will also work harder at learning as well.
Therefore, student relationships with positive habits and attitudes towards learning allow students to teach each other and set cleat academic goals.
