Exploring social-emotional competencies of students through peer support in a primary school

Research on whether peer support benefits primary school students’ social and emotional learning is still in its infancy. This study aimed to investigate the benefits of a peer support program (PSP) on the acquiring of social-emotional competencies and self-determination in a primary school context. In this primary school context, the peer support champions (PSCs) were trained to carry out their roles in looking out for their peers. The program continued for a semester before 11 primary four and five students were interviewed to study the impact of PSCs on them. Results showed that the PSCs had a close relationship with their peers. Additionally, they were found to be positive influences on their peers and had benefited them. These findings suggest that the PSP can be an effective intervention for students to learn SECs and become self-determined individuals. Overall, this study highlights the importance of peer influence on students in school. Further research is required to substantiate this argument and explore the long-term effects of the program on students as the study was relatively small-scale.