The History of Peer Mentoring From the writer: I wrote this article for Bobbi Kirby-Werner's Peer Consulting Practicum. The history and psychology of peer tutoring interested me because throughout the course I had asked myself "Where did this method of learning/instruction emerge from?" The answer was obviously England. I also liked the idea that you didn't have to be a "professional" to be a peer counselor: the point, in fact, was that you WERE NOT a professional, and because of this in some cases it was much easier for students to relate to the counselors equal. Which in turn helped them with their writing. From the teacher: Brendan's text fulfilled part of the WRT 331 requirements for preparing an article, as well as a 15-minute presentation on some aspect of his experience as a peer writing consultant. In his proposal for this project, Brendan noted that his peer status in many cases allowed him to better relate to his clients and have more productive sessions than he might have otherwise. This experience inspired him to investigate the history of peer counseling. The insights Brendan shared in his article and presentation were valuable additions to the class. From the editors: The author takes you on a historical journey into the evolution of peer tutoring. Its roots and the extent to which the peer tutoring system has developed over the past three hundred years are explained, while the author provides an overview of a little-known aspect of the SU Writing Program: peer advisors. History The definition of peer tutoring in textbooks is “a system of education in which students help each other and learn (themselves) by teaching,” (Goodlad and Hirst 13). Key to this definition is the word peer, which means someone of the same or nearly equal status as the person receiving the tutoring and who, as such, is not a professional instructor. Peer tutoring has played an important role in education and has likely existed in some incarnation since the beginning of civilization. But the first documented use of an organized, systematic learning design with peer tutoring in the Western world did not occur until the late 1700s. Following school budget difficulties in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Peer tutoring became an effective way to give disadvantaged children (at this time, sadly, only boys) a reasonable chance of getting an education. The first systematic approach to peer tutoring is credited to Andrew Bell, who was the superintendent of the Military Male Asylum in Egmore, England (Goodlad et al..