Peer support as a strategic resource in enhancing professional learning: Challenges to educators

This paper reports on action learning of student teachers and teacher educators within a context where peer support is activated. Analysis is based on data on peer conferencing and student teachers' reported thoughts during their teaching practicum. The initial focus is on the evaluation of peer coaching as a resource for learning. Further analysis aims at an understanding of the differences of student teachers' reflectivity in peer conferences. The paper concludes with an assertion of peer support as astrategic mechanism to address cost effectiveness in educationalendeavour. However, the findings also highlight the challengesto educators in the tradition of teaching as an isolatedfunction. Though the innovation from this project has takenplace in the domain of teacher education, the experiencedemonstrate the nature of peer learning, much of which isconsidered relevant to other professional educators.