Teachers have the ability to influence a child’s sense of belonging and peer relationships in the classroom which are important for a child’s social development. Currently, little is known about the ways in which they do this. Vygotsky’s concept of the social situation of development and Hedegaard’s model for learning and development were used to discuss the conditions teachers created that promote peer relationships within the classroom. Digital video observations and interview of one grade 1 classroom teacher from the western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria were analysed using Hedegaard’s dialectical-interactive approach. This paper demonstrates how the societal demands on institutions influence the activity settings that students participate in and argues that teachers need to create conditions for peer interactions that satisfy societal needs as well as being meaningful for their students and their social situation of development.

This study examines a child’s personal experiences with peer relationship building in the classroom and is guided by Vygotsky’s cultural historical concepts of the social situation of development and cultural tools and Hedegaard’s (2012) model for learning and development. Hedegaard’s (2012) dialectical—interactive approach was adopted to analyse the data for this study which was gathered using digital video observations of a grade one classroom within the western suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia over a five week period. This paper explores the strategies used by children that enables them to balance their desire for peer relationships while remaining within what is considered acceptable behaviours by their teachers within the classroom. It is argued that it is important for schools to continue to strive to find the balance between institutional demands while creating social situations that foster peer relationships.