Peer support in sub-Saharan Africa: A critical interpretive synthesis of school-based research

University student-teachers’ diversity and attitudes toward classroom participation

“…Most of them prefer working in groups to classroom discussions. In a real sense, there has been seen as challenging to implement LCP due to poor students’ classroom participation during teaching and learning [ [12] , [13] , [14] ]. The findings are almost similar to what was reported by Refs.…”

“…An equivalent observation was reported by Refs. [ 22 , 23 ], and [ 14 ] in terms of the class size's adverse effect on students. They note that a larger class size creates fear and anxiety among students as they have to participate before a larger crowd, resulting in much criticism from peers.…”

“…While the purpose of LCP was to make learners responsible for their learning through active involvement, research indicates that students' classroom participation at various levels of education is not yet imminent as expected [ 10 ]. LCP, being regarded as a home of student classroom participation, has been challenging to implement ([ [11] , [12] , [13] , [14] ]. The challenge compels many educators to use unidirectional teaching methods, which hardly allow interaction during teaching and learning [ 15 , 16 ].…”

“…Sometimes, LCP lacks the prominence it deserves [ 24 ], such as students’ readiness, interest, and active participation [ 16 , 25 ]. There is a virtual absence of discussions, group work, and questions and answers in LCP-related practices [ 14 , 16 ]. Even when teachers try to practice LCP, students are inactive in participating in classroom talk [ 10 , 16 ].…”

Disaster didacticism: Pedagogical interventions and the ‘learning crisis’

“…On one level, separating different components of pedagogy from each other and from their context belies their interdependency. For example, Mitchell (2023) notes the significance of peer support in classrooms, particularly in context of communal life and solidarity, as in the Southern African philosophy and practice of Ubuntu. Focusing observation on what teachers are doing without due attention to these wider interactions provides a partial and obscured view (see also Mitchell and Milligan,).…”