Peer Group as a

Socializing Agent
JD TARBET
Observation Information

District: West Ada

School: Meridian High School
Teacher: Mrs. Judy Grossklaus
Grade/Subject: High School study group/special ed.
Class Demographics
Ages: 14-18
Race: Primarily White
Average Income: Middle Class
Class size: 5-10
What are peers?

Peers or a peer group is a group of people in similar positions, or

share an attribute with each other, i.e. age, socioeconomic
standing, career, ethnicity, etc.
Socializers: Often peers are the people we connect with most
based on a shared interest, position, or belief.
They fill a need we have to belong or be in a group.
Why are peers important in a
childs development?
Group mentality
Formation of interests and beliefs
Aid in learning; Express understanding in different forms of
information, as well as cooperation
Help learn to deal with their fellows
Peer Groups as a Socialization
Agent: Emotions
Peer groups help develop communication skills, (acceptability of
actions and reactions).
Groups aid in a students understanding of their own capabilities.
Often a group will have varying forms of punishment and reward
for particular actions of its members, but typically they are subtle
and not blatantly seen, such as hierarchal status,
respect/perception, or the more drastic, rejection.
Peer Groups as a Socialization
Agent: Social
Competence/Conformity
Peer Groups help children learn about social negotiation:

popularity, power structures (i.e. leaders/followers), manipulation
Students would often vie for attention, either through academic
discussion, or through engaging in a more social
interaction/discussion.
The younger students of the class, during class discussion and
story sharing, would try to give a personal story, even if it related
little to the discussion at hand in an attempt to be relatable to
the group. (ex. One student often brought up, in great detail, his
hunting trips to impress myself and other students when we
hadnt even approached the topic of hunting.)
Socializing Mechanisms: Modeling

Students often emulate each other, basing their behaviors on the

behaviors theyve either witnessed or behaviors of their
friends/group
This includes intellectual and educational endeavors. Example:
Many of the students would be working on the same or similar
assignments as their peers, being in the same or similar classes, and
thus would seek the help of myself, the teacher, or their classmates.
The teacher encouraged them to work together as much as possible,
bouncing ideas off one another and relying on us if the need arose.
Typically, the student being asked would demonstrate/model what
needed to be done and repeated by the other students.
Assignment

Write a paragraph detailing an example of socializations

influencing student development in the classes youve observed,
or have personally gone through.
Rubric: Area 0 5 10
Example was not present Example wasnt well Example was well defined
defined, lack of information and fully expanded upon
Example regarding who/what/where

Example had no relation to Example is barely Example gave clear relation

the topic connected to the topic, or to the topic and was fully
Relativity to the Subject wasnt explained well explained.
enough to relate.
Work Cited

Berns, Roberta M. (2016). Child, Family, School, Community

Socialization and Support (10th ed.).
Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.