This course introduces PeerPower Ambassadors to the core knowledge and practical skills needed to facilitate and sustain peer-support communities in academic settings. Across the five modules, learners explore the purpose of peer support, how to design and facilitate structured sessions, how to recognise and manage group dynamics, how to build psychological safety and inclusion, and how to sustain peer communities over time through onboarding, shared practices, documentation, and collective responsibility.
By the end of the course, learners will be able to:
Explain the purpose of peer support in academic contexts and the role of PeerPower Ambassadors in facilitating inclusive peer communities.
Design structured peer-support sessions with clear aims, group agreements, participation methods, timing, and closure.
Apply facilitation techniques, including deep listening, open questioning, turn-taking, and action learning approaches, to guide safe and engaging group discussions.
Analyse common group dynamics, including silence, dominance, avoidance, disengagement, and exclusionary behaviours.
Evaluate strategies for building psychological safety, trust, belonging, and equitable participation in diverse peer communities.
Reflect on positionality, intersectionality, and power dynamics to support more inclusive and ethically aware facilitation.
Develop practical strategies for onboarding new members, managing group turnover, maintaining knowledge continuity, and sustaining peer communities over time.
This module introduces learners to the purpose of peer communities in academia and the role of Ambassadors in supporting connection, confidence, and belonging. It also clarifies what Ambassadors can and cannot do, helping learners understand the ethical boundaries of peer facilitation.
By the end of this module, learners will be able to:
Explain the role of peer support in academic contexts and the responsibilities of PeerPower Ambassadors.
Identify the core principles of effective peer communities, including participation, trust, belonging, boundaries, and shared responsibility.
This module focuses on how to plan and facilitate structured yet flexible peer-support sessions. Learners explore how Ambassadors can guide discussions, support participation, manage session flow, and close sessions safely and reflectively.
By the end of this module, learners will be able to:
Design a structured peer-support session with clear aims, timing, participation methods, and closure.
Apply facilitation techniques, including deep listening and open questioning, to guide safe and engaging group discussions.
This module helps learners recognise group dynamics as signals of power, safety, anxiety, or unclear structure rather than individual problems. It supports Ambassadors in responding constructively, inviting quieter voices, managing dominant participation, and maintaining a safe group environment.
By the end of this module, learners will be able to:
Analyse common group dynamics, including silence, dominance, avoidance, and disengagement.
Apply appropriate strategies to manage challenging behaviours and encourage balanced participation.
This module explores how Ambassadors can create peer spaces where participants feel able to speak, ask questions, share experiences, and belong. It also encourages learners to reflect on how identity, power, privilege, and assumptions shape participation and safety in groups.
By the end of this module, learners will be able to:
Evaluate practices that build trust, psychological safety, and inclusive participation in peer spaces.
Reflect on positionality, intersectionality, and power dynamics to support more equitable peer communities.
This module focuses on what helps peer communities last beyond individual members. Learners explore practical strategies for onboarding, documentation, shared roles, feedback loops, and light governance to keep communities active, inclusive, and sustainable over time.
By the end of this module, learners will be able to:
Develop strategies to onboard new members and maintain continuity during group turnover.
Create shared practices that sustain engagement, knowledge continuity, and long-term community participation.
This course introduces PeerPower Ambassadors to the core knowledge and practical skills needed to facilitate and sustain peer-support communities in academic settings. Across the five modules, learners explore the purpose of peer support; how to design and facilitate structured sessions; how to recognise and manage group dynamics; how to build psychological safety and inclusion; and how to sustain peer communities over time through onboarding, shared practices, documentation, and collective responsibility.
The final assessment focuses on whether learners can understand and apply the key principles of peer facilitation in realistic academic scenarios. Learners should be able to identify the role and boundaries of PeerPower Ambassadors, design safe and inclusive sessions, respond to challenging group dynamics, support equitable participation, and propose strategies for maintaining peer communities over time.