What are talk partners?

Teachers are now encouraged to use talk partners as often as they can, as it is believed the benefits are as follows:
 

• Children are actively engaged in a lesson. If they are not required to talk about what the teacher is saying it is quite possible they are not thinking about what is being asked.
   

• Children are given confidence by discussing an idea with a peer first. They may be unsure of their answer until they have a chance to talk it over with someone else.
   

• Children are given time to think about a question and properly formulate an answer. Sometimes children need to talk about something before being able to give a good answer.

• If teachers rely only on children raising hands to give answers, it is common to find that the same few children raise their hands each time. After children have talked about something in a pair, a teacher can choose a pair to offer what they have discussed, without waiting for them to put their hands up. This means that the quieter children who may not normally offer contributions are encouraged to speak up.