An update on the ImpleMentor project in Cyprus

The University of Nicosia participates, along with other four institutions from EU member states, in a Leonardo Da Vinci research and training program which deals with mentoring. The main objective of the research program is to develop both a training package for mentor training and an effective mentoring process.

Communication among the participating institutions takes place through e-mail as well as through periodic transnational meetings. The University of Nicosia was the host agency for the third transnational meeting, which took place during September 14-18, 2008 . The September 2008 transnational meeting focused on (a) progress review of the project and (b) a training the trainers course. In all, sixteen participants from all five participating countries were present in the third transnational meeting.

The training course on mentoring skills took place at the University of Nicosia between 3/11/08 and 8/12/08 . It consisted of six two-hour sessions. The instructors were the two people participating in the project (C. Theophilides, P. Panaou). In total, forty-six mentors participated in the course. The participants were Learning Support Assistants, working either in primary or secondary education, with the main duty of supporting students, who, for a number of reasons, have learning disabilities.

A questionnaire was used for the evaluation of the course, which included both quantitative and qualitative questions. The evaluation outcomes are summarized below.

The training course was looked at in a positive manner; no negative responses were reported, with the exception of the response to the duration of the course. This last observation is reinforced by an additional observation in the qualitative section, according to which additional seminars should be offered.

Furthermore, three out of four participants answered that they would definitely recommend the course to a friend, while the rest of the participants would also most likely recommend it. All of the participants think that they have improved themselves as a result of participating in the course.

Finally, while some participants suggested that this course should be followed by other seminars on practical issues, the majority of them stated that they learned a lot in a pleasant environment.

Peer Coaching at CDO NOORD

Who are we?

CDO NOORD is a center for working and learning. Our students are between the ages of fifteen and twenty. The center is located in Antwerp, the largest city of Flanders, Belgium.

In Belgium the law states that every youngster has the obligation to learn until the age of eighteen. If parents want to provide home-education then that is allowed within strict regulations but for our students this is not an option so they have to attend school until their eighteenth birthday. For many students this is too much to ask. They look back on a series of negative school experiences and they can’t wait to leave the classroom. This is especially so for students with learning difficulties, students with emotional and or behavioral difficulties, students with language difficulties and marginalized students.

They attend lessons at the center during two days a week: one day of practical learning, one day of theoretical learning. Three days of the week they are or are supposed to be employed outside the center. We are a center for vocational training and it is our aim to help the students into employment. We offer courses in professional cooking, hairdressing, construction, woodwork, shop keeping, administration, running a snack bar and in industrial insulation.

Our target group

By the time the youngsters arrive in our center they often have very little self esteem, their school career has focused on everything they can’t do. They have problems adjusting to rules and regulations and they often lack the social skills to handle conflicts properly. These youngster form our target group. We want to focus on their competences and help them find out what they want to do with their life. It is very important to help them understand why certain skills are so important. For example: you have to learn to be punctual if you want to obtain and/or keep a job.

The gap between the social background of our students and our own social background is often enormous. Many students live in notorious parts of town and are streetwise. This is why we started working with what we call “peer coaches”, we use the word coach because it is a familiar sports term.

The selection of peer coaches

The teachers are the key figures in the selection of peer coaches. They observe our students during seven our eight hours a week and make a first selection. Our peer coaches are our more mature students, they are able to be punctual, they attend the center on regular bases and they have good social skills.

After this first selection every candidate comes to the two coordinators of the peer coaching project for an interview. During this interview we focus on the competences they gained outside the school. Some students are members of a sports club and have coached children, others have been active in youth work or take responsibilities in their own family such as looking after brothers and sisters or nursing an ill parent.

Those students who posses the necessary skills to start as a peer coach and who are prepared to work with us guiding other students can start their training. We organize a three day residential training where we use material developed during the Implementor project and additional material from other projects such as Me Myself I.

We also insist on sending every peer coach on a residential training abroad. We are convinced of the extra value that an experience like that brings, these European courses focus on the development of personal skills and on intercultural learning.

The work of a peer coach within CDO NOORD

After their first training experience each peer coach is linked to a youngster from the target group. Every week they have to organize at least one short activity with their mentee. This can be just a ten minute chat during lunch break but it can also be a sports activity during the weekend. The coach will try to help his/her mentee to develop the skills that are necessary to successfully complete their vocational training and/or to find a suitable employment.

To help the peer coaches we organize a meeting once a month. During this meeting they can ask for our help in guiding their mentee and they can exchange experiences.

The coaches can also organize activities within the center if they want to. This can be a football competition aswell as a Christmas party.

The most difficult thing about being a peer coach is the position in between teachers and students. The coaches take responsibility in the center and that makes them very special students, they have their own room and they attend meeting with some off the staff members. On the other hand they are still students who have to attends courses and during these courses they are just ordinary students.

We have one professional peer coach, this is a former student who is now an official staff member. He joins the monthly meetings and helps during the first residential training.

Main objective of the peer coaching program

Our main objective is to offer as many tools as needed to those young people who have somehow lost their way in the course of growing up. By focusing on the competences of the students we want to build up their self esteem again. These young people need to be convinced of the fact that they have good opportunities and that they can work on themselves in order to improve their social status.

In practice this means that the peer coaches help their mentees during their weekly session to keep them motivated and if possible to help them find (and keep) a job.

We strongly believe that an approach were young people support their peers can improve the changes of success of our mentees.