Sessions 1 Abstracts

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Session 1.1: How to Involve Parents and Guardians Sucessfully in Mentoring Programmes for Children?

Session proposed by: Jasmin Azar, Mentoring Programme Coordinator, kein Abseits!, Germany

1. Who are you and to which institution do you belong?

My name is Jasmin Azar and I have been working as a mentoring coordinator with kein Abseits! e.V. for more than four years. kein Abseits! e.V. is a German non-profit organisation (NPO) committed to supporting children facing adversity and enabling integrative encounters between people from different backgrounds. In close partnership with schools, universities and refugee shelters, kein Abseits! has been developing educational and integrative projects since 2011. The main goal of the NPO is to contribute to educational equality and a peaceful coexistence in Berlin.

Both local and refugee children are being promoted by the approach of kein Abseits! which combines experiential education and physical activities, 1-on-1 mentoring as well as vocational education. While the projects are mainly targeted at children aged 7 to 13, the community service project targets teenagers (former mentees) between 14 and 18 years to make their own first experiences as volunteers in their community.

As a result of the kein Abseits! programme, participants improve their self-confidence, as well as their social and linguistic skills and learn about the possibilities of participation in society. Friendships beyond any differences develop between peers as well as cross-generationally.

In addition, kein Abseits! e.V. provides impact-oriented trainings regarding the development and impact measurement of mentoring programmes.

kein Abseits! has already won several awards (among others “Hauptstadtpreis für Integration und Toleranz” – Berlin Award for Integration and Tolerance) and has been certified with the impact-label by Phineo.

2. What is your major starting question or hypothesis?

From the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring Programmes we know that for youth mentoring programmes the involvement of parents and guardians plays a crucial role for the mentoring relationship. In general, all youth mentoring programmes have in common that parents and guardians have to be informed and have to approve their children’s participation in the programme. But the extent to which parents and guardians engage during the programme can differ significantly. In some projects, the minimum acquirement is given once the parents give their permission; whereas in other programmes parents and guardians are seen as another target group. Addressing and activating them can bring a lot of benefits to the mentoring programme. In addition, the parents and guardians can also improve skills in how to support their children.

In the session, I want to deal with the topic of how to involve parents and guardians successfully in mentoring programmes? 

3. How do you plan the session? Which method will you use?

This session should give room for a wide exchange of experiences of the participants in regard to parent’s and guardian’s involvement in mentoring programmes.

The different approaches and methods and their positive as well as negative aspects will be collected and clustered in an open discussion. We will focus on the questions on how and to which extent parents and guardians can be best involved in mentoring programmes.

4. What is the goal of the session?

• The goal of the session is the exchange of experiences by evaluating the following questions to illustrate the diversity of the work with parents in mentoring programmes:
• At which point is work with parents and guardians useful?
• On which scale of intensity parents should be engaged in the mentoring programme?
• Which options and risks lie in the engagement of parents in the mentoring relationship?
• How can the engagement of parents/guardians take place in the mentoring relationship?
• What are the objectives of work with parents/guardians and how can those be achieved?
• How can parents be addressed purposefully and how can they be motivated to emotionally accompany the mentoring process?
• How can parental expertise be included in the mentoring process?

Session 1.2: Promoting Child Online Safety – A Role for Volunteers?

Session proposed by: Garry McGregor, Quality Officer, Befriending Networks

2. What is your major starting question or hypothesis

Key question:  Promoting child online safety to improve resilience- Is there a role in this for volunteers and what are you currently doing to support them in it?

3. How do you plan the session? Which method will you use?

Plan (10min)

Introduce topic by asking group to identify the main issues that can impact on child online safety – drawing from both knowledge and practice examples.

Brief introduction to the work Befriending Networks has been funded by Scottish Government to do – putting together an online training session aimed at supporting coordinators to improve understanding of the issues among volunteers and offer tips on how to discuss these with children and young people they support.

Group discussion (35 min)

Ask delegates to feedback on the following guide questions:

1. Would you feel comfortable/confident in offering training to your volunteers on this topic? If not, why?
2. Do you feel your volunteers would currently feel comfortable/confident discussing these topics with the children or young people they support? If not, why?
3. What practical steps could you take to support your volunteers to openly discuss these issues with children/young people?
4. Do you feel that you would need to obtain parental consent to enable your volunteers to discuss online safety with children and young people? Do you feel this could potentially create a barrier for child/young person participation?
5. Are there any cultural sensitivities which you would need to bear in mind for any of the children/young people your service supports? Could these be addressed without online safety advice being compromised?
6. Do you feel that encouraging awareness of online safety is just a natural extension of child protection training, or do you feel it goes beyond what your service is setting out to achieve with children/young people?
7. Do you agree with the idea that there is a role for volunteers to offer support in this area based on the relationships they form with children/young people, or do you feel that this should be left to paid staff or parents?
8. In Scotland, this work sits comfortably with national government policy.  Do you feel it would be the same in your country? If you were to introduce or enhance current support in this area, would it make your service more attractive to funders?

4. What is the goal of the session?

Goal: to highlight what has become a key area of concern in Child Protection and assess the role of the befriending/mentoring relationship in supporting safe and risk managed online use by children and young people.

Session 1.3: A European Database for Mentoring Programmes?

Session proposed by: Szilvia Simon and Julia Schermann, ECEB & AZW, Netherlands and Germany

Strengthening Mentoring Programmes through a National Campaign

1. Who are you and to which institution do you belong?

Julia Schermann, Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth – responsible for the programme “Aktion zusammen wachsen” which strengthening educational  mentoring, promoting integration.

Szilvia Simon, European Center for Evidence – Based Mentoring, community manager

2. What is your major starting question or hypothesis?

Aktion zusammen wachsen is a national campaign initiated by the German Federal Government in 2008. The campaign supports the work of educational mentoring programmes and helps organisations to set up mentoring activities for migrants. The campaign has created a database and a community of more than 850 projects all over Germany to make their social commitment visible within society. The campaign has been raising public awareness and contributing to the sustainability of mentoring organisations. Through the Aktion zusammen wachsen programmes get tools to increase their quality.

3. How do you plan the session? Which method will you use?

After a short presentation of the German national campaign Aktion zusammen wachsen, there is a discussion around the following questions:

What can we learn from existing and upcoming national and regional campaigns for mentoring in Europe? What are the obstacles / challenges organisations face initiating such networks? What is the benefit of a mentoring community sharing best practices, tools and evidence? How can we showcase these benefits for stakeholders?

4. What is the goal of the session?

The goal of the session is exchange of best practices as well as the connection of mentoring and mentoring networks to regional / national / European priorities.

 

Session 1.4: From Conflict to Collaboration: Between Volunteer and Paid Mentoring

Session proposed by: Stine Hamburger, Program Manager & Sidse Frich Østergaard-Thygesen, Senior Consultant, Learn for Life and The Think Tank DEA, Denmark

2. What is your major starting question or hypothesis

Key Question: Why do systems supporting professional mentoring act as a barrier against initiating volunteer mentoring programmes, and how can we solve this challenge and benefit from the positive effects of volunteer mentoring?

3. How do you plan the session? Which method will you use?

Session set up

Short introduction to the barriers towards volunteer mentoring with the following case presentations:

Time, minutes	Topic
0-5	Welcome
5-10	Lær for Livet – Stine Hamburger, Programme Manager, The Learn for Life Initiative Learn for Life is a Danish long-term project aiming to improve school achievements of children in out-of-home care. Only 30 % of foster children have completed an upper secondary education at the age of 25, compared to 79 % of children not in care. The participants (Learning Kids) are foster children, 8-13 years old, when entering the program. The program consists of Learning Camps, and the Learning Kids are appointed a mentor. They have meetings with their mentor once a week during the six years the program lasts (best case with the same mentor). The program is financed by local municipalities and foundations, a large part from the Egmont Foundation and a small part from other foundations.
10-15	(Lack of) Mentoring in the Transition to Secondary School /Sidse Only 18.5 % of young people chooses vocational education after secondary school (9th grade), which is rather problematic, as Denmark, as well as several other European countries, lack skilled people. Volunteer mentoring is a useful supplement to ordinary career guidance, supporting young people’s self-esteem and resilience, helping them to navigate through educational choices. But volunteer mentoring is rarely used in in the Danish education system, where the use of professional mentoring seems to crowd out volunteer mentoring.
15-25	Discussion I: Why do the system support professional mentoring, and at the same time act as a barrier to volunteer mentoring?
25-40	Discussion II: How can we kickstart volunteer mentoring in a not-supporting system and culture?
40-45	Wrap up

4. What is the goal of the session?

In Denmark, professional mentoring, reducing the risk of VET drop-outs, is abided by law. Volunteer mentoring is mainly for special talented students in university and in general upper secondary and is fragmented and loosely embedded in the educational institutions.

Departing in two short case presentations, the first focusing on the positive effects of mentoring, the second on the need for career guidance in secondary school, the workshop aims at discussing the conflict between professional and volunteer mentoring, and how to start up volunteer mentoring programmes in a system with no tradition or culture for volunteer mentoring.

Hopefully the discussions will lead to better knowledge and understanding of cultural and structural barriers towards implementing mentoring in all stages of the education system, but also to insights and inspiration for how to overcome these barriers and kickstart volunteer mentoring in countries with little tradition for this.

Session 1.5: Mentoring Initiatives Should Develop a More Social-Entrepreneurial Mindset

Session proposed by: Valerie Carette, MeMoRe Flanders, Belgium

1. Who are you and to which institution do you belong?

MeMoRe is a transnational project funded by the European Social Fund. We develop an effective and sustainable mentoring model for the integration of refugees on the labour market and will have special attention for the effectiveness and sustainability of mentoring initiatives which have (also) less qualified refugees as a target group. In this transnational project the following (ESF funded) partners and projects are involved:

MeMoRe Flanders (Hefboom, HIVA – University of Leuven, Refugees in Action, Belgium)

MentoMigri (Jyväskylä Educational Consortium, Finland)

Bottom Up Integration (Integration in Sweden, Sweden)

MeMoGa (Landesnetzwerk der Migrantenorganisationen Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany).

IntegriF (Harz University of Applied Sciences, Germany)

Each partner brings different perspectives and contributions to the transnational goal. The coordination of the transnational project MeMoRe is the responsibility of Hefboom (Belgium, www.hefboom.be,). Hefboom strives to create a better and more sustainable society through its management consulting, financing and other services for companies, organizations and projects with a social purpose.

2. What is your major starting question or hypothesis

Mentoring initiatives should develop a more social entrepreneurial mindset. The majority of the mentoring initiatives are set up on an ad hoc or project basis. They often are financed without prospect of structural financing (from governments) (Crul & Schneider, 2014; Petrovic, 2015). Project based funding is very sensitive to the volatility of politics and policy. Many mentoring initiatives  stop after a project cycle of two or three years or end up in a project carousel. Several policy papers recommend to seek out sustainable models of mentoring.

A more social entrepreneurial mindset might be relevant to support the sustainability of mentoring initiatives. Mentoring programs succeed in building services that benefit mentees, mentors, the community. But they often lack a social entrepreneurial mindset. In this session we explore the hypothesis of the necessity developing a more social entrepreneurship mindset. And we will exchange ideas about what the first steps for your mentoring initiative are to become more sustainable.

3. How do you plan the session? Which method will you use?

We start with a short PPT presentation (10’), discussion (15’) and short exercise in small groups (20’).

4. What is the goal of the session?

The goal of the session is to develop an understanding of the importance of a social entrepreneurial mindset for mentoring initiatives and learn about the first steps for your mentoring initiative to become more sustainable.

Session 1.6: Enhancing Mentoring through an Online Self-Assesment Tool

Session proposed by: Joana Portugal, Aproximar, Portugal

1. Who are we and to which institution do we belong?

Aproximar (www.aproximar.pt) is a non-profit organisation aiming to enhance organisations’ social and human capital as a strategy to build their capacity to take advantage of challenges and opportunities raised by the external conditions and be sustainable. Aproximar develops, organizes and manages different consultancy and certified training programmes involving areas like mentoring, coaching, fundraising, quality management, social support, volunteering, and social innovation processes. Aproximar has a learning management system connecting training with technology in which self-assessments of performance are a key tool to support skills training. The programmes always combine social science (knowledge), active methods (people) and suitable tools (technology). It counts with 10 members providing voluntary work in fields of employment, evaluation, or education. Services benefit more than 120 practitioners, children, youngsters & more than 30 organisations.

Aproximar develops projects related to mentoring models for the inclusion of vulnerable groups (roma, migrants, young people and NEET, women, long-term unemployed and (ex)offenders) since 2009. Aproximar has run three mentoring programmes reaching more than 150 mentors and mentees, targeting the development of personal and social competences and the access and retention of a job place. Nowadays, Aproximar is developing a mentoring programme specifically targeting Roma people and is delivering mentoring training to four different European countries within a mobility project (MDiv –Mentors’ Skills for Diversity).

2. What is your major starting question or hypothesis

How can ICT tools be integrated in the mentoring process – both coordination and relationship – supporting its efficiency, consistency and reliability?

3. How do you plan the session? Which method will you use?

We’ll start by showcasing the online tool (http://mpath.aproximar.pt/) using 1 case study by role in the platform – coordinator, mentor and mentee. After this demonstration, we’ll share the theoretical

background on the creation of the competences framework, the online tool and some results between partners. The online tool is a self-assessment questionnaire based on a framework of competences and it provides global results for a group of participants about their perception on the competences before, during and after the mentoring process. The online tool is built on a sequence of activities from the selection of competences to the run of the self-assessment.

4. What is the goal of the session?

This workshop offers participants the opportunity to understand the value of using ICT tool to support effective mentoring processes and also information about these already existent resource. It will provide an online method to check the competences of mentors and mentees in the mentoring process (pre, ongoing and post) and a way to provide an easy comparison between different organisations and countries.

Session 1.7 Lessons From a Cross-Cultural Comparison of Mentoring Programmes in The United States and Continental Europe

Session proposed by: Justin Preston and Òscar Prieto-Flores, Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring & University of Massachusetts, USA; University of Girona, Spain

2. What is your major starting question or hypothesis

The aim of the present proposal is to outline the plan for a 45-minute work session to discuss the implications of recent research comparing samples of American and European mentoring programs. Through our research, we have identified some of the mechanisms through which the use of mentoring is significantly shaped by the sociocultural histories and contexts in which they are implemented. The central focus of our work revolved around the question of how programs in each context differed and the implications of these differences in the presentation and implementation of mentoring programs in the United States and Continental Europe. However, just as one person’s perspective of an event can be influenced by their position relative to the event itself, an organization’s approach to mentoring has the potential to only see a portion of the impact mentoring can have on a youth and mentor pair, as well as their community.

3. How do you plan the session? Which method will you use?

Following a brief presentation of the research and background of mentoring in the United States and Continental Europe, the session will transition into a working group that will seek to digest the findings and translate them into actionable steps that can improve mentoring programs in Europe and the United States. This will include guided, collaborative group work that will enable participants from different programs to work through potential ways of implementing the findings from the research in their own program.

In sum, the presentation will consist of the following:

• Introduction of presenters and topic 5 Minutes
• Presentation of the research: 10 Minutes
• Questions regarding the findings: 5 Minutes
• Group breakout session: 15 Minutes
• Full group review and final Q&A: 10 Minutes

4. What is the goal of the session?

The ultimate goal of the session is to provide mentoring professionals and researchers from a diverse range of programs and contexts an opportunity to consider how the framework of their ideas around mentoring are influenced by their surroundings, while also incorporating knowledge and experience from other contexts in order to improve their program or future avenues of research.

Session 1.8: Monitoring Young Mentors Professionally: Best Practices and Challenges

Session proposed by: Eunice Mangado, Laura Cardús and Laia Bernués, AFEV, France & Spain

1. Who are you and to which institution do you belong?

Afev (Association de la Fondation Étudiante pour la Ville) is a non-profit organization promoting volunteering and supporting volunteers based in France and Spain. Afev is the first student mentoring network in France in urban areas with more than 7.000 mentoring relationships between both countries. For two hours a week, a student provides support to a child or youth at risk who has been identified by education professionals.

Mentoring is provided in priority at home or in public cultural centers and undertaken in close collaboration with the family and the professors, teachers and social workers. This action is aimed at children and young adults, and is sufficiently flexible to adapt to their needs at every key moment in their education.

We also develop a program with youths participating in France’s national voluntary service (Service Civique). Recruited and trained by Afev, they implement educational projects in primary and high schools.

Finally we implement a program called «KAPS» which combines volunteering and student accommodation. Flat-sharing is linked to a voluntary project in the community where the accommodation is situated. To qualify for the program students must sign up for both the flat-share and the community project. We also develop what we call «Plateforme de l’engagement», a space of resources within the universities, animated by professionals and youths in voluntary service, that seeks to promote the students’ engagement in collective projects. In some Plateformes we are also experimenting with collective and individual actions aimed at school success (specially addressed to 1st year’s students who are in a situation of vulnerability).

2. What is your major starting question or hypothesis?

How to develop a precise enough professional monitoring to ensure a good mentoring action by our volunteers but, at the same time, how to make it bearable and non-intrusive for them? Our aim is to share our current monitoring tools and procedures and to submit them at the analysis and critique of the participants. On the other hand, we shall obtain insights of their own modes of monitoring, and import ideas to improve our processes.

3. How do you plan the session? Which method will you use? (discussion; film presentation; short paper)

We intend to begin with a short presentation of AFEV France and Spain and our processes of monitoring of the mentoring activities (AI/enTàndem).

Afterwards, we are going to pose specific questions to be discussed in small groups during 5-10 minutes to share the conclusions afterwards in the big group.

Finally, we propose a roleplaying based on the methodology of “personae” that helps to characterize the main actors (volunteer mentors, who are university students and the professional coordinators who are in charge of the monitoring).

4. What is the goal of the session?

To obtain a general idea of methods of monitoring that are used by other organizations, and learn from their experiences, with their strengths and weak points, in order to improve our processes and help reflect and maybe improve those of the other participants. Share a reflection and new ideas about limitations, potentialities, technologies, networks in relation to the professional monitoring of mentoring activities.

Session 1.9 Training is Key to Relationship Success: Why and How to Comply with Training Standard in the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring

Session proposed by: Janis Kupersmidt, innovation Research & Training, USA

1. Who are you and to which institution do you belong to?

Dr. Kupersmidt is the President and a Senior Research Scientist at innovation Research & Training (iRT). She is also a licensed clinical child psychologist focusing on delinquent, aggressive, and substance abusing youth. During her research career, she has been the Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on approximately 60 grants or contract awards and has published over 80 papers, chapters, and books on the topics of mentoring, aggression, delinquency, social information processing skills, peer relations, substance abuse, prevention, mindfulness, media literacy education, and positive youth development. In addition, she has authored or co-authored many evidence-based prevention programs (e.g. Preparing for Mentoring, Media Detective, Aware, Buddy Builder programs). She has conducted numerous training workshops around the world and completed over 150 presentations at scientific or professional conferences. Previously, she was an Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia and then, retired as an Associate Professor at UNC-CH to found iRT, where she develops and evaluates programs and services to enhance the lives of youth, families, and communities.

Further informations about Janis Kupersmidt

2. What is your major starting question or hypothesis?

The impact of mentoring programs on youth outcomes has been shown to be small to moderate, on average. Thus, mentoring researchers and programs seek ways to improve the positive impact of mentoring on youth. There is one key program practice that prepares mentors for being knowledgeable and feeling ready to begin a relationship and that is pre-match mentor training. In addition, growing research suggests that pre-match training for mentees and their parents or guardians can also make a difference in match outcomes. This workshop will review the research on training; the training practices described in the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring (EEPM); and share tools and strategies for providing high quality, effective training to everyone involved in a mentoring relationship.

3. Which methods will you use?

The workshop will include a presentation by the facilitator, watching short videos, group discussion, and small group activities.

Target Audience

• Coordinators of mentoring programs
• Staff at mentoring programs who train or orient mentors, mentees, and/or parents or guardians of mentees
• Researchers interested in the role of training in mentoring relationship outcomes

4. What are the main Goals of the session?

• Review research findings on mentor, mentee, and parent/guardian training about mentoring
• Describe the Training Standard in the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring (EEPM)
• Share examples of online and in-person, evidence-based training programs
• Discuss training strategies and develop action plans to improve compliance with the EEPM

Session 1.10: Mentoring – An Integrated Part of Educational Programmes

Session proposed by: Oege Reitsma, NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences and MentorProgramma Friesland, Netherlands

1. Who are you and to which institution do you belong to?

MentorProgramma Friesland is a school-based mentoring programme that matches students with mentors from the world of work and follow-up studies. The matches are based on the specific learning goals of students and the unique life-, school- and work experience of mentors. This regional mentoring programme is a collaborative effort of educational providers VET Friesland College, VET Friese Poort, VET Nordwin College, Van Hall Larenstein and NHL Stenden Universities of Applied Sciences, since 1997.

Oege Reitsma is project manager at NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences and MentorProgramma Friesland. He has been involved in a broad spectrum of innovational and collaborational activities such as excellence in education (the honours programme), quality and exams as well as mentoring. His expertise is to connect extra-curricular activities with education and to find a way in which mentoring (be a mentor/have a mentor) can play a role in that.

2. What is your major starting question or hypothesis?

Major question of the session is the place mentoring takes within educational systems, in this case the honours programme of NHL-Stenden. What is the role of mentoring in the learning process of students? How to give informal learning a place within educational end terms? How can students showcase the learning process through mentoring in relation to competences of personal and professional development? Is free choice for participation a critical condition?

3. Which methods will you use?

Method of the session is an open exchange and discussion. After a short introduction into the built-up experience of mentoring in Friesland, session leader Oege Reitsma encourages participants to share their own experience and exchange their views on sustainable development of mentoring programmes within education.

4. What is the goal of the session?

Goal of the session is to offer eye-openers and tools towards a sustainable place of mentoring within vocational, secondary and higher education.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]