Cross-school Mentoring: Training and implementing a peer mentoring strategy

Abstract

This article describes a project based on Year 7 pupils (aged 11-12 years) in a UK inner-city girls' school classi ed as 'in challenging circumstances'. The girls were cross-mentored by Year 12 (aged 16-17 years) girls from another local girls' school. The city has a diverse multi-cultural population where single gender education is an active preference for many parents. This parental dimension in uenced cooperation between the two schools. The conceptual theme for the mentoring project was that the older pupils provided a supportive framework for their younger peers. This was a conscious shift from the traditional notion of 'prefects control younger pupils'. Prior to operating the scheme, a training programme was devised by the city's Secondary Behaviour Support Team. The progress of this training course and the application of the techniques through the mentoring sessions are described.

Programas de mentoria e promoção do desenvolvimento positivo de adolescentes

“…Ambos os intervenientes parecem beneficiar desta relação, nomeadamente no que se refere à autoestima e maturação psicossocial (Pyatt, 2002).…”

Mentoring in the art classroom

“…This exploratory research studied the progress of a mentoring program that was implemented in an inner city school for 'at risk' girls. In this study, 'at risk' is defined looking as sociodemographic variables such as poverty, single parent house holds, missing parents, classroom behavior problems, poor attendance and poor academic progress (Pyatt, 2002). The objective was for the older, more mature girls to provide a supportive framework for the younger girls.…”