Peer Mentoring
It has long been accepted wisdom, that people, young and not so young, learn best how to handle social, personal and work issues through peer mentoring. Managers learn most effectively from engagement with other managers; teachers from other practising teachers; children and young people from other children and young people.
The challenge is that it is vital that 'the other children and young people' are reasonably well-informed and responsible, and able to communicate effectively. Thus, if the strategy is to work well it is imperative that potential peer mentors receive purposeful training and guidance.
Learning Through Action has significant experience in providing initial training and guidance to young peer mentors. School staff, of course, need to be fully committed to taking it forward themselves.
The workshop programme outlined below (the framework options are essentially the same for both primary and secondary) provides a foundation for the implementation of a peer-mentoring policy, often based on a dual approach of one-to-one mentoring, and group mentoring to be cascaded class to class. Any ensuing involvement of LTA staff in training is entirely optional and is a matter of negotiation and the availability of our staff.
Workshops for Ages 4 to 18+
The introductory workshop, which usually follows the delivery of one or more of our PSHE workshops, shows what peer mentoring seeks to achieve, the strategic options, and the skills and techniques that can be deployed. On the basis if this experience, attendees decide whether they want to commit to becoming peer mentors. (In our view, self-selection, rather than students being selected by their teachers, is always preferable and more effective.) Follow-up workshops, for trainee peer-mentors, practice the techniques through role play and simulation, and share and review (anonymously) individual peer-mentoring experiences.
