Are you looking to build self-confidence and sense of community with your teen programs?
The peer mentoring program, equip, in South Africa empowers young people to heal transgenerational trauma and find joy in their learning community.
In this post, I will be sharing about the equip program and a case study in South Africa that excelled in how to build self-confidence and sense of community in a vulnerable population.
To find out more about some of the tenets of equip and other systemic tools; attend our upcoming workshop, Teaching From Presence, on March 2, 2019.
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What is equip?
e — Engage
q — Question
u — Understand
i — Imagine
p — Plan
The program equip trains students from upper grades to mentor younger students in transition from their school or new program. I found the program to be very special in that it helped to build confidence in the mentors as well as the mentees. In South Africa, program leaders brought parents into the initial meeting to hear their thoughts and feelings.
Why am I talking about equip?
I initiated a peer mentoring programs based on equip, at Conte West Hills Magnet School. The Ruth First Jeppe Memorial Trust in Johannesburg, South Africa used this same model with great success. The program has been so vibrant in South Africa, that I thought I would share a little about its beginnings..
Ruth First girls in South Africa
Ruth First was an anti-apartheid activist who was killed by the South African Secret Police during the struggle for freedom. So it was an honor when the South African ecl team was asked to partner with the Ruth First Jeppe Memorial Trust. The trust offers scholarships for Jeppe High School for Girls. These young women are the future of South Africa and come to school with much transgenerational trauma and also so much potential.
Three golden threads that run through equip
Reflection – each experience can be an opportunity to learn
Creativity – you can try new things out where some will work better, and others will inspire new ideas
Caring – looking after each other
Aspects of Training
The training is delivered in a variety of contexts and includes practical experiences to allow for the leaning to be embodied.
Use a challenging task to support bringing the learning groups together and build trust with each other for further exploration and experiences.
Use of a physical challenge outside of school, currently used is a climbing wall to support the first experience of mentoring others and start using communication skills.
Tools are given to the mentors to use in their sessions including the ‘hopes, worries and wonders’ board with the question of transition being held in the center. In the senior training, further tools are explored such as the use of the ‘systemic pizza’ where the mentors learn how to use systems mapping to support mentees.
Gains for Mentees
Development of resilience, being able to use outside support and finding resources inside yourself allows for feeling less anxious.
They get a greater understanding about things that matter, whether this is a peer who is teaching you something or enables you to access knowledge about school, a subject area other information which is essential for peers and can be empowering.
Mentees are more confident and happy because their relationships are stronger. The school becomes a community of learning which fosters more positive attitudes.
Gains for Mentors
Through their training and the practice of mentoring they hone their communication and relationship skills. In practice, their ability to listen and give constructive feedback and basic caring improve.
Higher engagement in learning helps shift the didactic approach of being taught to one where they can ask questions and find things out and then arrive at their conclusions.
The levels of creativity are enhanced and mentoring becomes a space to be co-creative. People are encouraged to explore possibilities when carrying the question ‘what if?’
Gains for School
This program can be of significant support for transitions. Creating less anxious students, they are better prepared and open to learning.
Peer mentors provide a resource for pastoral care as they can support mentees from having issues. They are anticipating problems so that it can be bought to mentors and stop this becoming something bigger.
They can help deal with minor problems by talking through with younger students.
A culture of mutual responsibility, sharing experiences, and the quality of conversations extends to others in the school.
Mentors can become ambassadors for the school both in a formal setting by going into the Primary schools and raising your school profile. Plus in an informal role such as showing visitors around school or during recruitment. They become better communicators and confident with others, adults and students alike.
Gains for Parents
Find that their children have greater independence and ability to cope in a variety of situations.
They have better relationships with better dialogue and are more open to ideas from others, including better relationships with siblings.
More respectful of place and reciprocity that they know they, as an older person are helping someone younger. Mentors become more appreciative of the support from parents and teachers.
The conclusion is that equip mentoring and tutoring’s primary outcome is a stronger creative learning community, which is centered on school but which reaches far beyond the school gate.
The story of the opening day
Below you will find a small clip from the document of the first day of equip training told by Raymond Nettmann
On the morning of the first of May, we as a team arrived to orientate ourselves for our first presentation to the “Ruth First Girls,” their parents and the mentors who would accompany the learners during the program.
Letizia Tompson, the coordinator of the program, greeted us, not only with the with the offer of coffee, but with the hall set up and name tags for each student, mentor, and parent. A touch of hospitality and professionalism that sent the message that this program was being taken seriously. An excellent beginning.
After being welcomed by Letizia and Kevin Tate, director of the Ruth First Jeppe Memorial Trust, I opened the morning activities by engaging with the people present using a simple exercise demonstrating the ecl maxim “try things out.” The audience was asked to become aware of how they felt and register that feeling in themselves. Then they were invited to speak to the person next to or behind them about how they arrived at the venue and what they had for breakfast. They were then asked to check into their bodies and see if there had been any shift.
This activity allowed people to experience themselves as social beings all coming from a specific location and performing a common task – eating breakfast. This helped people to relax and be more open to the information about to be presented. This example was then used to introduce and explain ecl by demonstrating the importance of including the human system and the whole person in the learning experience. Two short movies taken from the ecl website were also shown.
Sandi Hager, ecl catalyst, then explained the benefits and structure of the mentorship program. She spoke about the importance of creating a vessel to hold the mentoring process and reinforced the commitment of ecl to the Ruth First Trust. She used a slide to highlight the place of the learner peer mentors being within a supportive system reaching as wide as ecl England
