Objectives

• With this tool, students are expected to: 
• Develop and maintain diverse and positive relationships in contexts of collaboration, cooperation, and mutual help
• Develop self-confidence, motivation to learn, self-regulation, initiative and informed decision-making
• Integrate thinking, emotion, and behaviour for increasing autonomy
• Assume an increasing responsibility to take care of yourself, others, and the environment and to actively integrate into society
• Recognise education as a public good, a global common good
• Be able to motivate and enable others through participatory methods to demand and take advantage of educational opportunities
• Become aware of the importance of building a sustainable future and to be involved in active citizenship projects
• Get personally involved with EDS, contributing, and facilitating the implementation of quality education at different levels
• Promote cooperation between peers to conduct their studies and school tasks in a progressively more efficient way

Activity details

Pupils-mentors 

• receive adequate training on topics central to the practice of peer mentoring;
• help to integrate new pupils into the school environment, promoting bonds with their classmates;
• support mentors in the acquisition and consolidation of the learning experiences.

Mentoring students

• get involved in the project with their tutors and the rest of the group.

Coordinator Teacher

• promotes and participates in training activities and dynamic meetings within the project scope;
• selects, guides and supervises student-tutors.
• 
  

Class Directors

• collaborate in identifying pupils with the profile to join the project;
• articulate with the project coordinator and families.

Parents

• authorise their minor(s) to get involved in the project;
• monitor the development of activities and results.

Material

• Library

Duration

• One school year

Group size

• One tutor for every three students

Activitiy 1

FIRST MOMENT

• Presentation of the volunteer project to attract mentoring students.
• Identification of pupils who need mentoring with the support of class directors/teachers.

Activity 2

SECOND MOMENT

• Interested pupils fill out an application form.
• The pupils involved (mentor and mentee) are committed to commit themselves to the achievement of the mutual help project to promote the construction of higher quality learning.

Activity 3

THIRD MOMENT

• The activities are carried out during the pupils’ free time in the School Library space.
• Each pupil-mentor will be responsible for a group of pupils-mentees.
• Monthly, a monitoring meeting will be held between the pupils-mentors and the teacher responsible for the project.
• Monthly, feedback from mentees will be collected.

Activity 4

FOURTH MOMENT

At the end of the school year, a project report will be presented, assessing its impact through the administration of a questionnaire to pupils (mentors and mentees) based on the quality of experiences they promote with their peers and the opinions expressed by all, orally or in writing, based on the ideas raised by completing the following expressions:

• Thankfully...
• It was a pity that ...
• It was good that ...

Tips for the teacher

In an initial phase, this dynamic should be applied in the class context, due to the logistics inherent in schedules.

It is important to identify times in the schedule of each class, when it is opportune for those pupils to implement this initiative.

To avoid overloading the pupils’ “teaching” schedule, this dynamic can be implemented on a rotating basis between several subjects in each class.

Debriefing

In addition to the monthly monitoring meetings, mentors and mentees involved will be able to make suggestions through a suggestion box at the Library for improving the project.

Follow-up/Inspiration for the future

Identify issues in the curriculum that are most unsuccessful, and then create a group of mentor volunteers to help mentee colleagues in difficulty on days dedicated to these more challenging topics.

References/Further reading

• Baudrit, A. (2009). Tutoria. Riqueza de um Método Pedagógico (The Mentoring. The Richness of a Pedagogical Method). Porto: Porto Editora
• Duran, D. e Vidal, V. (2007). Tutoria [Mentoring]. Porto Alegre: Artmed
• Glasser’s Learning Pyramid – Pirâmide do Conhecimento
• Education for Sustainable Development Goals
• Exit Profile of Students Leaving Compulsory Education
• Basic skills and competencies for the 21st century
• Youth empowerment

Experimental protocols and reflection guidelines appropriate to the group activities, whenever relevant.