Social and affective learning in the mentoring project 4 ...

PROJECT NIGHTINGALESOCIAL AND AFFECTIVE

LEARNING

Theoretical BackgroundThere has always been aneed to integrate and include migrant pupils andpupils with special needs inAustrianschools.Since 2015anincreased number of refugees andheterogeneity ofnationalities (2006:9,25%;2016:13%;statistics Austria)andother L1than German(2006:15,6%;2016:23,8%;statistics Austria)has created achallenge for teachers.ProjectNightingaleisamentoringprojectinwhichchildreninunderprivilegedsituationslikemigrationbackground,insufficientlanguageskillsintheirsecondlanguage,childrenlivinginsociallydeprivedfamiliesandgenerallychildrenwithlowselfesteemlearndifferentwaysofspendingtheirfreetimemeaningfully.Thisisdoneintandemsettingsofonestudentteacher(mentor)ofouruniversityandonechild(mentee)agedbetween8to12years,whohasbeennominatedfortheprojectbyher/hisclassteacher.Ourinterestistofindoutwhichsituationsthementorsregardassignificantlearningsituationsandhowthatexperiencecanbeusedforsimilarfuturesituationswiththeirmentees.Asaconsequencethesesinglesignificantlearningsituationsshouldleadtogainrelevantteachingcompetencesingeneral.Thementoringprocessisaccompaniedbyprofessionalsupervisionandconstantlydevelopedaccordingtoevaluationdataonmentors,menteesandorganization.

RESEARCH QUESTION AND AIMSQuestion:

Which educational competences andbeliefsmay be gained by student teachers (mentors)inthe course of the project?Aims:

- Studentteachers should experience the problems faced by mentees andtheir families,andgain insight into unfamiliar contexts.

- Developing ProjectNightingaleby analysing diary entries of student teachers inorder to optimize organisation,content andoutput.

- To implement ProjectNightingalenotonly inthe practical field of teacher training butalsoinselected Austrianschools as amentoring programme.

METHOD &DATA ANALYSISCollecting data:Mentorswrite diary entries which are relevantfor them („Significant learning situations“)andfollowagiven pattern:

• Analysing data:Thedataistakenfrom78diaryentries(2015- 2018)anddiscussedbyqualitativecontentanalyses.Thedataisthencodedandindividualcasesarecondensedandgroupedintofourmajorcategories.Thesecategoriesaredefinedbycongruencyandsystematicteamselectionin relationtotheresearchquestionandcontext.Thesamplesofeachcategoryarethenanalysed andinterpretedinordertodevelopconceptswhichleadtoinnovativeactionstrategies.

8SAMPLES OF SIGNIFICANT LEARNING SITUATIONS1.Ambiguity:„Iwaswaiting for my mentee atour meeting place butshe didn‘t come.When Isaw hernext timeIdidn‘t mention my annoyance.“(Diary1,2018)„Some minutes later my mentee asked me if she got onmy nerves.Iwasn‘t able to tell herthe truth because Ididn‘t want to hurtherfeelings.ThusIsaid no andtold herthat Iwasjusttired.“(Diary2,2018)

2.Contacting:Xsays:„My mum is atwork andmy dad hates being disturbed.“(Diary 3,2018)„When Iarrived atthe arranged meeting place,my mentee wasn‘t there.Asherelder brother had given me herfather‘s phone number Icalled him buthedidn‘t pickup the phone.Nordid herbrother.“(Diary4,2018)

3.Affectional bonds:„Meanwhile Xsees me as his ‚second mum‘.Idon‘t know what to do!“(Diary5,2018)„Moreandmore I(mentor)findoutthat you (mentee)have big problems to accept the typical relationship between pupils andteachers.You start acting likeaclown andbehave intolerably.Themore relaxed,fair,respectfully andappreciatively Idealwith you,the better you handlesituations.“(Diary6,2015)

4.Assumptions andPrejudices:„When Igot outof my car atthe refugee campfor the first timeIhad astrange feeling.It cost me quite aneffort to visit my mentee Xandhis family because of being observed by some young malerefugees.“(Diary7,2017)„Ihave never been inasocialmarket before andIhave never even thought about what it may look like inside.“(Diary8,2018)

INTERPRETATION - CONSEQUENCES - ACTIONAmbiguity:• Thementor meets the challenge to findthe balance between being afriend andbeing arespected person.She avoids expressing herrealfeelings because she is afraid of burdening herrelationship with the mentee.• Thisleads to afeeling of frustration because of the mentee‘s behaviour andherownnotbeing authentic enough.• Thementor should talkabout herannoyance and herfeelings at the next meeting and explain the reasons.Furthermore she should study some literature dealing with the topic authenticity.Contacting:• There are many reasons for parents to avoid contact.No interest ingeneral or inthe project,lackof communication skills,insecurity,thoughtlessness,challenging working circumstances,etc.• This is aburdening situation for allpeople involved.Thewhole project willbe negatively influenced.• Onthe one hand it is necessary to respect both privacy and notto put pressure onthe mentee.Onthe other hand it is worth trying to findthe relevantreasons for the problem by clarifying the situation with the help of careful

questions.Thementor continues heractivities with the mentee as usual during the following meetings.If the mentor has the feeling that hermentee is ready to talkabout the critical situation,she asks hertrying to use professionalcommunication skills which need to be trained.

Affectional bonds:• Parentalbinding andmentor binding mustbe clearly separated.Stereotypesandproblems of mentees might be prevented andreduced by attentive andrespectful communication.• Thementor feels insecure because she can‘t anddoesn‘t want to fulfill hermentee‘s expectations.Intolerableactions of mentees unsettle mentors andneed careful consideration.Showing respect leads to mutualbenefit.• Thecharacteristics of being arole modelas amentor andacting as aparent mustbe reflected by the mentor inteam andgroup discussions supervised by experts.Thementor informs hermentee about herrole as amentor.Thisis

done both clearly andattentively.Assumptions andPrejudices:• Unfamiliar andunexpected situations cause insecurity and discomfort.• Accepting,respecting or if necessary alsoavoiding differentenvironment andliving styles are possibleways to cope with.• Nexttimethe mentor tries to start small talk with refugees atthe camp/shop butalsoleads the mentee to experience his/herownworld andsurroundings .

FINDINGS:Individualthinking,group discussions andstudying literature helpedthe mentors to transfer single learning situations to general ones andgainrelevantteaching competences.Theseare self- competence,communicationalcompetence,organisationalcompetence andintercultural competence.Theproject now is well implemented inprimary andsecondary teacher education –even expanded this year.Theevaluation of the data has clearly shown that it hasbeen possibleto gain new andessentialexperience because of challengingteaching situations for student teachers.Regarding that aspect it is amusttoprovide professionalsupportby supervision inthe course of the project.

References:Altrichter,H.,Posch,P.,Spann,H.(2018)LehrerinnenundLehrererforschenihrenUnterricht.BadHeilbrunn:VerlagJuliusKlinkhardt.Dörr,M.&Müller,B.(Hrsg.)(2013).NäheundDistanz.EinSpannungsfeldpädagogischerProfessionalität.WeinheimundBasel: BeltzJuventa.

Kumbier,D.,SchulzvonThun,F.(2006).InterkulturelleKommunikation:Methoden,Modelle,Beispiele.ReinbekbeiHamburg:RowohltTaschenbuchVerlag.

Strübing,J.(2013).QualitativeSozialforschung.München:VerlagOldenburg.

Thiersch,H.(2012).NäheundDistanzinderSozialenArbeit.InM.Dörr&B.Müller(Hrsg.),EinSpannungsfeldpädagogischer Professionalität.(S.32-49).WeinheimundBasel:BeltzJuventa.

AUTOR/IMPRESSUM/LITERATURAuthor:KarlWegenschimmel:Leading coordinator of ProjectNightingaleatthe Universitiy of EducationUpperAustria.Staff member of theInternationalDepartment.karl.wegenschimmel@ph-ooe.at;

Author:MargitSevera:Coordinator of ProjectNightingaleatthe UniversityofEducationUpperAustria.Staff member of the DepartmentofPrimaryEducation.margit.severa@ph-ooe.at;

UrheberrechtlicherHinweis:DokumentvorlageentwickeltundzurVerfügunggestelltvomInstitutfürBerufspädagogik(Aus- undWeiterbildung),PädagogischeHochschuleOÖ

Describing the setting Asking questions Giving own explanations Findtheoretical evidence Developing anew case approach Transferringknowledge to generalsituations