Fostering relationships at school: educators’ evaluations of former youth mentor program experiences

ABSTRACT

Educators take special interest in engaging students in school-based social programming to foster their social and academic success. In this study, the authors investigated how educators conceptualized the youth mentoring experience. Elementary school educators engaged in group concept mapping and interpreted data provided by former youth mentors from an elementary peer mentoring program. Results identified four key concepts: (a) Skills Mentors Learned in the Peer Mentoring Program, (b) Mentors’ Relationships with School and Staff, (c) Mentors’ Experiences in the Peer Mentoring Program, and (d) Mentors’ Relationships with Mentees. Educators’ feedback provided additional stakeholder insights to inform future programming.

KEYWORDS:

• Educators
• youth
• peer mentoring
• student engagement
• group concept mapping

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Melissa Coyne-Foresi

Melissa Coyne-Foresi is a PhD candidate in the School and Applied Child Psychology program at Western University. Her research interests include facilitating student engagement through peer mentoring programs as a means of fostering students’ empathy, leadership, and confidence.

Elizabeth Nowicki

Elizabeth Nowicki is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Education at Western University. Her current research focuses on children’s understanding of social interactions at school, implicit and explicit attitudes about ability and gender, and children’s views on social inclusion and exclusion.