Student Mentoring Social support

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Student MentoringSocial support
being embedded in a network of supportive
relationships is associated in general with
health and psychological well-being. (Dalton et
al. 2001234)
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Definitions of social support

• Structural
• Functional
• Optimal matching research

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Webb, E., Ashton, C. H., Kelly, P., et al (1996)
Alcohol and drug use in UK university students.
Lancet, 348, 922925.
www.brookes.ac.uk/student/services/osmhn/hefe-staf
f-frameset.html
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Structure of Social Support

• Multi-dimensionality
• Density
• Reciprocity

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Density

• High density networks are often quicker to help
  in a crisis High density networks offer greater
  consensus on norms and advice
• Low density networks offer a diversity of
  resources helpful when making life transitions
  (Wilcox, 1981)

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Reciprocity

• Reciprocity is arguably the most important aspect
  of a persons social network (Hartup Stevens,
  1997)
• Both giving and receiving support increases
  well-being more than giving or receiving support
  alone (Maton, 1987,1988)
• Self-help groups vs professional services

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Function of Social Support

• Material
• Emotional
• Esteem
• Informational
• Companionship/social integration

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Forms of Social Support

• Generalised
• Occurs in ongoing interpersonal relationships
• companionship, emotional
• Specific
• Provided to help a person cope with a particular
  stressor
• esteem, informational, material
• E.g. chronic work stress esteem support

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Social Support
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What sort of support/advice will you be asked for?
Some questions
What experience, skills do you have? What
experience, skills do you need? What
advice/support can you offer?
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Breakdown of your 200hrs
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Class time (contact with tutor)

• 12 contact hours (planning, evaluating
  supporting, monitoring)
• Three 3-hr meetings one 2-hr meeting
• Five 2-hour one 1-hr meeting
• Eleven 1-hr meetings
• Decision to be made by quad-meeting

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Mentoring Groups (weekly)12hrs
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Rep bi-groupmeetings(fortnightly)6
meetings(6hrs)
Reps rotate through 2 cycles
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Rep quad-meetings(fortnightly)6
meetings(6hrs)
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Bi- and Quad-meeting tasks

• Agree a timetable of class meetings
• Monitor and evaluate activities completed
• Agree future activities of four groups
• Agree advertising strategies
• Agree roles in assessment presentations
• Agree marking criteria for written assessment

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Group activities
Advertising
WebCT
Drop-in
Research
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Unit learning outcomes

• 1.   Develop, monitor and evaluate a mentoring
  recruitment and training program
• 2.   Show a critical understanding of the
  strengths and weaknesses of peer mentoring
  programs
• 3.   Show self-awareness in a critically
  reflexive evaluation of skill development and the
  application of psychological skills to mentoring
  programs.
• 4.  Demonstrate reliability and sensitivity in
  responding to the needs of others adhering to
  ethical and culturally safety working practices
• 5. Effectively communicate the knowledge gained
  from the experience to others

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http//www.csi.mmu.ac.uk/go/Online mentoring
training course

• This free course will train you to become a peer
  mentor and covers key areas such as
• approaches to mentoring
• behaviour and attitudes
• listening skills
• building confidence and self-esteem
• goal setting.

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http//www.csi.mmu.ac.uk/go/Online mentoring
training course

• Enhance your CV and employability
• Develop your communication, problem solving, team
  working and listening skills
• Get the satisfaction that comes with knowing that
  you have made a difference
• Gain a certificate of completion

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Assessment

• Oral presentation (50)
• Part One presentation to year one SH psychology
  students Mon 18th Feb, 10-11
• Part Two training session for future mentors
  Mon 18th Feb, 11-12
• Written presentation (50)
• The written presentation will require students to
  individually produce a 1500 word reflective essay
  that critically evaluates their oral
  presentations. This will be a summative
  assessment.

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Oral presentations

• The oral presentation comes in two parts.
• You will be required to work in two groups. Each
  group you will give a 20 min presentation on
  their peer mentoring activities to year one
  psychology students. Each group will act
  independently of one another. The aim of this
  presentation is to recruit volunteer mentors from
  year one to engage in voluntary mentoring during
  their second year of study.
• Part two of the oral presentation will involve
  the planning and implementation of a training
  session for students recruited to become future
  peer mentors.
• You will be required to work in two groups and to
  offer a half of a one hour training session. Both
  groups will need to co-ordinate with one another

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Oral presentations

• Feedback on presentations will be both formative
  (a final mark) and summative (qualitative
  feedback intended to be useful for the written
  presentation).

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Support delivery

• Face-to-face
• Drop in (need to book a room)
• Need a way of making appointments (e-mail?)
• ICT
• Web (WebCT, Wikispaces, personal webpages, blogs
  etc)
• Phone
• Email
• Other

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Advertising

• Announcements in lectures (oral and/or OHPs)
• Student noticeboards
• Student email
• Student services
• Learning Support Unit
• WebCT
• Personal tutors
• Student reps

But, dont sell what you cant deliver
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• -----Original Message-----
• From XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
• Sent 19 September 2007 0814
• To P.Duckett_at_mmu.ac.uk
• Subject Mentor for year 2 student
• Hi Paul,
• I belive you are the man to approcah for
  mentoring. I have just started year 2 and would
  like soemone ( anyone !) to mentor me. I know we
  have our personal tutors which I will use, but
  would like another person
• to be avialbale for me if I need guidance ie
  simple things like reading my essays and
  commenting.
• Do you know of anyone I can approach ?
• Best wishes
• XXXXXXXXX

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• When you get to institutions responsible for
  "the indoctrination of the young," the schools
  and the universities, at that point the
  propoganda becomes somewhat more subtle. By
  and large, in the schools and universities people
  believe they're telling the truth. The way that
  works, with rare exceptions, is that you cannot
  make it through these institutions unless you've
  accepted the indoctrination. You're kind of
  weeded out along the way. Independent thinking is
  discouraged in these areas. If people do it
  they're weeded out as radical or there's
  something wrong with them. It doesn't have to
  work 100 percent, in fact, it's even better for
  the system if there are a few exceptions here and
  there. It gives the illusion of debate or
  freedom. But overwhelmingly, it works.
• (Chomsky, 199267)

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Most students entering the new world of the
academy are in an equivalent position to those
crossing the borders of a new countrythey have
to deal with the bureaucracy of checkpoints, or
matriculation, they may have limited knowledge of
the local language and customs, and are alone.
Furthermore, the students position is akin to
the colonised where the experience of
alienation arises from being in a place where
those in power have the potential to impose their
particular ways of perceiving and understanding
the worldin other words, a kind of colonising
process. (Mann, 200111)