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Nightingale - a Mentoring Project (porposal for Comenius 2.1 2005)
Carina Sild Lonroth,
Malmo University
A proposed new Comenius 2.1 initiative coordinated from Sweden.
The project idea was presented at the Girona Conference (May 2004) and will be worked on during the Comenius course for teachers in Ceske Budejovitse, October 2004.
Below is a presentation of the present Swedish project that the proposed Comenius 2.1 initiative will be built upon:
"The Näktergalen Mentor Project began in 1997 as a collaboration between The Teacher Education Collage in Malmö and some of Malmö´s multicultural schools. So far around 600 children and 600 students have participated in the project. The project got its name from Malmö city´s old symbol Näktergalen (Nightingale). "Nightingale is a small bird that sings beautifully when it feels secure."
The schools that participated during 2003/2004 are Augustenborg school, Hermodsdal school, Magistrat school, Munkhätte school and Lindänge school. With a participating school it is important that the school staff give their full support, as it is they who can inspire both the children and the parents to apply for the project, and also give support during the mentor period. It costs nothing for a school to take part in the project and there is no fee for the child who receives a mentor. Currently around 100 university students every year act as mentors, each towards one child between the ages 8 and 12. The mentor and child get together for around 3 hours once a week over the period from October to May.
Aim of the project
During recent years the question of social and ethnical diversity has come sharply into focus. In order to improve diversity in Swedish universities there is a need to recruit students from cultures and societies where there is no or little tradition og higher education studies. The tools that a university can use to improve this social and ethnical diversity are however rather limited. The Näktergalen Mentor Project can be one effective instrument that in the long run can contribute to this diversity.
The idea behind the project is that the mentor shall give the child a positive role model through a personal relationship and this will help strengthen the child´s confidence. The goal is that the child will perform better in and out of school and will be more likely to apply for university when the time comes.
The project is based on the idea of "mutual benefit".
Vision
The vision of the Näktergalen Mentor Project is to work towards a social and ethnical diversity.
The vision with the mentors is that in the long run the mentorship can work against unbalanced recruiting to colleges and universities and decrease social and educational differences.
The vision is that the children shall manage better in and outside school and that a broader range of young adults will apply for university or collage.
The vision is that the friendship between the child and the mentor will lead to a greater understanding and tolerance for each other´s social and cultural backgrounds."
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