Transcript Mentoring and coaching - Kasparov Chess Foundation Europe

The chess coach: what can we learn
from mentoring as an educational
process?
Kate Philip, The Rowan Group
CISCCON International Conference
University of Aberdeen
30th August – 1st September 2007
This presentation will
 Explore dimensions of youth mentoring
 Relate these to approaches to informal
education
 Raise questions about how mentoring
processes might interact with the role of the
chess coach
Researching mentoring
 Previous work - young people’s
perspectives on ‘natural mentoring’
processes
 Typology of informal mentoring
 Study of organised mentoring (Sharing a
Laugh)
Where has mentoring emerged
from?
– Arguably based on ancient myths
– Waves of youth mentoring
– A response to fears about and for youth
– Perceived decline in intergenerational
relationships and in neighbourhood
– Broad appeal to a range of interests
– Idea of community base and link with
Puttnam’s notion of social capital
What is Youth mentoring?
The mentor is someone with greater experience or
wisdom than the mentee. Second the mentor offers
guidance or instruction that is intended to facilitate the
growth and development of the mentee. Third, there is an
emotional bond between mentor and mentee, a hallmark
of which is a sense of trust
(Dubois and Karcher, 2005:3)
Themes
 A ‘protective’ factor or a ‘steeling
mechanism (resilience)
 A consistent and continuing presence
(attachment)
 A guide, adviser, broker, supporter (social
support)
 Community based (ecological)
Informal Education
 Emphasis on dialogue between teachers and
learners and learners themselves
 Experiential and grounded
 A co-operative process
 Aim of critical reflection
Mentoring – informal education
 You do the stuff that you are meant to do but with
(the mentor) it is different and you’re doing it
because you want to
 A starting point for educational processes to begin
 Negotiated agenda and boundaries
 A bridge to new experiences and sometimes social worlds (for
mentors and mentees)
 A catalyst to build up new skills
 A means of ensuring compliance or critical thinking?
Informal and Formal mentoring
 Distinction between informal mentoring and
formal mentoring
 Both have educational aims although these
are often implicit
 Planned mentoring often explicitly based on
a deficit model of young people
Informal Mentoring
 Active participation
 Resolving conflict, renegotiating
relationships, trying out new identity
 A ‘safe setting’ in which to take risks in
learning – leaving the ‘baggage behind’
 Chess as a starting point?
Mentoring
Forms
Classic
Individual/
Team
Best
Friend
Peer
Group
Long term
‘risky
adult’
Gender
Male
Female
Female
Both
Both
Context
Home
based
Youth
Groups
Home
based
Street
Home and street
Life
events
Empathy
Recognition
Of
aspiration
to role
models
Acceptance
of peer
Group
and
Youth
Culture
values
Rehearsa
l
for action
Managing
reputations
Identity
Lifestyle
Recognition
and life crises
Qualities
Sought
/identified
Advisory,
guide,
outsider
Mentors
Empatheti
c
Recipro
city
And
equ
ality
Reciprocity
And
equality
Reciprocity
and
Non
conformity
Findings: formal mentoring
 Many in the sample had poor educational
experiences and were excluded from
mainstream
 Mentoring offered some young people a
means of developing alternative forms of
relationship
 Successful mentors went beyond traditional
professional boundaries
The importance of relationship
Reciprocity – sharing a laugh
A voluntary relationship
Negotiating boundaries and agendas
An alternative to sometimes difficult peer
and family relationships
 Qualities of trust, shared interests, challenge
and respect




ted
behavi
ours
unity
Underlying
assu
mptio
ns
Deficit model of
yp/family
Remedy absence
of or missed
opportunities
to build
expertise
Deficit model: lack
social capital
and access
to networks.
Disruptive/
challenging
behavi
our
often
linked
to
school
s
Yp alienated
from
mainstr
eam
commu
nity –
often
linked
with (i)
Theoretical
frame
work
–
(expli
cit or
implic
it)
Attachment
theory/res
ilience/so
cial
capital
(bridging)
/develop
mental
psych
Mentoring as
‘professional
friendship’Youth transitions
Social support
Ecology of
development
Social capital and
social
inclusion
Cognitive
behavi
oural
therapy
;
resilien
ce;
social
capital
Ecology of
develo
pment;
Attachment;
resilien
ce;
Target
Groups
(mentees)
Children from
single
parent
family;
isolated
yp;
known
family
difficulties
‘underachievin
disadvantaged,
potentially at risk,
esp young
men
‘underachieving’
Possible school
problems,
poor
background
NEET;
substa
nce
misuse
rs, yp
in
crimina
l justice
system
Yp from
margin
alised
groups
eg
minorit
y
ethnic
Target
group
s
(ment
ors)
Male ‘role
models’
favoured
but
majority
women
Volunteers and
sometime
paid staff.
Skills in key
areas, ability
to relate to
yp
Volunteers ideally
with business
background/k
nowledge.
Complement
work of paid
staff
volunteers to
comple
ment
work of
paid
staff
‘community’
membe
rs –
often
unclear
which
commu
nity
Strategies
Building social
skills
Develop
relationship
via shared
interest/activ
Link with
individuals/ag
encies and
young
Confidence/r
esilienc
e,
explore
Confidence,
solidari
ty,
strengt
But caution needed
 Moving on and moving out
 Coercive mentoring and ‘unfriendly contexts’
 Unsuccessful mentoring can undermine
confidence and capacity
 A ‘risky’ process for all involved
Building a mentor rich
environment
 Assumption that young people have few
opportunities to develop informal
relationships with adults
 Capitalising on shared interests and
capacities
 Offering a link between individual and group
 Need for longitudinal insights
Mentoring and coaching
What does youth mentoring have to offer in
this field?
– Mentoring as an educational intervention
– The importance of relationships to learning
– A community based approach
– Links with coaching practices
Mentoring and chess
 Does chess playing offer a means of engaging
with young people who may wish a mentor?
 To what extent should peer mentoring be
developed within chess playing groups?
 Could chess playing offer a setting in which
mentoring relationships could be developed for
excluded young people?