Facilitate children and young people's learning and development through mentoring
Overview
Who is this unit for?
This unit is for those who act as mentors to children or young people in a formal or informal capacity. In the context of working in schools this unit would be suitable for support staff who contribute to the pastoral care of pupils, including mentoring individuals or small groups under the direction of a teacher.
What is this unit about?
This unit is about the role of individuals who facilitate children and young people's learning and development through mentoring. It is about providing support for the learning process rather than the assessment and teaching of pupils.
This unit contains four elements
- Identify the learning and development needs of children and young people
- Plan with children and young people how learning and development needs will be addressed through mentoring
- Mentor children and young people to achieve identified outcomes
- Review the effectiveness of mentoring with children and young people
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
Identify the learning and development needs of children and young people
P1 create opportunities for the child/young person to identify and use their prior experience and learning to inform their learning and development
P2 identify jointly and agree the child/young person's P2.1 learning and development needs
P2.2 capabilities P2.3 aspirations
P3 agree ways of best meeting the child/young persons' identified P3.1 learning and development needs
P3.2 capabilities P3.3 aspirations
P4 negotiate effective child/young person development through identifying the child/young persons' preferred learning styles and learning contexts
P5 support the child/young person to assess their own strengths and weaknesses and the relationship of these to learning and development
P6 encourage the child/young persons' motivation and self-confidence throughout
P7 complete records correctly and store them in a safe place
Plan with children and young people how learning and development needs will be addressed through mentoring
P8 discuss with the child/young person their understanding of the purpose of action planning
P9 negotiate with the child/young person a format for appropriate and adaptable action planning, and agree the level of confidentiality of the plan
P10 enable the child/young person to clearly identify their goals and achievable targets and decide on the key stages in implementing their courses of action
P11 identify unrealistic goals and expectations and suggest possible constructive modifications
P12 explore barriers to implementation with the child/young person and consider different ways of overcoming or minimising barriers
P13 identify within the action plan those actions which are to be carried out by the child/young person and those which are the responsibility of others
P14 negotiate and agree the involvement of others who are critical to the success of the action plan
P15 negotiate and agree a process for reviewing the action plan and progress
P16 clarify respective roles and expectations within the mentoring relationship P17 explain the limits of the support available to the child/young person and
why these are there
P18 complete records correctly and store them in a safe place
Mentor children and young people to achieve identified outcomes
P19 act in a way which is welcoming to and of the child/young person, is non- judgemental and respects their circumstances, feelings, priorities and rights
P20 allocate sufficient time to interacting with the child/young person P21 encourage the child/young person to
P21.1 feel comfortable to explore and express issues and concerns, and make comments at their own pace
P21.2 ask questions
P21.3 express their personal beliefs and preferences, wishes and views except where these adversely affect the rights of others
P22 communicate with the child/young person throughout the process in a manner which
P22.1 is appropriate to them
P22.2 encourages an open exchange of views and information P22.3 minimises any constraints to communication
P22.4 is free from discrimination and oppression
P23 give appropriate support to the child/young person before, during and after an agreed course of action is implemented
P24 suggest additional or alternative resources when these are necessary to meet the child/young person's needs
P25 select information and resources which are appropriate to the needs of the child/young person
P26 check the child/young person's understanding of information you provide P27 provide the child/young person with timely and constructive feedback in a
positive manner
P28 provide regular opportunities to the child/young person to review the progress of the mentoring
Review the effectiveness of mentoring with children and young people
P29 identify problems and their critical features
P30 agree with the child/young person the priority of the problems
P31 explore with the child/young person the advantages and disadvantages of a range of courses of action
P32 check the child/young person's understanding of what is involved in each course of action
P33 agree objectives and a plan of action with the child/young person
P34 create opportunities for feedback and review with the child/young person P35 identify, explore and resolve or agree points of disagreement in a
manner that maintains an effective relationship
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
Working with individual children/young people and groups
K1 strategies for effective communication and negotiation; how to give constructive feedback; what active listening is and what barriers to a child/young person's expression may exist
K2 learning styles and methods – what these are and how they differ between children and young people, ways of identifying a child/young person's learning needs, styles and methods
K3 how bias and stereotyping may occur within the learning and mentoring process; ways of combating them; impact of own attitudes, values and behaviour on work with children and young people and methods of monitoring that these are not adversely affecting work with children and young people
K4 methods for encouraging and maintaining a child/young person's motivation and self-esteem; ways to adapt approaches to meet the needs of the child/young person; problem-solving techniques such as lateral thinking, how to use them and how to encourage children and young people to develop these skills themselves
K5 children and young people's rights within the mentoring process (to confidentiality, to make decisions, etc.) and how to monitor that these are upheld
K6 how to assist children and young people's decision-making in ways that promote the child/young person's autonomy; factors and pressures which impact on children and young people's ability to make informed decisions; the range of relevant sources of information which can be accessed to support and assist children and young people; factors which may affect ability to access information
K7 formats for action plans, how to make action plans specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound (SMART); how prior achievements, experience and learning may influence current and future choices; methods of assessing realistic rates of progress and timescales for courses of action, how to encourage children and young people to review their plans in a way that encourages them to be realistic
K8 methods of reviewing and evaluating the effectiveness of mentoring, ways of effectively involving children and young people in the process
Working with children, young people and those who care for them
K9 the specific legislation, guidelines of good practice, charters and service standards which relate to the work being undertaken and the impact of this on the work
Working to improve agency practice
K10 the role of the school and its services and how they relate to other agencies and services in the children's sector
Working to improve child/young person practice
K11 own role and responsibilities and from whom assistance and advice should be sought if you are unsure
K12 any particular factors relating to the school's policies and practices which have affected the work undertaken
K13 how you have applied the principles of equality, diversity and anti- discriminatory practice to your work
K14 methods of evaluating your own competence, determining when further support and expertise are needed and the measures taken to improve your own competence in this area of work
K15 the options for working with children and young people which you considered and the reasoning processes you used in determining the
most appropriate approach for the child/young person concerned
Scope/range
Identify the learning and development needs of children and young people
- Learning and development needs
1.1. vocational
1.2. personal - Learning contexts
2.1. work-based learning
2.2. hobbies/leisure interests
2.3. voluntary work
2.4. paid work
Plan with children and young people how learning and development needs will be addressed through mentoring - Goals
3.1. single goals
3.2. multiple goals - Key stages
4.1. short-term
4.2. long-term
Mentor children and young people to achieve identified outcomes - resources
5.1. from your own agency
5.2. from other agencies - information
6.1. verbal
6.2. written
6.3. electronic
6.4. visual
Review the effectiveness of mentoring with children and young people - Problems
7.1. within the mentoring relationship
7.2. outside the mentoring relationship
Explanatory note
In range 1, problems outside the mentoring relationship may be cultural, environmental, social, personal or organisational
Scope Performance
Scope Knowledge
Values
Behaviours
Skills
Glossary
Links To Other NOS
TDASTL48 Support young people in tackling problems and taking action
Origin of this unit
This unit originated from unit F314 of the National Occupational Standards in Community Justice developed by Skills for Justice. It is also part of the National Occupational Standards in Learning, Development and Support services for Children, Young People and those who care for them, where it appears as unit 9. The LDSS unit (as used here) has been tailored to remove
references to offending behaviour.