“Meant to be a Mentor” | Blended Training Course for EVS Mentors

The Polish-Lithuanian Blended Training Course “Meant to be a Mentor” is a long-term journey to discover and develop competences as an EVS mentor. This learning journey aimed at raising awareness of the importance of the mentors role as well as help develop competences necessary for carrying out the role and tasks as a mentor.

 
T he Polish-Lithuanian Blended Training Course for EVS mentors was organised by the Polish and Lithuanian National Agencies from October 2014 till May 2015. This pilot project was carried out with the support of the Erasmus+ Programme.

Meant to be a Mentor | The Training Course

Develop your competence as an EVS mentor

Meant to be a Mentor is a long-term journey to discover and develop competences as an EVS mentor. This learning journey aimed at raising awareness of the importance of the mentors role as well as help develop competences necessary for carrying out the role and tasks as a mentor.

Aims and outcomes

Gaining awareness about the learning process of a volunteer and a mentor:

• be conscious about the learning processes volunteers and mentors are involved in;
• be able to identify key moments in volunteer’s and their own development,
• understand better how learning, development and personal change happens.

Developing knowledge and skills of a mentor:

• see EVS mentoring as a long-term process and know their various roles and tasks as a mentor within this process;
• be able to define their role in the entire EVS volunteer support structure within the new Erasmus+ Programme and understand better their valuable contribution,
• develop skills and to apply different tools and methods to support EVS volunteers,
• extend own reflection skills and be able to better facilitate the reflection of learning process and outcomes of another person.

Collecting experience in working in an intercultural setting:

• be experienced in acting in an intercultural setting,
• be able to facilitate volunteers and support their learning reflections taking into account cultural influences,
• know good practices of mentoring.

Our target group

Meant to be a Mentor was directed towards EVS mentors, who…

• have experience as EVS mentor,
• are currently starting or in process of being a mentor in at least one long term EVS,
• value the subject of personal change, learning and are curious to explore more of it,
• would like to commit themselves for a long-term involvement both in this project and in their organization and are at least 18 years old residents of Lithuania or Poland.

Training approach and Course outline

Meant to be a Mentor will offer a long-term support, starting from mid October 2014 until the end of April 2015. The project combines various ways of support and learning methods:

• individual support during one2one consultations (via skype),
• activities, reflections and discussions (via an online learning platform) and
• a common training event with both Polish and Lithuanian mentors.

Meant to be a Mentor consisted of 5 major stages:

1. Stage   15th -27th October 2014      One-to-one consultations (Skype)

2. Stage   05th October 2014 – 27th of January 2015     E-learning 1st phase

3. Stage   27th-31st January, 2014     Training course in Lithuania

4. Stage   1st of February -30th of April, 2015     Online learning 2nd phase

5. Stage   15th – 30th of April     One-to-one consultations  (Skype)

Meant to be a Mentor | Report

The report serves not only as a retrospective presentation on what were the elements carried out through out the project, but also looks at what impact it has created on participants as well as presents a model to be considered for long term support for EVS mentors in the future.

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Meant to be a Mentor. Workbook for EVS Mentors

The “Meant to be a Mentor” workbook is a practical guide for EVS mentors working with their volunteer(s). Its content and activities guide mentors step by step through the whole EVS project cycle. Mentors can carry out the activities with their volunteers, reflect on their experience and share their good practise in an online community.

Meant to be a Mentor | Free Download