MentoREvolution

Aims & objectives

"MentoREvolution" was a training course about mentorship service in the context of European Voluntary Service, Action 2, Youth in Action Programme. The main objectives of the training course were about defining a mentor; inclusion and diversity; roles and responsibilities of a mentor; communication (active, reflective listening); language barriers; gaining trust of a volunteer; ways to motivate volunteers; Active European Citizenship; cultural diversity; identifying and solving problems; Youthpass; on line support tool; project follow-up; evaluation.

Target group & international/intercultural composition of the group & team

30 participants took part from the following countries: Romania, Turkey, Poland, Spain, Bulgaria, Italy, Ukraine, Slovakia, Russian Federation and Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).

Training methods used & main activities

All the training methods were following the principles of non-formal education, e.g.:
- Stereotypes: stereotyping was explained and all participants were supposed to fill in a questionnaire about different categories of persons. At the end, we would compare these and, together, discover that the views were quite different and that stereotyping is subjective and non-reliable way for evaluating someone;
- Debate: the room was split in two section, for "Yes(Agree)" and "No(Disagree)". A series of statements and closed questions about mentors and their roles were then presented and, depending if they agree or not with them, the participants were supposed to position themselves in the appropriate part of the room. A debate would later follow, in which persons from one side were presenting their reasons for choosing their position and trying to convince the others to join also. In this way, participants were able to understand better the roles of the mentor, why they were chosen like this and what are the advantages and disadvantages of different choices;
-Abigail - on stereotypes
- Active listening - with a role play
- Reflective listening with video presentation
- Forum theatre - on solving conflicts between volunteers and the organisation
- Blind football - for teaching on providing support

Outcomes of the activity

At the end of the course, not only that the participants gained competences related to mentorship, but also the became better at working in international teams, communicating, speaking in public, debating, etc.
I could tell that the training was a success both by assessing the evaluations, which were very positive but also by observing the changes with the participants which, at the end, were more confident, they had a clearer view on what they were supposed to do as mentors, more communicative and more

Your tasks and responsibilities within the team

I was main trainer in the team, assisted by another Romanian and Turkish co-trainers. I also help with designing and tailoring the sessions so they would fit the needs of the participants

I worked on this training for 10 days as a full time trainer.