Overview
Mentoring benefits all students. For some students who may be experiencing social isolation, mentoring can be a much-needed emotional and social support. For other students experiencing academic challenges, mentoring can be an effective strategy for building a new or renewed love of learning and literacy.
Key benefits of mentoring relationships include:
- building students’ sense of belonging within the school community
- enhancing attendance and motivation to learn
- helping individual students feel more connected and valued in their school community
- helping students learn about and value diversity
- encouraging individuals to get to know one another, identify common interests and concerns, recognize one another’s strengths and contributions
Mentoring also contributes to a positive school culture by:
- creating authentic and engaging opportunities
- modelling and teaching the skills essential to healthy relationships
- strengthening school bonds
- enhancing students’ feelings of safety and belonging
- decreasing bullying behaviours
Mentoring relationships are a natural and supported opportunity for both the mentor and mentee to enhance their social-emotional learning.
Mentoring shares a number of goals and attributes with both Peer Support Networks and Student Advisories and may be used as a targeted intervention in other school-wide approaches or be integrated into bullying prevention strategies.
For more information on mentorship, watch an introduction to mentoring and view the conversation guide.
Foundational ideas
Mentorship is based on the following foundational ideas:
- mentoring fosters caring and supportive relationships
- a mentoring relationship benefits both the mentee and the mentor
- mentoring encourages individuals to develop to their fullest potential and helps an individual to develop his or her own vision for the future
- spending as little as an hour a week with a young person can make a difference in their life
Examples
Mentoring will look different at different schools, depending on:
- the needs of the students
- the resources and priorities of the school community
The following fictional examples show what mentoring might look like in practice.
Quick facts
Evidence shows that children and youth who are matched with a mentor show many improvements.
According to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Alberta, children and youth who are matched with mentors show the following improvements:
- 64% of students with an in-school mentor developed more positive attitudes toward school
- 58% achieved higher grades in social studies, language and math
- 60% improved relationships with adults
- 56% improved relationships with peers
Studies show that children matched with mentors are:
- 80% more likely to finish high school
- 46% less likely to use drugs
- 27% less likely to use alcohol
- 52% less likely to skip school
As well, 78% of former mentees who came from a social assistance background do not rely on social assistance as adults.