1. Our school timetable is already quite full. How much extra time and effort will E-Evalinto require of our teachers and students?
It would be necessary to timetable an introductory session for the students who will be taking part so that they understand the process ahead. This session should only take approximately 40 minutes. It is also necessary for the teacher to attend a one-to-one training session with the E-Evalinto partner which would last approximately 1 hour. The majority of the activities would simply require one lesson period each. You can decide which of the activities are suitable for your context and you can decide when is the best time to implement them.
2. Why should our school continue to take part in the E-Evalinto project?
Peer mentoring has gained much attention in recent years as a beneficial teaching and learning methodology. It is particularly suitable to intercultural education and we envisage, given the intercultural profile of your school, that the process will be very valuable to your school community. Your participation will help refine the materials for use across the continent as European education systems explore new and innovative ways to combat Early School Leaving amongst migrant student populations.
In addition, following the teacher training and implementation of the programme, your teacher will be given a Certificate from the University of Salamanca (the co-ordinator of the project) in recognition of his / her work. Participating students will also receive a Certificate. Your school will also be recognised as a Research Partner School with your E-Evalinto partner.
3. What are the activities?
The activities are essentially lessons that are thematically organized according to the areas identified by schools in the creation of their intercultural profiles. The themes of the lessons include ‘Personal Wellbeing / Social Skills’; ‘Language / Communication Skills’; ‘My Culture, Your Culture’; ‘Study skills’; ‘Interests and hobbies’. Activities use methodologies already in use in your school such as role play, project work, presentations and discussions.
4. How do we select mentors and mentees to take part?
Ideally, students who wish to volunteer should be considered. No student is obliged to participate. Informed consent should be obtained from parents. The younger student (mentee) should be of migrant background and identified by the school as potentially benefitting from such targeted activities. The older student (mentor) should be willing to assist and guide the mentee in the activities in a responsible and appropriate manner. The introductory session for students will be an opportunity to outline what is expected of students and what would be the benefits of their participation.
5. How do we select activities for the mentors and mentees?
It is recommended to select activities that best address the needs of the mentee. For example, if a mentee has poor language skills, some of the language / communication skills activities might be most appropriate.
6. How do we obtain parental consent for our mentors and mentees to participate in this project?
As with the questionnaires completed for the intercultural profile, we can provide a standard informed consent form to give to parents.
7. What are the benefits to the students of taking part in the E-Evalinto activities?
Participating in this process will be both educational and fun for the students. They will be given the opportunity to refine personal and academic skills through peer mentoring. Afterwards, they will be awarded Certificates in recognition of their participation.
8. What is the E-Evalinto online environment and how secure will any data be that we upload or input?
The activities will be available on a secure online environment which will be accessed by username and password. Teachers and students will be furnished with individual username and passwords and will only be granted access to the information they need. On this environment, students will complete short evaluations on their experiences of the activities. The teacher will also complete evaluations within this online environment.
The one-to-one training session for the teacher will specifically focus on the use of this environment.
9. What if we encounter problems in the process?
Please do not hesitate to contact your E-Evalinto partner: Bernadette Sweetman