Migrant Mentorship Model (MMM) presents a tailored approach to the teaching of basic skills of literacy, numeracy, ICT and social competences to migrants by addressing the issue from a migrant perspective. MMM is a 2-year project that brings together four partners from Slovenia (Andragoški zavod Maribor-Ljudska univerza and OZARA d.o.o.), Germany (INIBIA???) and Italy (Eurocultura). The partners work in the fields of adult education, VET, occupational integration and social/cultural integration. All have experience with migrants and other disadvantaged groups. The partners work in localities where migrants are present and new approaches can benefit them and those working with them. Migrants arriving in the EU face linguistic, cultural and social obstacles that make their learning and subsequent integration a slow and stressful process. At the same time these new type of learners present a challenge to educators. Especially linguistic obstacles make acquisition of new skills needed for integration a complicated process and even more so in the case of low-skilled or illiterate migrants who represent a significant share of all new migrants. New educational tools and approaches, addressing the needs of both sides must be offered to migrants and educators. We believe that active migrant participation in the creation of teaching tools and strategies can benefit migrants and educators alike. For this reason the Migrant Mentorship Model will train 4 migrant-mentors in each partner country. The mentors will be well integrated migrants with knowledge of basic skills and host-country language as well as major migrant languages. They will transfer their knowledge to other migrants in a 4-month pilot mentoring period and help them achieve basic knowledge of host-country language and other basic skills needed for further learning and integration. As migrants themselves they will be more then teacher to other migrants, they will be mentors. By using migrant languages to explain often abstract concepts related to basic skills they will convey the meaning more directly and efficiently. This is of great importance in the early stages of basic skills learning when migrants lack even the most basic knowledge. They will also be able to put new knowledge in cultural and social context which is hard to understand for new migrants. At the end of the 4-month period participating migrant learners will take part in a 2-month evaluation in the workplace. This will help them test their new basic skills in real life environment. The entire 4-month mentoring process and 2-month evaluation will be closely monitored by a process of guided reflection. Guided reflection will be done by migrant-mentors. They will follow previously determined guidelines to observe key elements of the mentoring and evaluation process regarding cultural, social, linguistic and other aspects. On the basis of the guided reflection the following results will be created: 1. Migrant Mentorship model teaching plan which will contain recommended standards of knowledge in the area of literacy, numeracy, ICT and social competences an strategies on how to achieve them. 2. Migrant Mentors training curriculum will be a set of guidelines for training of migrant-mentors in the area of literacy, numeracy, ICT and social competences. 3. Guided reflection and tips for educators will contain observations from the guided reflection done by migrant-mentors. It will provide educators working with migrants a unique insight into migrants as learners. It will also contain teaching tips that will allow educators to tailor their teaching to the needs of migrants. 4. Guided reflection and recommendations for employers will contain observations of the guided reflection of the 2-month evaluation in the workplace. This will give employers better understanding of migrants as workers. It will also have recommendation on how to optimally integrate migrants in the workplace. Apart from the above, Efficiency study evaluation all project activities and results will also be produced. As the four major products will be produced with heavy involvement of migrant-mentors they will give educators and employers valuable data on how to approach migrants in education and employment - the two major factors in integration. We envisage that the project results will invite educators and employers to re-think and re-evaluate migrants as learners and employees for the benefit of all parties.
Migrants arriving in EU face linguistic, cultural and social barriers that make their integration slow and stressful. These new types of learners also present a challenge to educators. In MMM project new educational tools/approaches were offered to migrants and educators. We developed an innovative approach for teaching of literacy, mathematical skills, ICT skills and social competences, tailored to migrants. Our practice saw a migrant exclusively in a passive role of a learner and has proven relatively inefficient so far. For this reason we focused on the migrants' active participation. Migrants living in local communities for a longer period of time who know both: the culture of the host country and life experience of new immigrants, have been placed in the role of curriculum designers and programme providers. During a 40-hour programme we trained 3-5 migrant mentors in each country. The migrant mentors were well integrated migrants who then in a 96-hour pilot programme transferred their knowledge to the newly arrived migrants. The mentors helped new migrants obtain basic knowledge of host-country language and basic skills needed for learning/integration. By using migrant languages they explained often abstract concepts more directly and efficiently. In this way the migrants were able to put new knowledge in cultural and social context. New migrants then took part in a 32-hour evaluation in the workplace to test their new skills in real life environment. The entire process was closely monitored by guided reflection. Migrant mentors and partner staff followed determined guidelines to observe key elements of the mentoring and evaluation process and they incorporated their observations into intellectual outputs. With questionnaires they assesed various aspects of the pilot programme. 5 intellectual outputs were created: - MMM Teaching Plan - MMM Migrant Mentors Training curriculum - Guided Reflection and Tips for Educators - Guided Reflection and Recommendations for Employers - Efficiency Study Before the end of the project we saw the first sustainable effects. The training of the migrant mentors and the implementation of the pilot were carried out at the Werkstatt-Berufskolleg in Unna. The work of migrant mentors is now part of their curriculum. Now already the 3rd generation of migrant mentors has started their training. They have time and an office to give advice. In the 2nd half 2019 of the school year more than 100 new refugees came for this peer consultation. The umbrella organisation of the Werkstatt-Berufskolleg has further developed the MMM idea. The city of Unna has traditionally welcomed migrants for more than 50 years. A memorial path to the former flats of the first migrants is to be developed, and a so-called "stumbling block" is to be walled into the path at the houses of these first migrants. One can follow this path with an audio guide or be guided by former migrants who tell the stories of these families. These guides are trained in the methodology of the MMM project. In Germany the Bundesinstitut für Berufliche Bildung, Bonn, showed interest in MMM and in the future INIBIA will report in Bonn about it. At the Slovenian multiplier event CPI Institure of the Republic of Slovenia for Vocational Education and Training showed interest in MMM. Both Slovenian and German institutes are developing a catalog of skills for national vocational qualification of a migrant mentor, so the lessons of MMM are crucial to this. Cooperation at national level in both countries was established and a step towards the secured national funding of the state approved qualification was made. Other organizations from both, educational and employment sector, also expressed their and intention to make use the intellectual outputs. Two articles about the project in E-novičke, an expert newsletter of Andragoški center Slovenije, also aroused the interest of experts. We had productive debates with them about the proper terminology of the outputs and agreed on further cooperation. At Italian multiplier event there were many requests from stakeholders for more information. Two Italian entrepreneurs requested a meeting to discuss the possible implementation of the guidelines in their company. Every year EUROCULTURA hosts about 250 students from EU and non-EU countries that serve as interns in local enterprises. They have a network of over 120 companies. From January 1st 2020, EUROCULTURA will provide all existing and future partner companies with results developed in the the project (IO4). Next step will be to reach an agreement with the local Crafts Chamber to provide the guidelines to all business in the province of Vicenza (25.214 enterprises). The results of pilot training will benefit foreign students, who are learning Italian according to the methodology developed in the project. The migrant mentors’ curriculum will be implemented by some Italian NGOs EUROCULTURA is cooperating with.