Mentoring in education involves pairing young people with an older peer or adult volunteer, who acts as a positive role model. In general, mentoring aims to build confidence and relationships, to develop resilience and character, or raise aspirations, rather than to develop specific academic skills or knowledge.
Mentors typically build relationships with young people (mentees) by meeting with them one to one for about an hour a week over a sustained period, either during school, at the end of the school day, or at weekends. In some approaches mentors may meet with their mentees in small groups.
Activities vary between different mentoring programmes. While some mentoring programmes include academic support with homework or other school tasks, approaches focused primarily on direct academic support (sometimes referred to as âacademic mentoringâ) are not covered in this strand. See one to one tuition and peer tutoring.
1. The impact of mentoring varies but, on average, it is likely to have a small positive impact on achievement.
2. Positive effects on achievement tend not to be sustained once the mentoring stops, so care must be taken to ensure that benefits are not lost. It is important to consider how you can support students who have benefitted from mentoring to retain positive changes in their confidence and behaviour.
3. Both community-based and school-based approaches can be successful.
4. Mentor drop-out can have detrimental effects on mentees. It is important to consider how to support mentors.
On average, mentoring appears to have a small positive impact on academic outcomes. The impacts of individual programmes vary. Some studies have found more positive impacts for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, and for non-academic outcomes such as attitudes to school, attendance and behaviour.
There are risks associated with unsuccessful mentor pairings, which may have a detrimental effect on the mentee, and some studies report negative overall impacts.
Programmes which have a clear structure and expectations, provide training and support for mentors, and recruit mentors who are volunteers, are associated with more successful outcomes.
There is no evidence that approaches with a single focus on improving academic achievement or performance are more effective, programmes with multiple objectives can be equally or more effective.
Research based in Aotearoa New Zealand reports positive impacts from mentoring programmes, with some variability in the areas and extent of impact. One study of a peer-based mentoring programme which pairs Year 9 students with Year 12-13 students at their school, finds positive impacts for mentees in working with others, practical skills, connecting to communities, meeting personal goals, and improving relationships. Results from a study of an academic counselling intervention for MÄori students showed that they appreciated achievement-focused relationships with teachers that were based in collective vision, collective efficacy, and co-ordinated timely collection action.
A 2011 systematic review of youth mentoring programmes shows that those focused on psychological or interpersonal goals have more impact than those focused on education, behaviour, vocation, or culture. Research into a mentoring programme for Year 13 students notes that participants report a sense of improvement in their study behaviours, however no effect is noted in achievement levels.
Studies have been undertaken in both primary and secondary school settings with similar impacts.
Overall impact on mathematics and general school subjects tends to be higher than on reading or science outcomes.
Regular meetings of once a week or more frequently appear to be most effective.
Mentoring requires close interaction between an adult or older peer and one or a small group of students. Conversations between mentors and mentees may address but would not be limited to: attitudes to school; specific academic skills or knowledge; self-perception and belief, particularly in relation to school-work; aspirations for future studies and career options. It is important to consider what support mentors might require to effectively deliver mentoring.
Mentoring interactions normally occur one to one between mentor and mentee â although mentors can mentor multiple students. Some mentoring approaches also include small group interactions.
Mentoring interventions are typically delivered over an extended period of time (often at least the length of a school year) in order to allow mentors and mentees to develop more lasting and trusting relationships. Frequent regular meetings of once a week or more tend to be more beneficial.
The average cost of a mentoring intervention is low. The cost to schools is largely based on mentor training, salary costs (for non-volunteer mentors) and resources. Some programmes also include continuous training and support for mentors which may increase costs. Some mentoring programmes are funded or subsidised by government or iwi, which can reduce costs.
Implementing mentoring interventions will also require a moderate and sustained amount of staff time, compared with other approaches.
Alongside time and cost, school leaders should consider how to maximise the recruitment of effective and reliable mentors that are well matched to mentees. Consideration should also be given to how any gains made in student confidence, resilience or aspiration are to be maintained after the intended period of mentoring, as studies show these changes can be difficult to sustain.
The security of the evidence around mentoring is rated as moderate. 44 studies were identified that meet the inclusion criteria of the Toolkit.
As with any evidence review, the Toolkit summarises the average impact of approaches when researched in academic studies. It is important to consider your context and apply your professional judgement when implementing an approach in your setting.
Local research:
Noonan, K., Bullen, P., & Farruggia, S. P. (2012). School-based mentoring: Examining the cultural and economic variations in engagement and effectiveness. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, 47(1), 47.
Farruggia, S. P., Bullen, P., Davidson, J., Dunphy, A., Solomon, F., & Collins, E. (2011). The effectiveness of youth mentoring programmes in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 40(3), 52.
Irving, S., Moore, D. W., & Hamilton, R. J. (2003). Mentoring for high ability high school students. Education + Training, 45(2), 100â109. https://doi.org/10.1108/00400910310464071
Webber, M., McKinley, E., & Rubie-Davies, C. M. (2016). Making it personal: Academic counseling with MÄori students and their families. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 47, 51-60.
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