Purpose:
Working with and for new generations is a priority for the Intercultural Centre of the City of Turin. That is why – back in 2009 - the city has launched “Il centro per i giovani” (the Centre for youth). The main purpose of this project is to ensure that young people of migrant backgrounds receive effective support in their integration processes by getting in touch with models that can be supportive not only in school but also in the social, cultural and relational dimension.
The programme is divided into different actions, namely:
- “Animatori interculturali”, a training course for intercultural operators. The main purpose is to develop educational relationship expertise in an intercultural environment, including abilities to organise integration and entertainment activities and support teenagers in active citizenship and empowerment paths. The course, realised with interactive methodologies, counts with 129 hours in a classroom and 60 hours of training as mentors in the project Giovani al Centro.
- “Giovani al Centro”, aims at fostering the experience of successful educational achievement of teenagers from disadvantaged contexts (EU, not EU, non accompanied minors, asylum seekers, second generations) or with learning difficulties, thus helping them to improve their performance in school and prevent drop-out. The project targets teenagers in lower and upper secondary education and vocational training with the purpose of helping them develop not only their cognitive skills but also emotional, motivational and other personal and social competences.
- “Bimbi al Centro”, is an educational project of intercultural entertainment for kids and their families.
Stimulus/Rationale:
The strategy used consists of a holistic approach to educational mentoring which involves not only the personal relationship between the mentee and the mentor but also the integration in the local community through participation in cultural, social and civic activities organised by the local partners and other local actors. All three actions mentioned above are strictly connected by the mentoring methodology because the intercultural operators have a role as mentors for the teenagers and the latter are in their turn mentoring the kids.
The educational mentoring methodology works from three angles:
- mentoring for school, providing the pupils with a mentor from outside the school context but with a similar background, who can give them support in cognitive skills as well as help them develop personal and social competences.
- mentoring for social competences, helping the students to develop personal and social skills, such as self-confidence, creativity, communication, by giving them the opportunity to participate in cultural activities such as theatre, art and music labs.
- mentoring for civic integration, raising teenagers and young people's awareness of their social contexts and sense of social responsibility by involving them in community work for their neighbourhoods.
Process:
A monthly meeting of the board is organised for evaluation purposes and gathers the representative of the Intercultural Centre, the representative of ASAI association and the team of educators, in order to identify strategies and check results. Two weekly sessions with the educators and the mentors (intercultural operators, trainees, volunteers) are also scheduled at the end of the activities. Regular meetings are also planned between educators and teachers in order to verify school reports for the mentees as well as regular meetings between educators and parents. Finally, in order to improve their social and personal skills and their willingness of social commitment, regular sessions between educators or mentors and the mentees are also planned.
The project is realised in cooperation with the ASAI Association (a non-profit intercultural and voluntary association operating since 1995 in Torino) with a sponsorship by Intesa Sanpaolo Bank.
Thanks to the project "Giovani al Centro", in 2012 the "SIRIUS – Policy Network on Migrant Education" invited the Intercultural Centre to take part in the European Network for Educational Support Projects (ENESP), a platform for exchange and cooperation between mentoring programs from six European countries.
All the projects in the network put a strong emphasis on intercultural sensitivity in mentoring, valuing the educational resources in the immigrant communities themselves. The network created a “Handbook Mentoring for migrant youth in education”, sharing the experiences of the members in organising mentoring programs which respect and acknowledge the cultural backgrounds of the mentees.
Impact:
Key reference documents:
