Fostering Hope, Leadership, and Mentorship in Peer Learning Facilitator Roles
About the Presenter(s)
Christina Klimo, Write Place Coordinator
Haley Stammen, Tutoring Coordinator
Dr. Alison Witte, Supplemental Instruction Coordinator
Location
Kennedy Union Room 310
Start Date
4-1-2023 1:10 PM
End Date
4-1-2023 2:00 PM
Abstract/Description
Hope is an integral part of learning processes. All learners — students, peer leaders, faculty, and staff — must believe improvement is possible and that challenges can be overcome. Hope is important when the learner is struggling to understand a concept or complete an assignment. Typically, hope comes from explicit expressions of confidence. Learners must hear that an authority believes they can persist. While faculty often fulfill this role, they aren't the only sources of hope for students.
Often, it is peer learning facilitators — like tutors, SI leaders, and Write Place consultants — who foster hope for their peers. Bringing hope to a hopeless learner requires practice in listening, empathy, and scaffolded learning that helps students achieve small goals. Supervisors and mentors are essential to provide peer leaders with explicit training and to model the practices that learning facilitators will then enact.
This panel discusses the role and value of hope for learners, peer learning facilitators, and supervisors of learning facilitators. Specifically, we focus on how peer learning facilitators build capacity to foster hope in the students they work with through direct training and experiential, on-the-job learning.
Goals for Attendees
We provide some best practices for building hope in peer learning facilitators and mentors, and then collaborate with audience members to determine how these practices might be adapted and implemented for contexts across campus (TA roles, research assistants, student organizations, etc.).
Fostering Hope, Leadership, and Mentorship in Peer Learning Facilitator Roles
Kennedy Union Room 310
Hope is an integral part of learning processes. All learners — students, peer leaders, faculty, and staff — must believe improvement is possible and that challenges can be overcome. Hope is important when the learner is struggling to understand a concept or complete an assignment. Typically, hope comes from explicit expressions of confidence. Learners must hear that an authority believes they can persist. While faculty often fulfill this role, they aren't the only sources of hope for students.
Often, it is peer learning facilitators — like tutors, SI leaders, and Write Place consultants — who foster hope for their peers. Bringing hope to a hopeless learner requires practice in listening, empathy, and scaffolded learning that helps students achieve small goals. Supervisors and mentors are essential to provide peer leaders with explicit training and to model the practices that learning facilitators will then enact.
This panel discusses the role and value of hope for learners, peer learning facilitators, and supervisors of learning facilitators. Specifically, we focus on how peer learning facilitators build capacity to foster hope in the students they work with through direct training and experiential, on-the-job learning.
