Academic mentoring projects between disadvantaged children and students. A method for the preparation of students for inclusive school settings

Abstract

Future teachers agree to meet a pupil once a week to engage in cultural, social and educational activities within the framework of two mentoring projects conducted at the University of Kassel. The students are supported at the University by an educational science seminar and by professional supervision (Garlichs et al., 2000; Heinzel et al., 2007). At the end of the project the students write a case study. Since 2015 these projects are part of PRONET, a government-funded bundle of various projects in the field of educational research, located at the University of Kassel, which are part of the nation-wide research initiative “Qualitätsoffensive Lehrerbildung”. This initiative aims at the improvement of teachers' education regarding inclusion by continuous evaluation of the projects. The mentoring projects promote students' inclusive attitude by stimulating their reflexive and cooperative skills and by raising their awareness for habitus-sensibility. Previous research has shown that mentoring projects can, for example, facilitate teachers' acceptance of heterogeneity of childhood experiences by providing insights into different social environments and by improving reflection on prejudices and stereotypes (Kottmann, 2014; Maas, 2007; Wenzler-Cremer, 2016). Following these findings, the actual research focuses on which kind of reflection students use and if they develop or strengthen inclusive orientations. With regards to data analysis, the qualitative content analysis of the case study is accompanied by sequential interpretation of audio statements, which the students produce at three points in time during their mentoring year. First results show that different kinds of reflection take place, that the students get confronted with inclusive and exclusive inconsistencies, and that they begin to reconceptualize ideas about normality.