“What can I do to learn more?” – Beneath the surface of barriers to learning
Parvathi Sajiv
“But Miss, I can’t focus for some reason. I don’t think I’ll get the marks I need”, the student in front of me remarks.
I pause for a moment.
“Could you tell me more about why you feel that way?” I ask.
The above is a short snippet of a conversation with a student. As a University Access Officer, one of my key responsibilities is to mentor students aspiring to attend university.
Mentoring involves helping someone gain insights, purpose, wisdom and the confidence to achieve their goals. The Access Project’s mentoring programme involves various practices to support students from under-resourced backgrounds. This includes building their knowledge about universities, challenging their beliefs, and providing continuous support to cultivate motivation and independence. But what does this look like in practice?
Challenging assumptions: Identifying barriers to learning
“Well, I feel I am studying all the time but not getting the marks, so it must be due to a lack of focus”.
From the conversation with my student, it would have been easy to assume that focus is what the student struggles with. After all, the student came forward and informed me of their problem. But the root of the problem isn’t always that simple.
Through mentoring, one must ask questions to understand how the student has reached this conclusion. What does their schedule look like? What could be causing their lack of focus? Or, is the problem even focus-related?
We all learn in different ways, and the answers to these questions look different with every individual. Sometimes all it takes is to identify this and shift how one responds.
As a mentor, it’s important to build skills to adapt to different challenges throughout the year and ensuring students have the time and resources to achieve their goals. This is how we measure the academic self-efficacy of students – their belief in their ability to succeed.
“Hmm, that is interesting. I can see why despite spending all the time studying, not getting the results you want can be frustrating. How about we look at how you prepare for one of your subjects and see if we can work out what is happening?”, I ask.
“Yes, that would be great!”, my student responds.
A student’s journey may not look as linear as how we define academic self-efficacy. We must dig into the tough questions surrounding their environment.
Are there barriers at home that prevent them from focusing fully? Are they taking up additional responsibilities in their house? How many hours are students working part-time alongside their school lessons? Learning the answers to these questions and working side-by-side with the student to build a plan is a key aspect of a successful mentoring relationship. This is why one of the key skills in mentoring is to build curiosity through active listening, questioning and rapport.
The mentor-mentee relationship: Building a strong rapport
To nurture a mentor’s relationship with the mentee involves going beyond the understanding of their background and context.
This rapport and relationship look vastly different with each student. Questions around what drives their motivations, and what interests them help build a bigger picture of the wonderful people they are shaping up to be. Only when we as mentors bring the pieces together, can we sit with the student to help set expectations for the term, build direction and help achieve their goals.
While there is much that runs deep in mentoring a student one-on-one, it must be said that mentoring is a continuous practice. As much as I like to pose questions to the students, I often pose questions to myself. What are the cultural beliefs I possess that shape my view of academics and university? How could a student’s cultural background be different to mine? What can I do to learn more?
There is comfort in knowing I can speak to the experts within the company to provide resources to learn more. There is even more joy in knowing how aligned every University Access Officer is towards building on the aspirations of these students.
It is always heartwarming to see the students for who they are and for who they become through their school years. And I must say that it will remain a joy forever.
The Access Project helps young people from under-resourced backgrounds achieve their academic potential and place at top universities. By donating to our programme or volunteering with us, you’re helping the country’s most under-resourced young people find their way to a brighter future.