Peer to peer mentoring network for younger learners on Level 1 modules in the School of Languages and Applied Linguistics – impact and challenges

<p> This project aligns with current initiatives across the university aiming at finding novel and impactful ways of supporting our students, and it is building on a number of successful peer support initiatives in the School of Languages and Applied Linguistics (LAL), for example the student buddy programme (Kan et al) running since 2014, or a number of current APP-funded community building and support initiatives targeting specific groups of students, i.e. language-specific cross-level self-help groups or peer support groups for students with additional requirements. Furthermore, we have experience in teaching younger learners with significant numbers of YASS students under 18 for whom languages are a core subject area of OU study. We will build on findings from Heiser’s report about YASS students in England and Olivier and Burton’s (2020) study highlighting the importance of supporting younger learners in making a successful transition from school to HE. Initial studies confirm: younger students new to HE study require a sense of belonging if to be successful. To create a sense of belonging for LAL students, the project lead facilitated successful online sessions for our younger learners, but realised that the students would benefit from building further relationships, not just with tutors who provide academic guidance and support, but also with other students who are slightly ahead in their own learning journeys. In line with the OU’s mission to be ‘open to people and places’, our aim is to support students from marginalised and under-represented groups, particularly at the early stages of their OU experience. A relationship with a peer mentor could be a vital tool to help these students navigate their first module. Peer mentoring has been shown to impact significantly on students’ development applying to those who are mentoring and those who are mentored. ‘By exploring the use of an institution’s key asset, its own students, there is an opportunity for the creation of a true ‘win-win-win’ situation in which new students belong, existing students develop new skills and institutions experience minimal student attrition. Peer mentoring offers an approach whereby students help students discover the new world of university life through the formation of safe and supportive peer relationships’ (Andrews and Clark, 2011, p.5). There is further evidence that mentored students ‘perceived themselves to be performing better academically, were more satisfied with their academic progress and with general student satisfaction’ (Andreanoff, 2016b, p.207). Mentors are reported to gain satisfaction in the knowledge that they have helped new students, they also gained in confidence and developed their listening and communication skills (Robson and Hutton 2019). Whilst there have been previous projects related to peer mentoring schemes across the OU, these have tended to be one-to-group schemes which may only cover the first few weeks of a student’s journey (Robson and Forbes 2015). Although previous schemes have given mentors a certificate of achievement for completing their role, we would like to collaborate with other faculties to develop a badge for mentoring which would build on work already being undertaken in WELS (Perez-Cavana et al, 2020). </p>