Category: Newsletters

Dear Nightingales,

BIGGEST thank to all of you who participated in the Network meeting and our 8th Nightingale Conference in Bodö!
We had two really good and fruitful days together.

On the page: “Network Meetings” you can find some photos from the Network meeting but also some documents as:

* the PPT-presentation Malmö made
* The New Annual Report
* The Network Minutes
*Partners feed-back at the Network meeting.

In the folder: “2018 Bodö Conference”you will find:
* some photos from the Conference
* one PPT-presentations (Viggo Krügers)
*  feed-back from those who participated in the Conference.

News

We are happy to announce that Nightingale mentoring program now also have a page on LinkedIn
It is still a draft and partner feed-back an ideas are very welcome. Would be nice if partners also could put this page as a link on their own LinkedIn presentation to be able to spread the idea of our Nightingale Network.

Partner News

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Since Rossinyol Barcelona  now had made their two years period as board members, they will not continue to do so. BIGGEST thank you for your commitment!
At the same time we will like to present an interview by: Rossinyols from  Barcelona!

How and when did you start your Nightingale mentoring program?
A school in the district of Nou Barris in Barcelona knew the Nightingale project of the University of Girona and contacted the administrations to bring it to their school and neighborhood. The administration contacted us to carry out the project in the city of Barcelona.

During the 2010-2011 academic year we started with a pilot of 7 couples and 3 schools and institutes in the district of Nou Barris and Ciutat Vella, districts with a high migratory rate.

Since then, growth has been exponential for the good reception of the participating educational centers and the administrations. Currently, this year we will collaborate in 16 schools with 74 couples.

What inspired you to become involved in this field?
The nightingale project fits in Servei Solidari vision and values, and we have experience in projects supporting youth people.

Any special key aspects why you have succeed with?
Supporting always the volunteers, with a complete training about mentoring and also answering any doubt or situation that may appears in any moment of the process. Also give some freedom in the choice of activities to do with their couples.The good functioning of the project in recent editions has created stability and a consolidation of the project in the educational centers.

What did you learn from the mentors/mentees about their involvement?
The mentored people delicacy and respect. All the good practices and great ideas that they have in order to connect with the young people.By mentors, knowledge of different family realities, that young people are young, regardless of culture or origin.

What did they learn?
Knowing different environments, finding many common points starting at differences. Self-knowledge for both sides.Practices in the improvement of personal relationships and communicative skills.

What is the prime benefit and problems of the program?
According to two studies that carried out the latest editions of the project by Spora Sinergies Consulting: To the mentees§ The desire to learn is stimulated§ Strengthens your confidence and self esteem§ Linguistic competence is improved§ Approach is made to institutions such as the university and the real possibility of continuing higher education§ Interest in culture is also stimulated in the family environment To the mentors:§ New world visions are discovered and approaches to social problems§ Preparation to live in a multicultural society§ Communicative and relationship skills are encouraged

What is the prime benefit of cooperating in the Nightingale Network? 
Share studies, process designs, good practices and new ideas for improvement.Feeling of relevance in a common project much larger than Servei Solidari Nightingale Project.

Nightingale Ghana

The 8th September, 2018, Nightingale Ghana had their first training session at the Ashesi University in Ghana and the 21 st of October they had their Kick-Off start. We wish them the best and good luck!

Dear Nightingale friends,

it is approaching to our Network meeting and Conference in Bodö, the 10-12th of October.

I am happy to inform all of you that two partner-cities in Spain are registered, two from Sweden, almost all partners from Norway and the  Nightingale´s from Switzerland will come. Only partners from Austria and Iceland could not.
We are looking forward a lot meeting you all.  Bodö says warm welcome to all of you!
Remember it is in the north of Norway – bring warm clothes!

We want to show our gratitude and thank Bufdir. Norway who paid for the room for the network meeting!

Now you can upload the Agenda for the network meeting HERE.

Partner News

We now have the possibility to take part in the second evaluation by Norway.  Norway evaluation (in Norwegian). NOVA Rapport 2/2018

Evaluering av Nattergalen – en oppfølgingsstudie
By: Jorunn T.Jessen, Tonje Gundersen and Kamila A. Hynek

Over the year (2012 -2017) totally 838 children and students have participated in the Nattergalen programme.
The results show positive learning effects on both children and mentors.
For example:

• Four of 10 children (36 %) have developed their language ability and more than 52 % have developed their social abilities.
• The questionnaires also show that participating in the program has increased the student’s knowledge and insights.
  By participating in the Nightingale program eight of ten said they have increased their communications skill and at the same time got better insight into children life and living condition.

New partner Switzerland

We are happy to announce and would like to welcome our new partner Tamina Kappeler,from University of Teacher Education in Zug, Switzerland.

My name is Tamina Kappeler, I’m 33 years old and have just taken over the project management of Nightingale at the University of Teacher Education in Zug. I myself grew up as a third culture kid, moving between cultures within my family and moving to different countries during my childhood and youth. These experiences are probably what drew me to participate in a similar mentoring program during my studies, so I’m really excited to be part of the Nightingale Network in this new role supporting the students and children. I just moved back to Switzerland after working in Bolivia for three years and am currently employed at the Institute for International Cooperation in Education.

Nightingale Linz

Karl Wegenschimmel send greetings to us from the Nightingale in Linz who’s project is steadily increasing. They even got an email from a student who is registered to another  university ( the second University of Education in Linz)  who wrote that he had heard about the Nightingale and  was very interested in becoming a mentor. This can be an opener for many more students, Karl added.

Karls  also wrote that Margit Severa and he ( Karl) will take part in the CARN (Collaborative Action Research Network) conference held in Manchester from 25th to 27th of October. They will present their Nightingale research results regarding this topic “Daring and Doing”. We are looking forward hearing more about this.
Unfortunately they could not come to Bodö…but we wish them good luck!

Pair of the month

it would be nice if partners can send me, Carina, some photos and maybe a quotation or text from one mentor and child in your program, so we can load up different pairs in our network/ Nightingales. That means showing our Nightingale all around the world!
To begin I would like you to meet one pair in Nightingale LSS (a new pilot student where students meet seniors with some disabilities).

This pair have met since March and will continue to do so until December.
We have done so many nice things together, me and my student, some of them for the first time. For example we have been at the theater and when I told my friends at my accommodation they were really jealousy not having a student to meet like me.

See you in Bodö!

Dear Nightingal friends,
as you can read in this (but also in other) Nightingale newsletter partners get prizes, make research, delivers lectures etc. but most of you let people that otherwise would not met  meet. Meetings were you talk WITH other instead of ABOUT each other.
Meetings were  mutual learning take place and were you get access to each others life and living  and thinking.

For almost 21 years I have been working with the Nightingale mentoring program in Malmö. But I have also been working with you, some of you for more than 10 years and I am very happy  and proud to have you as partners.

Today schools have to face many challenges but some of these challenges they cannot solve themselves …they need cooperating partners  – Nightingale can be one – supporting children in their own development. 

Also our Universities have challenges to tackle in future society and these challenges need students who have got insight, understand, can reflect and analyze structures in our society.
As Freire once put it:

The fundamental task of the mentor is a libratory task. It is not to encourage the mentor’s goals and aspirations and dreams to be reproduced in the mentees (…) but to give rise to the possibility that the mentee become the owners of their own history. This is how I understand (…) the ethical posture of a mentor who truly believes in the total autonomy, freedom, and development of those he or she mentors

Partner news

Congratulations to Nightingale Linz who was awarded a prize for integration
of the town of Linz in May 2018  

In the town hall. From left: Then town councilor of integration affairs,
two Nightingale colleagues, Karl, and the town councilor of cultural affairs

“We are very proud of that and see it as an appreciation for our mentor students and their brilliant job they were/are doing.
The project is steadily  increasing. This year we were having about 30 tandems including students from Primary and Secondary Education.
Due to evaluations we see that all persons envolved like to join the project and find it extremely enriching in many pedagogical and educational aspects.”

Letter from Nightingale Switzerland

Our partner in Zug, Switzerland, Mireille will not be working at the Office of IZB and Nightingale Zug any longer but has written:

“Working for Nightingale has always been an extremely impactful experience for me. Our students have learnt a lot about their professional skills in regards of being a teacher in the future. It was very touching for me to see the positive effect of Nightingale on the kids but also on the parents. This year, all the parents were invited to our party at the end of Nightingale 17/18. Some of them told me how much their child has learnt during the course of this program. Especially one boy who was too shy to speak German one year ago, is now so much more confident and he started to enjoy using his newly learnt language. What else could we ask for…?
I wish you all the best in the hope that Nightingale can fly further on for many more years to come.
All my best regards to you and to Nightingale Network international.”

At the same time we want to welcome our new partner Tamina Kappeler who will take over the program.

Nightingale Vienna

     
A Conference: “9TH CHILD IN THE CITY WORLD CONFERENCE “
will be held in Vienna the 24 – 26 September 2018
Our Nightingale partner Günther Leeb from Nightingale Vienna/Kinderfrunde, will deliver a lecture together with Daniela Gruber-Pruner
Read more here

Ruiseñor Project

Friday, the 1st of June , we celebrated the ending of the course 2017/2018 of our Urretxindorra/Ruiseñor Project.
It was a successful and emotional event where children, students, parents, teachers, members of Institutions, musicians took part with the aim of celebrating the last course and a project that, year after year, connects more and more migrant children and their families with students contributing to their mutual personal and social wellness. See more

New research

A new Interesting research about component of the quality of relationships in mentoring. “A typology of school-based mentoring relationship quality: Implications for recruiting and retaining volunteer mentors”.

Click here and read more about it, or go to the website “Research and development” were you can find more research and articles.

Now I wish you all a nice summer and relaxing vacation, Looking forward meeting you all again in Bodö!

Don’t forget to register to our 8th Nightingale Conference.
The network meeting will be held the 10th of October at 4 o’clock.

Carina