Kinderfreunde: The Nightingale – SchülerInnen Mentoring (DVD) – English
Summary
Nightingale is a mentoring program which is carried out annually since 2010 by „Kinderfreunde Österreich” in several cities. Children between the age of eight and twelve, who just came to Austria, predominantly have the right to participate in this project. The lack of time by parents, lacking command of the German language or shyness for example play a role in the selection process of these children. Students from the College of Education and the University of Vienna are assigned as mentors to these children. But only after the students passed the training during which they learn the basic rules or the legal and organizational framework. In tandem arrangement the students arrange an excursion and activities with educational background (libraries, museums, theater, zoo, etc.), walks or sporting activities with the children. These activities take place once a week over a period of seven months. The filmmaker Mehmet Akbal has accompanied the project in Vienna from the starting phase until the completion during the school year 2013/14 and documented the experiences of those involved. As a conclusion it can be stated that both the children and the mentors benefit and learned a lot from the project.
(Eva Amon Köfler, Lea Rauch, Michelle Windisch)
