III. Evaluation of Established Mentorship Programs for Disengaged Youth in New Zealand:
In the 1980s and 1990s there was a “baby blip” in New Zealand, thus resulting in an increased number of young people aged 12-24 years living in New Zealand (Ministry of Youth Development, 2011). The numbers of young people have grown from 757,000 at the time of the 2006 Census to approximately 818,000 in 2011 (Ministry of Youth Development, 2011).. However, even with this increase of the school-aged population, a higher percentage of students are gaining school-level qualifications (Ministry of Youth Development, 2011). The New Zealand Qualification Authority (NZQA) Annual Report on National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) and New Zealand Scholarship Data Statistics (2014), report an increase in the Cumulative Percentage of Year 11 Students Attaining National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) at Level 1 in literacy and numeracy from 81.7% in 2010 to 90.7% in 2014 (New Zealand Qualification Authority, 2015). However, in numeracy alone there was a downward trend from 2010 to 2014 being 89.0% to 88.5% with a minimal peak of 86.4% in 2012 (New Zealand Qualification Authority, 2015). Also in this report, there was an increase in retention rate for secondary school education (New Zealand Qualification Authority, 2015). Contrary to the increase in retention rate and achievement of Level 1, the unemployment rate of youth has increased in New Zealand. There is a
Carvalho (2015) claimed that every year number of young Australians enter the labour market and they get trouble while searching for the job due to lack of experience, low skill, skill mismatch. Unemployment is not problem of Australia only rather it has become the global issue.
In order to provide a comprehensive school counseling program (CSCP) that meets the unique needs of Ocean Elementary School, the school counselor must understand the needs of the school. Therefore, conducting a needs assessment can help a new school counselor to evaluate the CSCP in order to plan, implement, and improve the effectiveness of the program (Astramovich & Coker, 2007). Additionally, utilizing the accountability bridge counseling program evaluation model, a continuous evaluation cycle helps to improve services based on stakeholder feedback, the needs of those served, and outcomes (Astramovich & Coker, 2007). Within this model, a needs assessment must be conducted in order to plan and develop services that address the needs of the students (Astramovich & Coker, 2007). Thus, by utilizing assessment questionnaires, the school counselor can gather information from the diverse population of students, parents, teachers, and administrator to determine how the CSCP can best support all students’ needs (American School Counselor Association [ASCA], 2012). Additionally, the use of other data, such as observations, standardized test scores, absentee rates, and student referrals can support the feedback received on the questionnaires. Based on the data, the school counselor can evaluate the school counseling program in order to improve the program in the domain areas of academic, social/emotional, and career development. Thus, within the accountability bridge counseling
“The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches but to reveal to him his own. - Benjamin Disrael This quote is similar to a Chinese Proverb that says “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”(Chinese Proverb). Both essentially say the same thing, and that is, you can only help someone so much until they need to realize they are capable of doing great things on their own. Higher Risk youth benefit from guidance, but once they have figured everything out they can move on alone. These two quotes apply to mentoring because, mentoring is like showing someone the way to life.
A person will need an education to achieve a job. The finding ‘closing the gap did’ was recorded scores from NAPLAN results and the findings were between 90 and 95% of non-Indigenous achieved average or above the nation minimum however over Indigenous only 30% achieving this. Our government is helping these targets be achieved with having attention drawn to infrastructure, workforce of teachers and school leaders supply quality, curriculum, allow for more parent involvement and greater opportunities. There are more opportunities for pathways into work place, or training to help those that school just isn’t for. In February there was $98.8 million over five year provided for an extra 200 teachers for remote school in Northern Territory. Making it compulsory for remote juveniles to attend school for achieving greater attendance. The fund will help for enabling them to expand the National Accelerated Literacy Program that helps literacy and numeracy skills that have successful helped Indigenous and will hopefully further improve standards. The aim is also to give an understanding to parents and teacher of these remote communities and become a further part of their child’s education. There is a plan by closing the gap to build in the northern Territory to fund a $28.9 million three Indigenous facilities which will accommodate years 8 to 12 and help give the Indigenous young people an
In exploring the Australian Curriculum, it becomes apparent that this curriculum was developed to encompass a wide range of skills and abilities that will be needed to enable young Australians to become productive and successful members of society of the future. The influence of a range of different curriculum models and education theories has bought together a comprehensive overview of what the Australian education system will deliver and how this can be accomplished.
From birth to adulthood, children go through countless emotional, academic and social transitions. Towards the culmination into adulthood, young adults experience a transition from middle school to high school. When students transition from middle school to high school, things change as they head into adulthood, there are several new social and academic adjustments ahead. Such as, peer pressures, navigating a new environment, bigger challenges with classes and homework, and peer pressure. Schools often try to develop programs that will help students successfully make this transition. One tool that can assist in making the transition seamless is an onsite mentoring program at the high school level. A school mentoring program could offer assistance in many areas for example, tutoring, time management, behavior, social skills, and development of positive relationships. At risk students can benefit greatly from a mentoring program. The past decade has seen widespread enthusiasm for school mentoring as a way to address the needs and problems of youth (Herrera, Kauh, Cooney, Grossman & McMaken, 2008). In the last seven to ten years, high school mentor programs have become very popular across the country.
There is a broad range of factors that might make the youth of any ethnicity to participate in antisocial behaviors. Notably, these factors include young people’s own feelings, family relationships and being brought up in communities with widespread alcohol and violence. In addition to this, young people engage in antisocial behaviors if they have been exposed to poor health, substance abuse, poor-quality housing as well as poor health. These risk factors place youths at risk of dropping out of schools, disengaging from employment and community (Ware, 2013). Further, indigenous youth faces challenges of dislocation arising from colonization coupled with the impacts of the stolen generations. The impact of the forced displacement of homeland and socioeconomic dispossession associated with the colonization period left a legacy of parents raised in abusive settings who are not abusing their own children. In addition, it left a legacy of dislocated kinship networks that reduced family support. Overall, the indigenous young people encounter extra challenges of cultural discontinuity, dispossession, and inter-generational trauma (Ware, 2013). This paper seeks to discuss some of the mentoring programs that can bar young people from engaging in anti-social behaviors that can greatly affect their future.
Since I was a young child growing up, I have been exposed to Social Services in one form or another. Many of my family members have participated in the social services arena, and as a result, I too have the love, and compassion for the helping profession. Because of this, I have been mentoring adolescents in my spare time. Helping with life transitions that may be challenging such as, transitioning into adulthood, stressful school/home situations, or life, in general, is very rewarding. Furthermore, being able to assist with tutoring, teaching life skills, and forming healthy relationships have been worthwhile, not only that, but beneficial to all parties involved as well.
“In early 2016, the ABS Labor force found that 258,000 youth aged 15-24 was unemployed” (ABS, 2016), accounting for over a third of total unemployment (721,400 people)” (ABS, 2016). There are several reasons youth unemployment exists in Australia, with the primary cause being low economic
Life in New Zealand in the late 1800’s was looking quite grim. Section 89 presented in the 1877 Education act, was considered important at the time because the government wanted the notion of building a nation and society, improving the lives of individuals, developing an economy, and to integrate different groups into ‘the social contract’ (Codd, J., & Openshaw, R, 2005) Education was perceived as a formula for this to happen. The reasons for exemptions, was firstly as stated by Charles Bowen (1877) “that it was not the intention to encourage children whose vocation is that of honest labour to waste in higher schools time which might be better spent in learning a trade” (Stephenson,2009 p.9). It was considered enough to gain basic skills in
The youth engagement program has a multitude of resources within their program including, events or support for participants, partnerships, and grants. The many events open to students within the program are, restorative practices, reading/writing/math support, SAT prep, writing workshops, campus engagement events, FAFSA workshops, college/career conversations, career connecting, and post-secondary application support. In regards to partnerships held by the program, their main partner comes from a subcontract with the NSO along with, individuals and organizations with expertise in different programming elements (social workers, counselors, mentors, and those in trauma care), and mutually beneficial partnerships such as university-community relationships. Lastly, the programs grants include; $10,000 from united way for restorative practice training and $10,000 from ford for reading and writing tutoring.
Since the 2008 financial crisis and the recession that followed in 2009 there has been a high unemployment rate among the youth. Canada’s unemployment rate is sitting at an all high time of 11.8%. (TD Economics) The unemployment rate specifically for youth aged 15 to 24 years old has climbed approximately 24.4%. (TD Economics) The impact of youth unemployment is long lasting and can harm an individual’s career opportunities. Economists have conducted a research which determines that the period of unemployment in an individual’s life will negatively impact them in the future because they will earn lower wages. For example, if you are a college or university graduate in Canada who is in a recession the unemployment rate will rise by about 5%, that implies a loss in earnings of about 9% annually. (TD Economics) If the social
Unemployment is recognised as one of the most challenging social problems currently facing Australia. In the last two decades and more recently with the global recession high levels of unemployment have become an established feature of the South Australian social and economic landscape, with young people aged 15 to 24 years among those hardest hit by unemployment.
Regardless of the financial costs of education, statistics show in the years from 1983 to 1996 numbers of students in tertiary education doubled and retention rates within secondary schooling reached new heights, rising from 40.6% in 1983 to 71.3% in 1996 (Jamrozik, 2009), clearly placing education as a high value within the Australian society and becoming a lifetime pursuit for many people. However historically, the changes that have occurred over the years, have reinforced Australia’s problem with social inequalities within the education system.
This essay will be discussing the social inequalities within New Zealand. These inequalities can include unequal income, education and healthcare. Through extensive research of academic resources, I will be discussing how educational, family, social and political factors contribute to the development of these inequalities. I will also be providing a line graph that shows the unequal income between classes and a second line graph that demonstrates the difference in student success between high decile and low decile schools.