3.4. Guidance

Figure 1: Visual map of the strategies and experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic

3.4. Guidance

What are the characteristics that make tutors' work with vulnerable youngsters effective? This is the question we asked the project partners in order to investigate an essential aspect of youngsters'engagement: guidance. One of the most cited characteristics is experience, with respect to the target population: —[The tutor] has to have experience in dealing with youngsters. —If you don't have experience with this target group,you 'll need months tolearn, but you can learn specific activities. Partners also talk about the importance ofvision: —With young people,it is important not only to see whatis now, but alsowill be, the ability to make people abstract from their situation, alternatives exist! This characteristic is strictly connected with empathy,described as ‘the ability to live the moment together with the youngest’ : —I think the trainers should be emphatic because sometimes trainers feel too smart and what they say it's the only truth, but trainers working with vulnerable young people… They should think about this group, they should think how hard it is to do simple things… you need to be emphatic.

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—We always need to start our relationship with young people asking them: How areyou? How do you feel? A good mentor must also be able to make individual plans, in order to answer specific needs (both educational and work needs):

— Young people participate in individual interviews, in which they bring out their needs…

Thanks to this work of taking charge,there can be a redirection of the youngest with respect to what he wants. — The activities are conceived and organized starting from the needs of the beneficiary, in terms of schedules, time and space in which to carry out the activities. —For everyone we made an individual lesson program… for all our students I make individual programs. Duringthe interviews also emerged the importance to be creative.In fact, a good mentor must also be able to solve problems easily and to find new tools in order to answer emerging needs. The ability to listen is another expression used by partners to describe mentors'strengths: —What do you want?… If we ask that, it can open the routes… the youngest can really feel ‘I' m in charge here and they're helping me with the issues I have’ . —Which is your dream? How can we go closer to that?

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