Format

Individual Presentation

First Presenter's Institution

North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University

First Presenter’s Email Address

kpalexander@ncat.edu

First Presenter's Brief Biography

Kendra P. Alexander, Ph.D, MSW, MPA is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Work and Sociology at North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University (NC A&T). She has over thirty years of experience in youth program design, implementation, and evaluation. Her research incorporates community-based participatory methods to examine the post-high school work and educational pathways of Black youth in urban and rural communities. She serves as Co-Investigator of the Nia Project (Nia), a Children Youth and Families At-Risk (CYFAR) Sustainable Community Project, funded by the United States Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Second Presenter's Institution

North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University

Second Presenter’s Email Address

bjmccullough@aggies.ncat.edu

Second Presenter's Brief Biography

Brianna McCullough, BSW is a student in the Advanced Standing Joint Master of Social Work (JMSW) program of NC A&T and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She is a 2023 graduate of NC A&T’s Bachelor of Social Work program and her interests include developing supportive and affirming school communities for Black girls. She is currently in her second year interning with Nia.

Third Presenter's Institution

North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University

Third Presenter’s Email Address

ndavis3@aggies.ncat.edu

Third Presenter's Brief Biography

Nikaizha Davis is a senior undergraduate student in the Bachelor of Social Work program at NC A&T. She is a first year intern with Nia and has prior experience with programs addressing food insecurity and refugee assistance.

Fourth Presenter's Institution

North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University

Fourth Presenter’s Email Address

pdclifford@aggies.ncat.edu

Fourth Presenter's Brief Biography

Patrick Clifford is a senior undergraduate student in the Bachelor of Social Work program at NC A&T. He is a first year intern with Nia and has extensive experience with youth as a coach and father of four.

Location

Session Four

Strand #1

Head: Academic Achievement & Leadership

Strand #2

Heart: Social & Emotional Skills

Relevance

This presentation addresses conference strands I and II, Head and Heart. The Nia model fosters relationships that aim to increase youths’ attachment to and engagement with school as precursors for academic success. Nia also prioritizes key aspects of social emotional learning, specifically social awareness and relationship skills.

Brief Program Description

In this session, undergraduate and graduate students from North Carolina A&T State University describe the genesis and evolution of an internship-based, community-academic partnership grounded in the concept of critical mentoring. As mentors with the Nia Project, interns support middle school students in critical exploration of post-high school pathways. Along with the supervising instructor, students identify key concepts and prerequisites for successful implementation.

Summary

College and career prep (CCP) is a major topic of mentoring programs for middle and high school students, with many programs targeting groups to address gendered and racialized gaps in access and representation in specific areas (e.g. girls in STEM). Within these programs, traditional means of addressing CCP via mentoring often involve “successful” adults sharing their experiences and expertise with youth, in hopes that the mentee may learn from and, in some manner, follow in their footsteps. In her guidebook, scholar-activist Dr. Torie-Weiston Serdan (2017) introduces critical mentoring as an alternative approach to traditional mentoring relationships, one rooted in emancipatory goals that extend beyond individual achievements.

Mentoring under the Nia Project (Nia), a grant-funded model being piloted in North Carolina, seeks to distinguish itself from traditional CCP and mentoring programs in key ways, and we highlight three during this presentation. First, the concept of CCP under Nia is intentionally broadened to engage mentees in critical exploration of post-high school pathways that are not limited to four-year college degrees. This includes exposure to community colleges and technical schools, skilled trades and apprenticeships, and other work-based experiences. Second, mentors, in this instance college students from minoritized backgrounds, comprise the predominant relational nexus of Nia. Under this scaffolded mentoring model, processes are rooted in critical pedagogy (Freire, 2000) where learning is bi-directional, youths’ cultural assets are affirmed, and youth voice is prioritized in determining mentoring goals and outcomes. Finally, “success” in Nia involves more than attainment of individual CCP achievements. Instead, mentees are also guided in examining structural and systemic barriers to opportunity and exploring solutions that could impact their community at-large. Youth participatory action research (YPAR) is a primary vehicle for achieving these collective goals.

Social work interns and faculty involved in implementation of Nia will share details about the concepts and theoretical frameworks informing the project and will offer practical insights gained from our ongoing process evaluation.

Freire, Paulo. (2000) Pedagogy of the Oppressed. 30th anniversary ed. Continuum.

Weiston-Serdan, T. (2017). Critical mentoring: A practical guide. Routledge.

Evidence

Critical consciousness is a key component of critical mentoring and is associated with numerous positive outcomes for minoritized youth, including stronger vocational identity and commitment (Diemer and Blustein, 2006), protective mental health effects for African American males (Zimmerman et al., 1999), adult occupational attainment (Diemer, 2009), and a buffer against the effects of racism (Gale et al., 2023).

Diemer, M. A. (2009). Pathways to occupational attainment among poor youth of color: The role of sociopolitical development. The Counseling Psychologist, 37, 6–35.

Diemer, M. A., & Blustein, D. L. (2006). Critical consciousness and career development among urban youth. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 68, 220–232.

Gale, A., Johnson, N. C., Golden, A., Channey, J., Marchand, A. D., Anyiwo, N., & Byrd, C. M. (2023). Reflecting on change: Critical consciousness as a protective factor for Black youth. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology. Advance online version. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000612

Zimmerman, M. A., Ramırez-Valles, J., & Maton, K. I. (1999). Resilience among urban African American male adolescents: A study of the protective effects of sociopolitical control on their mental health. American Journal of Community Psychology, 27, 733–751.

Learning Objective 1

Participants will be able to distinguish the concept of critical mentoring from traditional mentoring models.

Learning Objective 2

Participants will be able to explain how mentoring programs might incorporate critical mentoring to help youth from minoritized backgrounds explore post-high school pathways.

Learning Objective 3

Participants will be able to assess the capacity and readiness of their organization to implement an intern-based critical mentoring model.

Keyword Descriptors

mentoring, critical mentoring, critical consciousness, pathways, college and career, youth voice, youth adult partnership

Presentation Year

2024

Start Date

3-5-2024 8:30 AM

Download

Share

COinS
 
Mar 5th, 8:30 AM

Rethinking the mentor/mentee relationship: the critical mentoring approach in a North Carolina middle school

Session Four

In this session, undergraduate and graduate students from North Carolina A&T State University describe the genesis and evolution of an internship-based, community-academic partnership grounded in the concept of critical mentoring. As mentors with the Nia Project, interns support middle school students in critical exploration of post-high school pathways. Along with the supervising instructor, students identify key concepts and prerequisites for successful implementation.