Coaching and mentoring

A flexible and dynamic curriculum needs supportive structures that help students move through the school years to ensure holistic learning outcomes and transparent performance documentation.

Coaching

As part of onboarding, all students are connected with a coach to begin an intensive reflection on where they are in their personal development. What are their dreams? What do they enjoy doing? Where do they want to go?

From then on, each learning session begins with an in-depth conversation between student and coach. Together, they set holistic goals and determine the milestones on their way there (OKRs). During the course of the unit, there are scheduled weekly meetings between the student and the coach to reflect on the previous week and plan for the next week. The focus is on successes/failures, learning methods and management, motivation, and well-being in an ‘Anticipation - Action - Reflection’ (AAR) cycle. The learning unit is concluded with an extensive 360° feedback session. For this, the coach invites all stakeholders (students, parents, friends, teachers). The learning successes are presented, and the goals and milestones (OKRs) set at the beginning are compared again with the real progress through guiding questions. Were all goals achieved? If not, what was the reason? Where does the student stand in terms of our key competencies? How can we better implement the next learning unit? Here the seeds are already sown for the next learning unit, the next goals, and milestones.

The coach is there for the academic as well as personal development, which is of course consciously seen in the systemic environment. The coach’s questions are critical, but they are also there to work on the really deep things with the students, to promote their self-knowledge and self-reflection, and to discover their strengths.

At the same time, you navigate the organizational design of your curriculum with the coach. The class book gives way to a personal digital logbook where each student has their own profile and can access learning materials. At a glance, students, teachers, and parents discover what the children and young people are currently learning and where they stand. Here, students digitally organize their learning unit, access their coach's feedback and can get in touch with him or her. At the same time, they also have insight into their classmates' projects and their learning path. With one click, they can write to a classmate who is working on the same math level in order to collaborate.

Mentoring

All members of the school community work toward growth, development, or learning goals as part of lifelong learning in a learning school. The mentee-mentor relationship is designed to establish trusting, nurturing relationships that support children and youth in their individual development of potential.

In order to arrive well in the school community and to understand processes, learning concepts and school organization and to experience help and support, all students of X-School receive a mentor as part of the onboarding process. At the beginning of the school period, maximum support is given to the child so that he/she can get accustomed to the school culture. While in the graduation process the learner is entitled to increased freedom, more self-determination and more participation, analogously the learning journey becomes more and more individual and self-determined. Beginning in Sek II, learners determine which directions they want to pursue based on their strengths and interests (e.g., art, math, languages, computer science, or natural science.) Along the path of this individual development of potential, the X-School provides each learner with a mentor as an expert from the respective field. The mentor can assist the student with knowledge, internship opportunities, contacts and valuable tips. Additionally, the mentor provides feedback on the learner's work, arranges contacts and offers workshops.

All mentees and mentors inside and outside the organization are published in the internal X-School platform. Mentor and mentee must sign a binding agreement with each other each year stating what goals the mentee is working on and how their collaboration is structured.