4. In which ways is the initiative creative and innovative?
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The mentoring program primarily sought to improve the scholastic ability of youths from low-income households. The district launched the program “Dream Start!” in 2009. The program involves one-on-one mentoring between college students and disadvantaged children and adolescents in primary, middle, and high schools. Specifically, the program offered two 2-hour sessions per week and one cultural activity session per month. So far, 100 youths on the average have received the mentoring benefits a year. Besides, the district office signed a memorandum of understanding with “Teach for Korea,” an organization dedicated to educational volunteer services, in 2012. In the conference hall of the district office, the organization offers free tutoring services to about 50 young students in the district. Furthermore, the district office launched the “Han-Jung-In Project” named after three high schools in the district - Hanseong, Jungang, and Inchang. The program offers free high-quality after-school education to outstanding students from low-income families. The district office pays for all the expenses. The three schools have joined hands and dispatched their best instructors in each major subject to the program.
The school bullying prevention program being implemented in the district is aimed at not just preventing school bullying but also discouraging young kids from getting involved in any type of juvenile delinquencies by providing troubled youths with all the necessary psychological support. The district office established a close cooperative network with the Office of Education, the local police department, and civic organizations in the district and organized the “Local Council against School Violence.” The district office also had an ordinance enacted at the district council regarding the prevention of school violence and countermeasures for such. The ordinance requires all schools to set up their own preventive measures against school violence. For students having a hard time adjusting to school life, the district office launched the “Peaceful School Project,” which offers both arts & humanities education and professional counseling. For victims of school bullying, the district embarked on the “Building a Happy School Project,” which offers professional treatment and counseling by psychiatrists and clinical psychologists.
-March 2009: Launched “Dream Start!” a mentoring program in which college students tutor adolescents from low-income households
-March 2012: Established the “Local Council against School Violence” with the relevant institutions
-October 2012: Expanded the mentoring program through collaboration with “Teach for Korea.”
-November 2012: Enacted an ordinance on the prevention of and countermeasures for school violence
-January 2013: Launched the “Building a Happy School Project” and the “Peaceful School Project” designed to prevent school bullying
-March 2013: Agreement between the district office and the Kochon Foundation, a public welfare foundation, signed for mentoring services to middle school students from low-income families
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5. Who implemented the initiative and what is the size of the population affected by this initiative?
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Youths from low-income households are the primary beneficiaries of the initiative. The youths get free after-school education. Equally important is the fact that they spend time with those who can be their role models. They also get involved in cultural activities. They can get through a vulnerable stage in their life safely. Proud of their improving scholastic performance the youths steer clear of bullying and violence. On the other hand, mentors feel proud because they have contributed to the young and the local community. The service experience makes them pay attention to social services. It is a very promising step toward overall social development in the country. Through the initiative, the Seodaemun-gu office and participating universities in the district have made significant contributions to the stability and development of the district, which is turning into a more comfortable place to live in.
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6. How was the strategy implemented and what resources were mobilized?
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The most important element in the initiative was human resources. For the mentoring project to succeed, it was crucial to secure college students who were both bright and good-natured. Since there are top-quality universities in the district, securing highly qualified mentors was not that difficult. After selecting qualified university students through due screening procedures, the universities offered training in tutoring and mentoring techniques to have them fully ready to function as teachers and mentors. For education on school violence at schools, the district office hired top-tier instructors based on the recommendations of the relevant educational institutions and civil society.
Mentoring is mostly offered in the form of talent donation. To enhance the effects, however, the district office has allocated an average annual budget of 360 million won for the youths’ stationery and cultural activities. Mentors each receive a scholarship of around 5 million won a year. (1USD = 1,050won) The money is provided by the universities. For educational programs to prevent school violence, the district office spends about 1.87 billion won each year on instructors’ salaries and operating costs.
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7. Who were the stakeholders involved in the design of the initiative and in its implementation?
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The biggest output of the mentoring program was the sharply improved scholastic ability of the youths who participated in the program. According to the results of a survey, 70% of the mentors made improvements in either mathematics or English as the two major subjects of mentoring. The analysis of the College Scholastic Ability Test administered by the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation shows that Seodaemun-gu rose to the 17th spot in 2012 and to 11th place in 2013 nationally in mathematics from outside the top 30 in 2011. Young students were able to develop their personality through their regular participation in cultural activities, too.
The district has implemented the “Peaceful School Project,” which offers both arts & humanities education and counseling services to 850 students in 6 schools. According to a survey, the participants’ response has been very positive. Through the “Building a Happy School”, the district has offered 235 counseling sessions to 44 students and training on the prevention of school violence to a total of 117 teachers. As a consequence, the relevant students’ K-YSR (Korean Youth Self-Report) indicators dropped from 15.02 to 12.55; this means that their psychological distress, depression, nervousness, and aggressiveness as well as their various physical symptoms such as atrophy have improved a lot.
Seodaemun-gu could make remarkable achievements with little additional spending by promoting the initiative through collaboration with the private sector. Participating universities could boost their reputation through their contributions to the local community. They could also secure higher annual university rankings from the Ministry of Education due to their participation in the initiative. Participating middle and high schools could also prevent school violence, one of the biggest social issues in Korea. The Han-Jung-In Project, an alliance of three high schools in the district to improve the scholastic performance of youths from low-income families, has continued to yield promising results.
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8. What were the most successful outputs and why was the initiative effective?
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The mentoring program in the district has adopted the supervisor system. Every ten mentors have a supervisor a graduate student who receives monthly progress reports from the mentors, gives advice, and solves any and all problems immediately. The supervisors also keep in touch with the relevant officials of the district office, make evaluations of the mentors under their supervision, and take the necessary measures together. One-on-one mentoring may sometimes be unproductive. Supervisors make sure that this doesn’t occur and tangible results for all the parties concerned are brought about. In the program designed to prevent school violence, K-YSR and surveys are conducted to measure outcomes for the among participants in the program. In collaboration with the relevant schools, the district office ensures that the effects of education on school bullying will continue to bear fruit with a continuous reduction in frequency and intensity of school bullying.
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9. What were the main obstacles encountered and how were they overcome?
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The most visible obstacle to the initiative was finding partners to promote the initiative together. For mentoring services, universities were reluctant to participate because they had to find volunteer students and offer them scholarships. As a result of the compelling persuasion efforts of the head of the district office, however, Yonsei University, one of the most prestigious universities in Korea, agreed to join the initiative was the first university to do so. For the program designed to prevent school violence, middle and high schools were hesitant to participate in the initiative. They thought participating in the initiative would be tantamount to admitting that school bullying was a huge problem at their schools. The district office persuaded them that opening up would be much better in the fight against school violence. Convinced, schools ended up participating in the initiative one by one.
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