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Giving 180 Degrees Trust's graduate students a voice : a study on an adventure-based and mentoring programme : a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Educational Psychology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
The
180
Degrees
Trust
offers
a
High
Country
Camps
and
Mentoring
programme
for
at--risk
youth
and
youth
offenders
in
Canterbury,
New
Zealand.
The
aim
of
this
study
was
to
examine
the
extent
to
which
graduate
students
believed
that
their
participation
in
the
180
Degrees
Trust’s
High
Country
Camps
and
Mentoring
programme
influenced
their
engagement
with
education,
employment
and
training
two
to
five
years
after
graduating
from
the
programme.
Using
a
qualitative
approach,
through
semi--structured
interviews,
four
participants’
views
of
their
lives
before,
during
and
after
their
time
with
the
180
Degrees
Trust
were
obtained.
Thematic
analysis
of
the
semi--structured
interviews
revealed
eight
salient
themes,
which
encapsulated
the
findings
from
this
study.
Participants
came
from
similar
troubled
backgrounds.
They
credited
the
support
from
staff
members,
their
mentors,
other
students
and
unique
experiences
as
helping
them
to
develop
greater
interpersonal
and
practical
skills.
Despite
participants
acknowledging
that
group
work
allowed
for
the
development
of
interpersonal
skills,
they
also
acknowledged
that
they,
at
times
struggled
with
the
dynamics
of
their
group,
in
particular
the
negative
influence
of
other
students’
behaviour.
After
graduating,
participants
adapted
their
new
skills
and
attitudes
to
gain
employment
or
return
to
education.
Participants
stated
that
they
would
have
benefited
from
ongoing
support
during
this
time.
Two
to
five
years
after
graduating,
participants
stated
that
their
participation
on
the
High
Country
Camps
and
Mentoring
programme
still
affects
them
in
their
daily
lives.
This
is
evidenced
through
their
development
of
relationships
and
their
employment
experiences.
There
is
a
paucity
of
in--depth,
participant
focused
research
on
the
long--term
outcomes
of
students
in
adventure--based
and
mentoring
programmes.
The
findings
of
this
study
suggest
that
more
research
also
needs
to
be
conducted
on
the
affect
of
group
dynamics
on
students
as
well
as
how
to
best
support
students
after
they
graduate
from
adventure--based
and
mentoring
prorgrammes.
