Development of Personal Qualities in Student-Mentors through Guiding Student Self-development Groups

The phenomenon of personal transformation of student mentors in the process of their activity on support of peer self-development groups is considered. This work focuses not on the process of experience transfer, but on the refl exive infl uence of mentoring, on how it becomes a development tool for the mentor himself. Based on the qualitative analysis of data obtained during the study conducted at the Novgorod State University named after Yaroslav the Wise, the key vectors of changes in the personal profi le of student mentors are described: development of refl exive abilities, growth of self-confi dence, strengthening of the subjective position and formation of systemic responsibility. The psychological and pedagogical mechanisms underlying these transformations are revealed and analyzed, the central role is given to the practice of self-deve lopment as the main tool of professional growth and refl ection. It is concluded that peer mentoring, organized according to the model of “training – practice – supervision”, is an eff ective pedagogical technology that ensures the development of not only the mentees, but also the mentors themselves, implementing in practice the eff ect of “learning through learning”.