THE TRAINING PROJECT OF THE VOLUNTEER MENTORS FOR NOVICES IN THE METTADHAMMA PROJECT IN THE LAO PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC: LESSONS LEARNED

Abstract

This qualitative research aimed to extract lessons learned from a training project of volunteer mentors for novices in the Mettadhamma Project in the Lao People's Democratic Republic. Data were collected through the method of in-depth interviews with the project’s head and experienced instructors. The total number of informants was eight, comprising four monks and four laypersons. Data were also collected through a focus group with the project’s participants. The total number of discussants was eight, comprising four monks and four novices. The data were analyzed using the method of content analysis to extract retrospective lessons learned. The analysis showed four groups of lessons, that is, (1) lessons on project management (2) lessons on volunteer training (3) lessons on teamwork, and (4) lessons on novice mentoring. Each of these four groups of lessons comprised its own lesson learned as follows. (1) Lessons on project management consists of lessons about coordination and team working. (2) Lessons on volunteer training consist of lessons about volunteers’ motivation, characteristics, and training. (3) Lessons on teamwork consists of lessons about leadership and working in teamwork. (4) Lessons on novice mentoring consist of lessons about skills in instruction and handling problematic novices. A recommendation from this research is for the training project of volunteer mentors for novices in the Mettadhamma Project to use the above lessons as a basis to develop a system, mechanisms, and operation for the future implementation of the project.

Keywords: Lessons Learned;  Volunteer;  Mentorship