A “Curriculum of Hope”: Designing and Evaluating a Remote Mentoring Program for Pupils in a Pandemic

Purpose This paper reports the evaluation of an ongoing intervention, the GROW Programme, aimed at meeting the needs of 15–18-year-old pupils who were unable to attend school in England for periods during 2020–2021. The aim of the paper is to theorize the underlying basis of practice in such a lockdown context to inform future responses. Design/Approach/Methods Thematic analysis of a mixed-method evaluation, using surveys and interviews of teachers and mentors, and pupil focus groups, of the remote mentoring of pupils and their learning during lockdown, is further analyzed by means of Bernstein's knowledge codes, and his concept of open schools, to identify the form of knowledge inherent in online mentoring. Findings The analysis offers a framework for open schooling, valuable to schools in uncertain times, and identifies the shift to metacognition and self-regulated learning as having particular benefits for learning in disruption. Originality/Value The paper takes a novel view of disruption brought about by the partial closure of schools and offers a methodology for evaluating its effects by means of a unique intervention. It makes visible the characteristics and the potential benefits of alternative approaches, in order that schools can make informed choices.