How can school mentors use coaching to help students think, take ownership and move forward?
Practise coaching skills for mentor conversations about students’ progress, motivation and concerns, with clear boundaries around advice, referral and adult responsibility.
A student comes to you worried, disengaged or unsure what to do next. You want them to think for themselves, but you also need to recognise when a situation calls for clear guidance, firm expectations or further support.
Those moments are part of everyday mentoring. They require more than good intentions. This course helps mentors listen well, ask questions that open up thinking and make sound professional decisions about what each student needs.
Help students own their next step, and get support when ownership is not enough.
Starts 5 April 2027
In person · Stockholm, Sweden · Venue to be confirmed
Starts 5 August 2027
In person · Stockholm, Sweden · Venue to be confirmed
Registering interest is free. A course run is confirmed once at least six participants have registered their interest. Until then, neither a place nor a course run is guaranteed. Booking terms →
Run the course with your own staff, on your own dates.
Day 1
We begin with the particular responsibility of mentoring: holding a relationship with students while noticing progress, motivation and concerns across school life. You examine the difference between coaching, advising, counselling and referral, then practise active listening, useful questions and purposeful summaries. Using realistic mentor scenarios, you work on helping students think more clearly and agree next steps they can own. The day also addresses the judgement mentors need: when coaching is useful, when an adult needs to be clear, and when a parent, colleague, specialist or safeguarding process must be involved.
Every course we run is built on what research says makes professional learning change practice. Here is what that looks like in this one.
Short inputs on the mentor role, boundaries and the difference between coaching, advice and referral.
Each participant chooses one type of mentor conversation to improve.
Paired conversation practice with observation and feedback, using realistic school situations.
An optional 45-minute online follow-up session 2–3 weeks later to work on real conversations.
EUR 250 per participant, incl. VAT
Facilitation and all course materials, a certificate of attendance, a selection of cultural activities in Stockholm, fika every day (tea, coffee, something baked and something healthy) and the optional online follow-up.
Meals, travel and accommodation.
Most courses run at our base in Vasastan, a few minutes' walk from Odenplan, with cafés and a park close by. We confirm the venue with each group before the course. Arlanda is about 40 minutes away by commuter train or airport coach, with no change needed. Between sessions there is time to walk by the water and reflect. We find people learn better that way.
Getting here and where we work →Marius Ketels is co-founder of The Nordic Learning Company, where he leads much of our work with companies and organisations, designing and facilitating programmes around leadership, teams and human performance.
View profile →You can move to another date or send a colleague at no cost. If you cancel more than four weeks before the start, we keep 30% of the fee; inside four weeks, we keep the full fee. If we cancel, you choose a full refund or another date.
No. Swedish mentor practice is the starting point, but the skills apply to tutors, advisers, pastoral leads and student-support staff. Roles and responsibilities differ between schools and countries, so participants apply the course to their own setting.
Participants are invited to a short online follow-up a few weeks later. It is a chance to reflect on using the approaches in real mentor conversations and refine what they do next.
What you’ll leave with
Practical coaching skills, useful questions and a clear sense of when to coach or refer.
Pairs well with
Creating better conversations, feedback, and staff development and growth in schools
Build a student-leadership programme that helps your school create meaningful routes for students to contribute.
Practical AI fluency and the professional judgement to decide where AI belongs in teaching and learning.
Writing from our team on the ideas behind this course.
EUR 250 per participant, incl. VAT
Starts 5 April 2027
