Mentoring is a process of supporting others to develop through the provision of challenge, support, sharing relevant experiences and providing solutions.

Knowledge bank

Mentoring, as distinct from coaching, provides support and challenge for an individual or group from a mentor who has experience and expertise in the field in which they are helping.

Mentoring involves exploring perspectives, setting goals with the mentee and negotiating the agenda. The agenda for mentoring may well be set by the institution or might be more flexible.

On the whole mentoring tends to be provided rather than sought and is typically used for new teachers, and for those growing into new roles within the profession. Additionally, mentoring is often provided to learners who the school sees as needing support, i.e. they are in a particular group such as the C/D borderline.

Although mentoring is traditionally an advice-based helping process it is often combined with coaching and even counselling skills. In this way a blended approach to support is offered.

Mentoring can be seen as the provision of advice, guidance and suggested solutions; coaching as the unblocking of attitudes and empowerment; and counselling as exploring and acknowledging emotional responses to situations.

One model of mentoring suggests a three-step process:

• Exploration – where the mentor takes the lead, develops the relationship, clarifies the objectives and negotiates the agenda.
• New understanding – where the mentor listens and challenges, gives feedback, demonstrates skills and provides information and advice.
• Action planning – where the mentor examines options for action, negotiates and agrees action plans and monitors progress and outcomes.

The power relationship in mentoring is different to that of coaching. In mentoring there is a power difference created by the expectation that the mentor is experienced and has answers to problems. This can be efficient and effective in the early stages of a teaching career or in situations where individuals need direct suggestions to make progress.

Schools that offer mentoring to colleagues, parents or learners need to have clear policies in place to ensure the consistency and effectiveness of the process. A key element of this will be to evaluate (usually through questionnaires) the impact of the mentoring that has taken place.

Ask yourself

• How effective is the mentoring process in your school?
• How are mentors chosen, trained and monitored?
• How aware are people involved in helping others in one-to-one relationships of the differences between coaching and mentoring and to what extent do they blend the processes?
• What are your strengths as a one-to-one supporter of learning? What areas do you need to develop?

To do list

• Consider this briefing on mentoring and that of coaching. How would you characterize the support you offer to, a. colleagues b. learners c. parents?
• Seek permission to tape mentoring sessions and listen to your interactions with the mentee after the session. What are the strengths of your intervention? What would you change? How will you make those changes?
• Appraise your skills using the tape and seek further support from colleagues, by engaging in learning conversations about supporting others.
• Consider and plan your CPD needs in relation to mentoring and coaching for the coming year.

Popularity: unranked [?]