The word mentor has come up regularly during my studies. And it is an important part of the profession that I am about to enter. Thinking back to my days at school, particularly those years in high school, my 'favourite' teachers were not only teachers, they were mentors.
"Mentoring is to support and encourage people to manage their own learning in order that they may maximise their potential, develop their skills, improve their performance and become the person they want to be." Eric Parsloe, The Oxford School of Coaching & Mentoring
I think this definition of mentoring is a very good one. It focuses on the student, not the teacher or mentor. The idea of mentoring is to allow someone to recognise these things on their own. To develop as a person. A mentor simply facilitates and assists in this process.
This concept of mentoring is more than being a good teacher. It is about assisting students to recognise their own potential. For them to grow and develop academically, physically and emotionally. This is something that I am looking forward to doing. To be a mentor I will need to have the students respect. I will need to have their trust. From this, the teacher/student relationship can be formed and then mentoring can begin.
Reference:
Eric Parsloe, The Oxford School of Coaching & Mentoring, Mentorset, What is Mentoring?, (2008), http://www.mentorset.org.uk/pages/mentoring.htm
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