Mentor Roles

[Citrus Dad]

Lots of good discussion here, but I'll two points that I haven't seen yet:

1) Students on the team are by definition not yet adults. And in fact, they have not yet developed adult-level judgement. One of the roles for mentors is to be the adult in the room. Sometimes that means reminding students of the facts in the situation and potential consequences of their interpretation. It also means that mentors must make adult judgments on safety and the course of instruction.

2) Mentors generally represent the institutional memory of the team. No student is likely to be on a team longer than 4 years and probably less. If a mentor is not a member of the team, how is that institutional memory to be passed on. Students tend to underestimate the value of wisdom and experience (see (1) above!).

The bottom line is that I see the loss of a mentor from a team more consequential than the loss of a disgruntled student team member. Don't be afraid to assert your role and importance.