Mentorship Philosophy

[delsaner]

Excellent description John. I loved it.

I cannot speak on behalf of a professional mentor, considering I do not have enough experience to state a possible philosophy. I have, however, thought about this topic before; Saying that, I have some thoughts as to what I personally (other people learn may think otherwise) think a good mentor should consist of, from a student standpoint.

*Material should be presented in a simple manner, and then later into further detail. You should not overload students with intermediate information, otherwise students may get too confused easily.

*Showing through example I feel is an efficient way of learning. Programming for example, it may be wise to show the students the entire code, how its written (the basics of programming), and then another day try to have the students write their own code. With examples, students can see physically how to do something, and it may be easier to follow than verbally describing the steps in order to complete a task.

*Learning should be fun, I do agree, but to a certain extent. Many teachers that I have learned a lot of information from have been strict and on point with their schedules, but they make the material fun. With making learning fun, you can reach out to kids, as previously stated, and tell them the true importance of what the material is. Students may also intake information better if it the environment is exceptional. With solely lecturing information, students may get bored easily, and won't express the interest that mentors may desire.

These are my thoughts. This is just my perspective.

[rsisk]

Wait, what?? We're supposed to be inspiring the students? I've had it backwards all these years.

[Valkyries_698]

this is a philosophy that I was taught as a student on a team. As a mentor now I still follow these four steps.

• Mentor Does - Student Watches
• Mentor Does - Student Helps
• Mentor Helps - Student Does
• Mentor Watches - Student Does

each student is going to need different times for each step, but try and have as much conversation(fum) as possible well working with the students.

[Rich Kressly]

Powerful thread here John. Thanks for starting it. I was struggling with how I wanted to answer this last night, so I slept on it. Then this AM, while searching for something else I stumbled upon a file I put together a few years back called "Pauschisms" which are quotes/excerpts taken from the late Randy Pausch's book and presentation titled The Last Lecture.

In general, and very honestly, I've come to learn that it's my life's work (regardless of what I might get "paid" to do) to inspire and enable dreams for as many people as possible on this planet in the most efficient way possible using the talents and energies I possess. With that in mind, some Pauschisms that heavily influence my mentoring...

Chapter 3 – “…when there’s an elephant in the room, introduce it.”
Chapter 4 … “Just because you’re in the driver’s seat, doesn’t mean you have to run people over.”
Chapter 5 … “Anybody out there who is a parent, if your kids want to paint their bedrooms, as a favor to me, let them do it. It’ll be OK. Don’t worry about the resale value on the house.”
Chapter 7 … “You’ve got to get the fundamentals down, because otherwise the fancy stuff is not going to work.”
Chapter 7 … “When you’re screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore, that means they’ve given up on you.”
Chapter 9 … “So what was Kirk’s skill set? Why did he get to climb on board the Enterprise and run it? … there is a skill set called “leadership.””
Chapter 9 … “I don’t believe in the no-win scenario.”
Chapter 11 … “The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something.”
Chapter 11 … there are right and wrong ways to say “I don’t know”, “I need more information”, etc

[JaneYoung]

In thinking about the mentorship philosophy, I determined first what it is not. It is not coaching. Coaching is directing a person or team towards a specific goal or purpose, using skills to achieve that goal or purpose. Mentoring is different. It is working with a person or group in ways that help the person or group develop in setting goals and striving towards success. Success can be in the forms of bettering oneself, clarifying goals/life goals, building a strong foundation on which to continue to grow and develop. Mentoring doesn't necessarily end when goals are achieved but can continue on by evaluating achievements and developing new goals. To me, it has potential of spiraling upwards through different levels of growth and development.

Tools used in mentoring would include communication, respect, goal setting, aha moments, and recognition of growth and development. Sometimes, the recognition does not come until later but it usually always shows itself. I think of the WFFAs and WFAs as proof of that.

Good thread, John. I hope you have many many posts from our valuable mentors.

Jane

[RoboMom]

Originally Posted by JaneYoung

In thinking about the mentorship philosophy, I determined first what it is not. It is not coaching.

I love FLL. But I've always been a little confused by the coach designation in that program. To me, there may be some coaching that happens in the course of mentoring, but they are different.

And FIRST then lumps the titles "Mentor/Coach" together for various purposes. Like they are interchangeable.

Anyway, I agree. They are not the same. Thanks for bringing this up!

I've got some input on mentoring, but would rather learn from others right now so will be following this thread closely.

[Rich Kressly]

I understand the coach comments, but all of my best coaches (sports, mostly) in life have been mentors. All of my mentors have not been coaches, though ... anyway back to the thread I want to read more from others here....

[Ken Patton]

John, I imagined you dropping your arm like the ref at a prize fight when you commanded us to "discuss"

Philosophy:
- convey the excitement and rewards of engineering by by trying to be a great engineer for the team
- try to set the bar high, because the best students will meet it
- try to support the students who are new and learning

Lessons:
- winning isn't everything - trying to win is the important thing
- by saying "we are trying to win" we are saying that we commit to preparing ourselves to win
- when we prepare ourselves to win, we must: be on time, support the team by doing our role, practice, work hard, and get good grades (A's not B's)
- if we have prepared ourselves to win .... we have won

- it may not be fair, but people who don't know you will judge you by your grades
- if you have below a 3.0, I can't hire you

- come back and see us so we can hear stories about what you have done

[Nikki Haux]

I would like to say that although I am not a mentor, I agree with all that has been said on this thread, particularly the parts about mentoring not being coaching. If all FIRST mentors and advisors followed this, students would get more out of the experience and teams as a whole would improve.