Mentoring, moving forward
It’s a breath of fresh air to be planning extra activities for the Mentoring Program, which has been a bit quiet all last year because of the pandemic.
First, we’re delighted that IPEd has taken over much of the administrative aspects of the program — the first stage of implementing the recommendations of the review we conducted last year — leaving us to concentrate on what we do best: improving the program and helping area coordinators to do the same. For a start, here’s a reminder of what mentoring is about:
It’s not teaching, coaching, tutoring, counselling — it might include aspects of all of those, but it’s basically about guiding a mentee towards achieving a specific goal and being a friendly ally in the mentee’s aims. The mentee drives the mentorship: helps set the boundaries, defines the objectives, tells the mentor what they want to achieve over a number of interactive sessions. The mentor needs some skill and knowledge in the area the mentee is interested in, and is willing to share it.
Second, we’re planning to expand the program, along the lines recommended in the IPEd review. Some things we’re looking at are:
- longer and shorter mentorships, while retaining the present format
- different styles of mentorship, including ‘reverse’, ‘reciprocal’ and ‘speed dating’ mentorships
- developing liaisons with other mentoring programs around the world.
Third, we want to hear from you, through your branch Mentoring Coordinator or directly to us, if you have any ideas or suggestions for improvement to the program. If you want to know more about the program and might be interested in becoming either a mentee or a mentor, we’d love to hear from you. You can contact us at mentorship@iped-editors.org.
Fourth, and this is the icing on the cake: workshops are returning. We had to suspend them last year, but our first for 2021 will be for mentors, prospective mentors, new mentors who haven’t attended a workshop and area coordinators and IPEd admin staff who have joined our team in the past 12 months. It will be on Tuesday 18 March and we need your expression of interest ASAP. There will be further workshops (all free and by Zoom) during the year.
Fifth, there’s been some movement among our coordinators. Sadly, Kate Horgan has had to step down as the ACT Coordinator, but we’re delighted to welcome Kaaren Sutcliffe AE in her place. And we’re super delighted to welcome Cheryl Bettridge AE as our new Coordinator from WA.
And sixth, it gives us great pleasure to withdraw a statement we made in our last Gatherings report, that Elizabeth Murphy DE was stepping down as a joint Chair of the program. Elizabeth is now continuing in the role, for which we’re all pleased.
Ted Briggs AE and Elizabeth Manning Murphy DE
Joint Chairs, IPEd Mentoring Program