All About Juvenile Mentoring Programs

Guiding young people toward a better life can be a rewarding experience, but it
can be a difficult and harrowing experience as well. Many young persons are not
necessarily open to being guided, and will often protest that they are shackled
and constrained especially when someone insists on being the wiser being over
them. Young persons need to be approached in a certain manner, and with a
certain mien and creativity that should not go overboard into cuteness or
cheesy lines. In other words, young persons need to know that they have someone
to talk to, and in the process, they can still be guided.

It is in this league that juvenile mentoring programs operate. The process of
mentoring involves matching mentors to a suitable younger person who need an
adult who is responsible and caring. The adult mentors that participate in
juvenile mentoring programs are usually not related to the teen or the child in
question; this is because relatives are not often perceived with trust,
especially where children of broken homes or abusive parents are concerned. The
adult mentors that participate in juvenile mentoring programs are also usually
volunteers who work through a program that is sponsored by the local community;
a local school or community college; or the local church or religious group.

The mentoring process may be either formal or informal. In formal mentoring,
the juvenile mentoring program has certain criteria to match mentors to their
proteges, and these criteria are determined by social service workers, social
psychologists, psychiatrists, and other experts who are working with the local
community or the state. Formal mentoring might even involve a regimented
schedule around which the mentoring will progress, where the mentor will be
provided modules in order to guide the proteges or youth that are assigned to
them.

Informal mentoring can also be done in a juvenile mentoring program. In this
case, the criteria are not as stringent, and there are no set deadlines or
schedules around which the mentoring will operate. Instead, the mentor will
simply aim to educate and encourage the mentee, protege, or youth to whom he or
she is assigned. In some cases, there may be more than one mentee to a mentor,
and it is these support groups that likewise help each other succeed.

There are many juvenile mentoring programs that are available around the world.
For instance, there are after-school programs in which youth leaders help
younger persons succeed in the world by teaching them different skills,
knowledge, and even arts and crafts that are meant to impart independence and
creativity. Such organizations might include the local 4-H or FFA. There are
also programs in which young delinquents are assigned to mentors who will help
them get a better education. Moreover, there are programs in which at-risk
youth, such as those in inner cities or in the ghettos, are helped by mentors
who will help them overcome their personal limitations and thus succeed in life.

Some juvenile mentoring programs might include the Big Brothers Big Sisters of
America, which helps youth do better through the help of older teens or young
adults. There are still many other juvenile mentoring programs that are being
developed, especially now that there are also many different kinds of dangers
to which youth may fall into. Such dangers may include drugs, smoking,
pornography, and even the Internet, where children may be preyed upon if they
are not wise and careful enough.

If you want to find out more about juvenile mentoring programs, look online for
programs that may either help you as a mentee, or train you as a mentor. You
too, can help the younger generation do better in the years to come.

The Concepts of Mentoring, Coaching, and Directing

Being a guide for someone is definitely not an easy task. You have to be
experienced and wise enough to be able to share knowledge and wisdom, and
moreover, you need to be able to know how to share your knowledge and wisdom
well enough in order to be completely understood. You also have to know how to
approach people, how to empower and encourage them, and how to make them feel
better about themselves without babying them. You also have to tread the fine
line between cloistering people and keeping them away from the wrong path in
life, while still giving them the chance to learn on their own by making a few
mistakes on their way to greatness.

There are many different ways that you can be a guide to a potential follower,
and it all depends on what you aim to do, as well as on how control you are
willing to exert. There are three main paths that you may want to take as the
guide, and you can do this through mentoring, coaching, or directing. Although
these three different types of guidance are often mixed together or
interchanged in both conversation and media, there are actually subtle
differences amongst them that you need to understand and explore.

In mentoring or mentorship, you are dealing with a relationship between a
mentor, who is more experienced, knowledgeable, and wise; and a protege, who is
less experienced, probably (but not always) younger, and sometimes flighty and
uncertain. A mentor will often be more prominent than the protege, or more
skilled in a particular field. The mentor is then the teacher of the protege,
and serves as the guide for the protege to do better in the field. Most often,
a mentor will teach by example on the job itself: for instance, a mentor opera
singer will have a protege who the opera singer will take on while the opera
singer is at the peak of his or her career, and while the protege is just
starting out. By emulating the opera singer, the protege will hopefully succeed
one day as well.

On the other hand, coaching refers to a guidance process in which a person,
acting as a leader, oversees a group of persons, or sometimes even a single
person, with the aim of achieving a goal. Coaching differs from mentoring in
that a coach will often be out of or done with his or her career already, and
will therefore be teaching a younger generation based on his or her
experiences. Another difference between coaching and mentoring is that coaching
often has only a single goal in mind, while mentoring might be more abstract and
widespread in its aims.

Coaching is most popularly seen in sports teams, where a person who has once
been a good player is now helping other players to succeed in their game, and
with the aim of as many victories as possible for the team. Another popular
coaching technique is that of life coaching. In this case, a person is not
necessarily dead done with life, and coming back to teach the living. Instead,
a person is already successful enough and is probably ready for retirement, but
is coaching other people in making their lives start to work. In a variant of
life coaching, a person who has already faced all of his or her fears can also
coach persons who are still living in fear, helping them to get over their
anxieties and emerge as better people.

Lastly, the process of directing involves the instruction of a higher person to
that of a lower person. In the mentor and protege relationship, the mentor acts
as a guide, not as someone who makes orders; a guide will steer a student
through to the right path, but not point it out directly. In the coach and team
relationship, the coach acts as an encouraging person, and even as a trainer,
but not as someone who directly tells the team what to do. In directing, a
boss-employee relationship would be closer in definition, especially when the
higher person is ordering the lower person on how exactly to live his or her
life.

Saving At-Risk Youth by Mentoring

The youth, it is said that they are the hope of the new generation. But what
happens if at an early age they fall victim and/or exposed to a society that is
plagued by racial discrimination, use of illegal drugs, pornography that led to
rape and unwanted pregnancies, robberies, gang wars in schools that cause death
by shootouts, and to many to mention and indeed very depressing. This is the
society that youth today see everyday. It is a reality and a sad fact that we
must accept as part of our daily lives. What can we do to lessen the effects of
the ills of society to our youth? Saving at-risk youth by mentoring may just be
the answer, it may not eradicate the problem at once, but it is a start.

Mentoring our children does make a huge difference. It is a way to reintroduce
a positive regular activity by a grown-up to a child. Children who are mentored
while growing up are unlikely to succumb to using illegal drugs, unlikely to
start depending on alcohol, and unlikely to miss out school. If we incorporate
mentoring in our home, school and even the church it can, and it will help
greatly in decreasing the cause and effect of suspension due to the use of
illegal drugs, crimes related to drugs, babies born who are drug affected and
possibly more. It is just a matter of how we really want to help eradicate the
problems of our youth.

At-risk children badly need the guidance and friendship that youth mentors
give. A child will definitely yearn for adult support when faced with parent's
divorce, family heartbreaks, and financial troubles. These children need
mentoring with their family problems, school works, peer pressures or just
someone who would listen and give an unwavering support.

Regrettably, teachers in school who teach at a crowded classroom will have no
time to provide individual attention. Guidance counselors are very busy too,
because they deal with the whole population of the school. Most of the time
guidance counselors can only give less than four hours of career guidance to a
student in their four years in high school (that is just like one hour a
year!). There are millions of at-risk young children who desperately need
mentoring. Nowadays, communities are seriously looking into setting-up programs
for volunteer youth mentors, because they see and understand that need to help
these children cope up with their daily lives.

At-risk children who are guided by an efficient role model mentor are more than
likely to have a progressive educational performance, self-esteem, good
decision-making traits, and a sense of fitting in. Youth who enters mentoring
programs will be inclined to have good interactions with their teachers,
parents and other siblings as well as their peers. They will also be more
inspired to focus on their studies and eventually finish their schooling.

A youth mentor assists at-risk children in setting up their goals and
ambitions, resolve their personal problems, and make appropriate decisions and
choices in life. However, youth mentors are not there to replace what a parent
can give to their children. Youth mentors are simply there to give help and be
role models for at-risk children. Simple and easy activities like doing school
assignments and projects, going to parks and museums, engaging in some sports
and playing games, and doing art and crafts projects is enough for a child who
is more that eager to be guided and to feel a sense of security that they are
protected from the evils that lurk in the dark. In the end saving at-risk youth
by mentoring will have a great impact in the society we live in for years to
come.

Teacher Mentoring Defined: Uses, Advantages and Limitations

For many professionals, such as those involved in education and academics,
mentoring is an important resource, particularly because it helps encourage new
learnings and improve on established ones. Mentoring is a highly valued practice
and it is a recognized method used by many educators for sharing information and
knowledge. It is also a way for more senior members of the academe to train
beginners, allowing proteges to be sponsored both professionally and
organizationally.

The purpose of teacher mentoring

Teacher mentoring involves the pairing of a beginning teacher with a teacher
who has more experience. Sometimes, the pairing can involve one or more new
teachers or a group of more experienced teachers, depending on the perceived
need of the beginning teacher/s and the goals of the organization.

The purpose of teacher mentoring is not only to build a mentor-protege
relationship between two or more individuals but also to provide support for
the new teacher. This will help establish the teacher's confidence, allow them
to settle into the organization immediately and maximize their effectiveness as
instructors.

Mentoring can also help establish an educational system's quality standard,
allowing a school to ensure compliance with prevailing benchmarks. It is also
helpful in the recruitment and retention of new staff.

As a process, teacher mentoring may be used formally, such as when a school
wishes to implement particular programs or informally, where no programs are in
place. Either way, it can benefit a system if the program is implemented
correctly.

Benefits of teacher mentoring in education

Teacher mentoring is one of the best interactive systems that mentors, mentees
and the educational system can actively participate in. It helps create a
quantitative program to help train new teachers, develop more experienced
educators and improve the techniques and methods used in instruction. It also
helps build a sense of community within the school and help it comply with
existing standards.

Limitations of teacher mentoring

Teacher mentoring has its benefits and has been acknowledged as very
advantageous especially for beginners. However, it has its list of
disadvantages. In 1996, teacher mentoring was criticized as a means with which
to promote practices and norms that are deemed too conventional. Critics say
that most teacher mentoring programs encourage participants to learn and
implement outdated practices. Teacher mentoring participants may also risk
picking up bad habits as demonstrated by their mentors.

The lack of trust and follow-up can also spell a huge difference in teacher
mentoring programs. If the system cannot be assessed or evaluated properly, it
is easy for the program to fail. An ineffective evaluation system can also
frustrate the mentor, especially if the system is too saddled with details and
other unnecessary activities.

Implementing an effective teacher mentoring program

The most important consideration when implementing a teacher mentoring program
for an educational institution is determining its match to the goals and
objectives of the school system. Choosing the type of mentoring programs that
are appropriate to the grade level of the teacher mentee is also essential. If
there is a fit, it is easier for the program to be designed and put into
practice. It is also important that the processes and methods are clear and
specific, something that can be quantified and measured, to allow
administrators to determine whether the program works or not.

It is also important that the teacher mentoring program receives sufficient
support from the school management and that sufficient resources are provided
for the participants. Without support from the administration, a mentoring
program will be difficult to sustain if it is run independently of the
institution. Appropriate methods for assessment of the program is also
important, to allow the organization to determine if it is effective or if
there is a need to improve certain aspects.

A Definition of Mentoring

When people say that "no man is an island," they don't only mean that no man or
woman should live alone. That much-used phrase also refers to the fact that men
and women are perpetually learning creatures: they need the help of someone to
guide them through life, and to help them make wise decisions. Moreover, as
these same men and women grow older, they also have the chance to be a guide
for someone who is younger and less experienced than they. This need for people
to feel connected, loved, and taught by someone better than they are has given
rise to different concepts such as mentoring.

Mentoring, or the process of mentorship, is really a growing, strengthening
bond that occurs between a mentor, who is more experienced, not necessarily
older, but who is certainly wiser; and his or her protege, a mentee or someone
who is less experienced and wise, and who therefore needs to be guided by the
mentor. The concept of mentorship has long been known and tracked in history.
In fact, it was Homer's Odyssey that first gave rise to the term "mentor"
through its character called Mentor, who, despite the fact that he is presented
as a somewhat debilitated old man, is actually used by Athena, the Goddess of
Wisdom, to guide Odysseus' son Telemachus through a difficult time in the young
man's life.

The concept of mentorship also takes various forms in different cultures and
periods of history. The Ancient Greeks had the concept of pederasty, in which
teachers could hone young men to greatness. The Hindu and Buddhist religions
have the concept of the guru, where a wise, religious man serves as the
spiritual guide of someone who is misguided or who needs to know the Truth. In
Judaism and Christianity, the concept of discipleship forms both history and
current practice, as clergy or deeply spiritual people guide their respective
flocks or followers. Lastly, in the medieval guilds, an economic system was
built in order for apprentices to learn from guild masters and thus ensure the
longevity of their respective crafts.

There are many famous mentor-protege relationships in history. Take, for
instance, the triplet of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, three great minds in
philosophy who actually preceded each other. That is, Socrates was the mentor
of Plato, and Plato was the mentor of Aristotle. Aristotle was even the mentor
of Alexander the Great. The Christian faiths owe a good deal of their spread to
the letters and preaching of St. Paul. In the music industry, the rapper Dr. Dre
is mentor to younger rappers Eminem and Snoop Dogg. In the movie industry, the
famous and late British actor Sir Laurence Olivier served as mentor for
multi-awarded actor Sir Anthony Hopkins.

Even fiction has its own share of mentors and proteges. There are the Jedi
knights of the famous Star Wars epics, where Qui-Gon Jinn mentors Obi-Wan
Kenobi; when Qui-Gon Jinn dies, Obi-Wan Kenobi takes on Anakin Skywalker; Luke
Skywalker, Anakin's son, is mentored by Yoda. The master-padawan relationship
in the Star Wars series is actually akin to that of a mentor and protege, not
so much fighting or sparring partners.

In the employment arena, there are also mentoring programs to help employees do
better. For instance, in new-hire mentorship, new employees are taken on by
experienced persons in the company in order for them to work better and be
accustomed to the company culture and climate. In high-potential mentorship on
the other hand, existing employees that show promise are taken on by
experienced persons who may be interested in seeing them progress higher
through the company hierarchy.

These are only a few facts that are associated with mentoring. There are many
mentoring and mentorship programs available, and you can find out more about
them through the Internet.

The Concepts of Coaching and Mentoring

Guiding people through the right way through life can be a daunting task for
any person who is tasked to do it. A person who has to do the guiding has a lot
of delicate balances to strike: he or she has to be strong enough to reprimand
the person who is following him or her when that follower is not being obedient
or is straying from the right path; on the other hand, he or she has to
sometimes allow the follower the chance to stray, so that the follower can gain
experience and thus be much wiser. There are many different things that a person
has to do to guide his or her follower or followers, and these concepts of
guidance are covered under coaching and mentoring.

The process of mentoring involves the relationship and bonding between master
and pupil, a togetherness that is more commonly referred to as mentor and
protege. A mentor is someone who may sometimes be older, but who is certainly
more knowledgeable, more wise, and perhaps even more serene and settled than
what might predictably be a less knowledgeable, less wise, and flighty protege.
The mentor's task is to be the guide for the inexperienced protege: as the
protege learns more and more from the mentor, the protege is farther thrust
into greatness.

The mentor-protege relationship has long existed in history, and has been
glorified by pop media. There are also many different mentor-protege
relationships in the modern world. For instance, when an employee first enters
a company or business, he or she is adopted by someone who has been in the
company or business for a long while. Because a new employee might experience
culture shock, or might not be prepared for the rigors of the current
workplace, the mentor serves as a buffer and guide through how the company or
business operates, making the transition easier for the protege.

Still in line with workplace relationships, an existing employee might show
potential as someone who could one day lead, or who could move on and be great
elsewhere. In this case, a person experienced in the company could informally
take on this employee and be his or her mentor. In this relationship, the
mentor will teach the protege the necessary skills to advance in the workplace,
so that one day, the protege might perhaps take the mentor's place, advance
elsewhere in the hierarchy, or move on to another company and do even better.

The concept of coaching, on the other hand, is quite different from that of
mentoring. In coaching, a method is employed in which a leader or overseer
directs the movements of a person or a group of persons. In coaching, the
instruction and training given are done with a definite end goal in mind. The
methods of directing people's movements and thought process might include
giving motivational talks. There are also ways to train people in order to make
them perform better, such as through seminars or workshops, or through practice,
such as those done by sports teams.

In mentoring, a mentor teaches a protege how to live better or how to function
better. In coaching, perhaps better seen as a more specific method of
mentoring, the coach guides his or her team in order for them to meet an end
goal. For sports coaches, this will mean victory in a game. For marriage
coaches, this will mean a stronger marital bond. For family coaches, this will
mean a stronger familial bond, between parents and children, and sometimes,
amongst the children themselves.

There are many different kinds of mentoring and coaching, as well as different
techniques associated with each. For more information, you can talk to
professional mentors and coaches, or do more research online.

Youth The Concepts Behind Christian Mentoring

The process of guiding and mentoring people is a highly delicate one: mentors
need to be able to allow their proteges to progress and get out of their
shells, but they have to strike the balance between directing the movements of
their followers while still allowing these fledglings time to find the strength
of their own wings and fly with their own will. One such form of mentoring is
Christian mentoring, in which a Christian looks after a protege who may or may
not be a Christian, but who will benefit from the strength and wisdom of the
older or more experienced person.

One such mentoring relationship, at least in the Christian sense, is that
between a senior pastor and his junior. The former will guide the younger in
speaking the voice of God, and in bringing a sense of unity and Christian
goodness to a flock. Another such Christian mentoring relationship is that
between parents and children, where Christian parents have to guide their
children in following the Christian way of living. Christian mentoring,
therefore, is the passing down and sharing of knowledge and wisdom by someone
who is an expert in a field, and with the precepts and principles of
Christianity guiding the mentor and protege.

In general, Christian mentoring programs will help people guide those who are
younger than they in living a Christian way of life. Some mentoring programs
will even exhort would-be or aspiring mentors to do two things at the onset:
find a good mentor who will pass down knowledge and get an aspiring mentor
started on good living and good Christian teachings; and, at nearly the same
time, find a protege who might benefit from your teaching and wisdom further
down the line. Once these two persons are identified, a would-be or aspiring
mentor is exhorted to be as creative as possible in meeting such people. These
meetings might be as simple as stopping over at someone's house, meeting over
for coffee, or having dinner together.

Another way for the mentor and protege to meet is through a shared hobby. Such
a hobby might include running, biking, writing poetry, reading books, or even
cooking. Despite the image of intense and sometimes alienating spirituality
attached to Christian mentoring, many Christian mentoring programs are actually
more about building a stronger relationship between mentor and protege. The
shared hobby may actually be a simple beginning: many mentors will share tasks
with their proteges, such as smaller jobs at one's office, training the protege
in various tasks, or simply listening to the protege talk.

What makes Christian mentoring unique, however, is its emphasis on things that
would otherwise make people appear vulnerable in the secular arena. For
instance, mentors and proteges are required to listen to each other intently,
and to avoid speaking about oneself as much as possible in order to learn
better. Second, mentors and proteges are required to be as real and as truthful
to each other as possible. Honesty is certainly the best policy in Christian
mentoring, and if a protege is feeling down, awkward, unwanted, or simply out
of sorts, he or she is encouraged to talk to his or her mentor and humbly ask
for guidance.

There are many different kinds of Christian mentoring programs out there. If
you need more information, talk to your local Christian pastor, or do research
over the Internet. Many such mentoring programs also have their own websites
and mailing lists that can make it easier for you to read about their
activities and enroll in their program.

Mentoring: A Glue that Binds African Traditions

When the subject of conversation turns to rich culture and traditions, Africa
would definitely be a part of that discussion. And with the voyage of Africans
to the Great Americas, these people have endured so much -- poverty,
discrimination, racism and numerous other attacks. The society, as it seemed,
had waged war against this race but they were resilient. And now that they are
among a different nation, it is imperative that these African Americans uphold
their traditions.

Just looking at how African Americans survived the slavery and intolerance
against them, you would grow to respect these people. But what made them pliant
to all these trials? Was it keeping their traditions? If it was, how did these
traditions reach the modern day African American kids? Handing down these
customs to younger generations meant having someone teach the ways of the old.
This is where mentoring comes in.

Mentoring is simply defined as a process where an experienced individual gives
support and encouragement to a person who has less experience. The mentor then
serves as the advisor though his example and guidance. Mentoring could be
informal or formal.

With formal mentoring among African Americans, the mentor could be the guide of
the student on his academic works. He could also guide the student to community
affairs which aim to maintain their traditions through several factors such as
religion, music, poetry, and others. It could also be as serious as coping with
racial discrimination and how to be confident despite the environmental
circumstances. With informal mentoring, it could simply mean teaching time
management or networking with the same groups of people.

But what are the traditions that need to be handed down to the next generation?
Looking at the younger generations of African Americans now, we can conclude
that they have gone a long way and have improved immensely in all aspects.
Confidence and self-worth is a great part of African American mentoring. What
is there to be ashamed about their culture anyway? They are a great people and
they value close family ties, respect for the elderly and they excel in arts
and sports.

Due to this need for mentoring among the black race, 100 Black Men, Inc. was
born in 1963. Its purpose is to improve African American lives in a community
full of whites. Currently, there are famous members such as Denzel Washington,
Bill Cosby, Michael Jordan, to name a few.

Mentoring was and still is an essential duty of this organization. One of their
programs intended that children ages nine until post secondary learning would
get holistic knowledge through some rites of passage which includes preparation
of the males for their manhood. Also, the subjects cover aspects of heritage,
family, etiquette, survival and other skills, and even faith. Resource
management, athletics and tutoring are also essential parts of the learning
process.

By taking part in such mentoring activities, the young African American would
develop better understanding of his culture. Pride and self-esteem would also
be established without disrespecting other colors or race.

The mentoring process, in general, teaches respect and appreciation for the
African culture. By knowing the rich history and contemporary assets of these
people, they are better able to keep and protect what rightfully belongs to
them which no amount of slavery would be able to corrupt.

How Mentoring Programs Establish Self-Confidence

Mentoring programs establish the self-confidence and the self-assurance of a
mentee who uses it as a tool for personal and professional development. There
are certainly many benefits you can expect from joining a mentoring program
because you will learn from someone who has the necessary experience to coach
you on what you have to do. Some of the benefits of mentoring include:

* Becoming a standout 
* Leadership abilities 
* Working smarter, not harder

These benefits may sound simple, but when you translate it in real life, you
can definitely feel that mentoring is one of the best options to succeed in
your career. Mentoring is actually a two-way relationship and both the mentor
and the mentee will learn something from the mentoring program. Primarily
though, mentoring programs are designed to enhance the capabilities of the
mentee.

At the start of any mentoring programs, both the mentor and the mentee are
encouraged to clarify their goals and expectations from the program. They need
to create a well-designed plan and follow a specific course of action. There
are a lot of cases wherein the mentoring program far exceeded the expectations
of the mentee because the program provided the following as well:

* An insider's realistic perspective on his career goals and progress

* Clearer understanding of his career plans

* Exposure to varied experiences and perspectives

* Access to powerful sources of information

* Access to resources within the industry

* Greater knowledge about yourself and your goals

* A wider network of contacts

* Identification of any lacking skill that is required for career advancement

* Establishment of a foundation for a lasting professional career

* Access to a support system during the critical stages of your career growth

But the mentor would not be able to do everything for you; you need to help
yourself as well. You need to do this by listening to the mentor's ideas and
suggestions, try implementing these suggestions if you feel that these can help
you in your career. It is also essential for you to listen to the feedback of
others especially the opinion of the mentor during this critical time so that
you can adjust to the situation accordingly. In addition, you should have set
realistic expectations from what you hope to achieve from the mentoring program
because it is difficult to have impossible goals and then expect the mentor to
help you achieve these objectives.

You likewise need to have the willingness to learn and adapt to the different
situations you might be facing at work. The mentor is simply the person you
should count on for advice and suggestions about the path you should
take. Mentoring should not be seen as the easy way out; rather, it should be
seen as a tool that will help you grow further in your career and on your
personal life.

And these objectives are only possible if you learn to believe in yourself and
know that you are capable of doing great things in your life. Mentoring
programs can help you reach this state and once you are at this point, it would
be inevitable for you to enjoy the fruits of your success. As you can see, while
the mentor will provide you with guidance during the mentoring program, your
success is entirely up to you.

Why Join a Mentoring Program?

Joining a mentoring program is a very powerful tool that can help you reach
your potential because of the training and empowerment it provides. Mentoring
is also one of the most effective ways for you to advance in your career
because your skills are developed and your performance is monitored. In short,
mentoring enables you to be the person you really want to be.

Two-way Relationship

It is important to realize though that mentoring is a relationship between two
people who trust and respect each other. Mentoring is not simply a
teacher-student relationship; rather, it is a partnership that will help both
the mentor and the mentee grow both personally and professionally.

The mentor can aid the mentee so that he can find the right direction he should
take in his career. The mentors will usually rely on their own experiences in
the past and their knowledge about the industry. Because of this, mentoring can
be a great way for a mentee to understand his career options and progress
professionally in the future.

Most of the time, having a mentor will boost the confidence and the
self-assurance of a mentee because he has all the support, encouragement, and
guidance he needs. But the mentors should also take note that challenging the
mentee to do his best is the best thing they can do so that the mentee will
know how to handle difficult situations the right way in the future.

As was mentioned earlier, a mentoring program is a two-way relationship; so
likewise, the mentor can also expect that he will learn a lot from teaching and
guiding another person. This will develop his management and leadership skills
so he will develop empathy for people who is experiencing the same struggles he
did in the past.

Benefits of a Mentoring Program

A mentor will help a mentee believe in his or her capabilities as a person.
Because of this, the self-confidence of the mentee will be improved and they
will be more apt to accept more challenges in the future. The mentor would also
enable the mentee to explore new ideas so that you can achieve a higher level of
self-assurance in yourself and explore even greater highs of success. The
mentoring program will be an opportunity for you to take a deeper look at
yourself, your goals, your personality, and your life. This will enable you to
know which the right path you should take in life is.

Features You Should Look For

Of course, it is inevitable that some mentoring programs would be better than
others because of the features and objectives provided by the specific program.
For example, it would be better for you to get a mentor from outside the company
so that you will get an unbiased view of what you should do regardless of who
your boss is. The mentoring program would not be entirely effective if your
mentor knows your boss as well.

Likewise, the things that are discussed during the mentorship program should
always remain confidential between the mentor and the mentee. And lastly, the
mentorship program should be focused on the person. The mentor should be aware
of the everyday challenges that his mentee faces so that these issues can be
faced accordingly and enable the mentee to succeed in his career.

The Fine Art of Mentoring

Mentoring doesn't have to be a complicated process or business. Once it is
designed to fit a particular need, it can be a very effective and simple method
to implement, something that will be easy to use once it's established. Although
it consists of certain processes and procedures, mentoring is actually like fine
art in that it requires creativity in design and implementation. It's also a
practice that requires flexibility and adaptability and will require
participants to look beyond the mere series of techniques in order to put it
into practice more effectively.

Why use mentoring programs In many organizations, a gap often exists between
the actual needs of the individuals and the established practices. Depending on
how well the organization works to fill this gap, the difference may be great or
small. The role of mentoring is to close this gap and allow staff, employees,
personnel or students to access resources that will allow them to improve their
learnings and skills.

Mentoring is also used to increase the quality of the intellectual capital of
an organization, allowing employees to be trained in order to meet set
standards of quality in terms of qualifications and technical skills. It is
also an excellent tool for improving the standards of service in an
organization. As a recruitment and retaining tool, mentoring is also effective,
allowing businesses to attract quality employees by providing new ones with a
means to adapt well to their new environment.

The fine art of mentoring When people view mentoring, they see it as a means to
transfer knowledge. However, it is so much more than that. Choosing, designing
and implementing a mentoring program often requires inventive solutions in
order for it to remain attractive, relevant, updated and useful. It has proven
to be a very effective method in improving business processes and has become
one of the highly valued issues within many organizations.

Matching The main concern of mentoring is matching, something that requires
patience and imagination on the part of the administrator. Having a good
pairing between the mentor and the mentee is crucial to the success of the
program. If the match is in place, both parties will benefit from a strong,
mutually rewarding relationship. If the matching fails, either or both parties
will suffer from negative learning or feel frustrated about a system that does
nothing.

This is why administrators who wish to implement an effective mentoring system
should find creative ways to determine the matching qualifications between the
mentor and his protege. Certain factors, for example, such as temperament,
personal characteristics, values, philosophies or similar goals can impact the
relationship. There is no set standard for matching, which makes it important
that those who wish to implement the program should be able to apply a certain
adaptability and imagination when determining a successful match.

Keeping the mentoring system fresh A mentoring program also thrives on being
up-to-date, which keeps it interesting. Implementing a mentoring program that
is outdated can have disastrous results, encouraging participants to perceive
it as ineffective and useless. Like art, mentoring must remain dynamic and
appealing, keeping participants' interests up, which gives them more reason to
use the program.

Establishing a successful mentoring program Mentoring is like fine art in that
it needs to remain relevant and an effective source of motivation. As such, it
has to undergo improvements along the way and must be open to changes. The best
way to determine the success of the mentoring program is to compare the initial
goals of the system to the results. This may be done through feedback and
evaluations, allowing participants to comment on the strengths and weaknesses
of the program. Without a set feedback system in place, it will be difficult
indeed to quantify the efficacy of mentoring within an organization and thus
rate its success.

Improving Student Performance through Mentoring

Mentoring is an important aspect of schooling, although it is often neglected,
even by educators themselves. Although many students often do well without
extra assistance, they can do so through extra effort and work on their part.
Many students, however, either lack the opportunity or the will to perform
better. As a result, they often require mentoring in schools.

Beyond academics Many experts also believe that mentoring can make a difference
for students who are exposed to unreliable and even risky influences, such as
those that push them to abuse drugs, become sexually active too early,
experience early pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases. Some students may
also be exposed to delinquency, truancy and even violence. With the right
mentoring programs, exposure of students and other youths from these risks may
be reduced or even eliminated.

Implementing mentoring programs in schools Although recognized as an important
part of certain academic processes, mentoring remains as one of the least
understood practices in many educational institutions. If not implemented
properly, it can become under-utilized, mismanaged or even turn out to be a
costly yet ineffective endeavor. To ensure success in the use of mentoring
programs in schools, certain considerations must be kept in mind:

Proper planning The goal of mentoring is to improve student performance in
schools and ensure that they are well-prepared for interaction with their
social environments. It is important that an organization understands what they
wish to attain through their mentoring programs by ensuring that qualitative and
quantitative standards are in place.

Goals and objectives of the mentoring program must also be specific and
well-structured to allow those implementing it to determine if the procedures
are being followed. This is important if compliance is an issue.

Building the core group or staff A mentoring program within a school will be
more effective if a central core of educators is on hand to design, implement
and assess it. This will help ensure a well-organized program that is easy to
monitor and run.

Recruitment of mentors The type of mentors to be chosen for the program is
indicative of its success. Mentors may be selected through volunteer programs,
where other students and even members of the faculty can sign up for the task
or through active recruitment wherein mentors may be sought out and asked to
join. If necessary, other members of the community may also be tapped.

A set of qualifications may be set in order for mentors to meet quality
standards and help streamline the application process.

Screening for mentors The next step in creating a mentoring program for schools
is to screen the mentors for eligibility. After reviewing the applications, the
core group can begin interviewing the mentor applicants to determine their fit
in the program. This is especially important if there are certain activities
that may require extra tasks for the mentors or the mentees. If certain
activities off-campus are required, for example, students may have to involve
parental permission in order to participate.

Training for mentors An important part of a mentoring program is mentor
training. Just because a person is qualified does not make him a perfect
candidate for mentorship. He or she must be able to understand the goals of the
program. He must also be informed about certain limitations and boundaries he
must work in. Certain communication skills must also be checked or improved if
necessary.

Matching mentors with mentees As one of the final steps for implementing a
program for mentoring in schools, pairing mentors with mentees can be a
challenge. However, it is important that this is considered carefully. There
are no set standards about pairing but most experts suggest it's best to
consider personality and mentoring styles in order to create a perfect match.
If a certain match proves to be bad, corrections must be implemented
immediately.

The Growing Need for Mentoring in Healthcare

Of the many programs that have been introduced and integrated in the healthcare
practice, mentoring has been one of the most misunderstood and under-utilized.
This is unfortunate, considering that healthcare is a sector in many areas of
business that has seen an upward growth. Without mentoring, many of the
practices and important methods and procedures involved in healthcare may not
be maximized at all.

The need for proper mentoring in the healthcare sector According to registered
nurse and author Zardoya Eagles, a mentor can help a healthcare provider
prepare himself for public service. A mentor can also help someone in the
advancement of his/her career. The human factor, according to Eagles, is one of
the best reasons why mentoring should take on more significance in many of
today's healthcare settings.

The results of a well-implemented mentoring practice may be difficult to
quantify but it is by no means a less important undertaking. It is an
acknowledged process that helps improve the processes within an organization
and actually leads staff to achieve better results for their efforts,
particularly in today's knowledge-based institutions.

Benefits of healthcare mentoring There are several advantages to ensuring that
mentoring resources are provided in healthcare sectors. These include:

- The opportunity for departments within organizations to check flaws in their
  practices and to improve their services significantly.

- Provide a way for newbies in the industry to develop the necessary skills to
  work and thrive in the healthcare environment more quickly and efficiently.

- Provide the means with which future leaders within the organization are
  spotted and developed. Mentors within the organization can also develop 
  their own skills and become highly valued employees.

- Provide a means for the organization to offer a nurturing form of practice to
  its staff and employees.

- The opportunity to achieve compliance in the industry through the improvement
  of services.

- Improve the management of hospitals, clinics and other healthcare
  institutions.

- Develop staff and employee and increase intellectual capital.

Having mentoring practices in place is also an excellent recruitment tool for
healthcare institutions and a way to increase positive feedback. It is also a
way for institutions to share their knowledge and other important information
to help other hospitals improve their own practices and services. Mentoring is
also an excellent means to keep updated about the latest practices and
developments in the healthcare sector.

Implementing mentoring in an organization Mentoring may seem like a set of
procedures that are simple to implement but it is in fact, a process that might
be problematic and counter-productive if not used properly. Some of the most
important considerations when implementing mentoring for any organization
include:

1) Proper understanding of the goals of the organization, its resources,
facilities and manpower.

2) Proper understanding of the interests, goals, expectations and values of the
staff.

3) Proper knowledge in the implementation of mentoring activities and
procedures that will fit the needs of the organizations and those of the staff
concerned.

4) Adequate information about the most successful techniques and methods in
mentoring that will help an organization meet its goals.

5) Sufficient knowledge in matching mentors and mentees in order to take
advantage of the perfect mentoring relationship.

The healthcare mentoring outlook Already, the advantages of providing mentoring
resources for many members of the healthcare profession have made the practice
essential to many of the hospitals in the U.S. The Campaign Mentor Hospitals,
for example, is a network of medical institutions small and large, urban and
rural that operates throughout the country providing mentoring support in
healthcare. Many of these organizations are high-achieving institutions that
offer some of the most useful insights that other organizations can integrate
into their practices.

Today, mentoring in healthcare continues to expand, undertaken by numerous
groups of hospitals throughout the country in order to provide a more effective
means to care for and assist clients, develop staff knowledge and skills and
improve the practice of healthcare.

Mentoring Teachers Programs -- Improved Professional Competence and Educational
Reform

Many schools in the US have formalized the process of mentoring novice teachers
as their way of inducting the new teacher into the teaching profession. They run
Mentoring Teachers Programs, which enable a newbie to adjust to the new teaching
career through the assistance of a veteran teacher. In these programs, the
veteran teacher, the mentor, coaches the new teacher on several areas in
teaching such as how to prepare lesson plans and execute them, how to handle
students of different ages and characteristics, how to teach more effectively
in different kinds of settings, how to resolve classroom conflicts and the like.

Benefits to the New Teacher

The program leads not only to improved teaching skills but also to increased
job satisfaction on the part of the new teacher. According to Evenson in his
book on mentoring teachers, the new teacher benefits in three ways. First, the
program allows the new teacher to easily adapt with the school environment.
Aside from helping the new teacher get acquainted with the school's staff and
facilities, the mentor also teaches him how to observe and cope with the
school's rules and regulations.

Second, the program allows the teacher to establish teaching competence. This
is achieved as the mentor provides the new teacher with opportunities to
observe, assess, and practice his and other teachers' teaching. The process
encourages feedback from and constant communication with the mentor.

Lastly, the program introduces the teacher to teaching as a continuously
developing and a life-long profession. If the new teacher feels that he gets as
much support as he can from colleagues and the school administration, he will
likely stay in this profession and would gladly make himself available as well
for future teachers who would need his assistance.

Other Benefits of the Program

The benefits of mentoring programs are far reaching. It is not only the new
teachers that benefit from the program but all the participants in the program
including the mentor, the student and the school as a whole as well. Thus,
mentoring programs are seen not just as a form of assistance to the new teacher
but as a vehicle for the improvement of the school's whole educational system.

For the mentor, the program serves as another opportunity to share his wealth
of experiences, knowledge and skills. Much of these skills and knowledge are
not found in books or reference materials. They are accumulated through time
through extensive training and professional practice. Without the mentoring
programs, these experiences, knowledge and skills gained and acquired through
time may gradually fade away.

In a way, the mentor also improves himself as a teacher in the process of
mentoring. He does this as he reexamines his professional experiences inside
and outside the classroom and as he provides tips and guidelines to the new
teacher.

Moreover, the mentoring program provides him with an added source of income as
mentors are usually compensated for the extra services they render.

Students are directly and indirectly benefited with this kind of program as
their new teachers gain more teaching skills and knowledge, which are imparted
to them. Ultimately, the students learn more things and enjoy their classes
more when the teacher is prepared and well versed with the topics he or she is
discussing.

A research conducted by Southwest Educational Development Laboratory to study
the mentoring programs in Texas reveals that many districts see mentoring
teachers programs also as a vital retention strategy. The study recognizes that
the attrition of new teachers is among the cause of shortages of teachers in
some schools.

The Proper Way of Mentoring Special Educators

There's a shortage of special educators these days. Special education teachers
are badly needed by almost all of school districts today. They are wanted in
98% of all the educational institutions of the U.S. And over the next years,
more than a million new special educators are required.

Special educators leave their jobs a lot faster than regular teachers. This is
because of the tasks that are placed on their backs. Special educators are
tasked to manage IEPs, give alternative assessments, become paraprofessionals,
use assisting technologies, comply with complex legislation, and write all the
paperwork. All of these they have to do, on top of the emotional and physical
toll of doing individualized instruction.

The effective way of mentoring special educators play a special role in their
development and preservation. To mentor special education teachers, the
following should be done:

1. Effective identification, recruitment, and selection of mentors. There may
be a handful of special education teachers. But only a few of them are really
up to the task. Before training a teacher to be special education teachers,
they have to be psychologically, physically, and emotionally up to the task.

2. Provide adequate action planning With the many tasks facing a special
educator face, mentors should take part in the action planning process in
everyway they can. Mentors should be always available for the teacher could
confer with them. Mentors should take part of the special educator's task every
time they can.

3. Continuous evaluation The evaluation of special educators should be
continuous. The regular evaluation of special education teacher is going to be
helpful in determining whether or not the skills and abilities of the teachers
are up to the present challenges of their job. Should teachers fall short, they
can easily update their knowledge through retraining.

4. Address diminishing support Diminishing support for special educators is
real. Expect this to happen even if you have tried hard to provide the support
special educators need. Whenever the support of your team to special teachers
is failing, address it with a special meeting to solve the immediate problems
the teacher encounter at hand.

5. Check instances of isolation and burnout The psychological and emotional
toll of teaching special education is high. Teachers get drained out most
easily if they feel isolation from their peers and experience burnout with
their work. Try to check the level of isolation and burnout teachers have.
Solve it by offering out of town team building activities, regular
brainstorming and interaction with colleagues.

6. Conduct regular counseling with teachers Teachers should be subjected to
regular counseling sessions, whether they need it or not. This would help
teachers a lot, because they could share their stories, experiences,
frustrations, and successes with a person that could really help. Regular
sessions would help teachers with their day-to-day activities.

7. Facilitate workshops and trainings Special educators need to update their
knowledge through trainings and workshops. These activities are very important
because it allows them to learn more techniques that could help them a lot in
their daily jobs. Make sure that the workshops and trainings made for teachers
are as lively and as fun as it should.

These are the things can do to properly mentor special education teachers so
that they won't give up their jobs easily. These professionals are very
important in the society. Their roles are indispensable so they have to be
given the proper attention they need.

Effective Mentoring Relationships

The Mentor-Mentee Relationship

The role of a mentor is to aid the mentee in reaching his goals. While the
mentor can certainly learn a lot from teaching and leading others, the
relationship between the mentor and the mentee should be mentee-centered. So
the mentor should listen, guide, and even challenge the mentee to do his best
in his job.

The mentorship program requires frequent contact between the mentor and the
mentee for the communication line to remain open. Mentoring is an interactive
relationship wherein both parties can contribute to each other's grow as a
person. You should take note that mentoring is far different from counseling
and neither is it being buddies because mentoring is a tool that is used for
personal and professional development.

Formal and Informal Mentoring

Anyone can be a mentor or a mentee without joining any mentoring program. For
example, just riding a bus and then conversing with a stranger can be a form of
mentoring if you learn something important from him; this type of mentoring is
known as informal mentoring. Informal mentoring usually just occurs even if you
don't plan it, this can be just as important as a formal mentoring program.

On the other hand, formal mentoring is having an acknowledged relationship
between the mentor and the mentee. Formal mentoring would require the
commitment of time and effort between the two parties so that they can share
and learn from each other. This type of mentoring program can be for a specific
project or for a specified time period.

Finding a Mentor

Having the wrong mentor can be even worse than having no mentor at all. For
this reason, everyone should take the time and effort to look for a mentor that
will suit their needs, personality, and learning style. You need to look within
yourself and the environment around you; then, ask yourself what you really
want to learn. Oftentimes, you need to consider the following questions before
deciding on a mentor:

* Would the mentor provide me with good and accurate information? 

* Would he support me in reaching my goals and objectives? 

* Would he respect my dreams, my decisions, and my goal in life? 

* Would he challenge me when it is necessary? 

* Can the mentor actually be trusted? 

* Am I willing to listen to this mentor's ideas and suggestions?

Asking these questions before you commit to a mentoring program is essential
for you to reap the best possible benefit. It is also important to have a clear
communication line between you and the mentor. Even at the start of the
mentoring program, you already need to specify your expectations and your goal
so that the mentor will know which direction to take.

Ending the Mentoring Program

However, all good things must come to an end. You cannot continue with the
mentoring program forever; sure, you can still communicate with your mentor
from time to time but being in a commitment to be each other's mentor and
mentee can become more like a burden rather than a privilege after the
mentoring program ends.

Both parties should acknowledge what they have learned and thank each other for
the time and effort that the person has spent for another's well-being. Even
after the mentoring program ends though, the mentor can still support the
mentee and be there for the mentee when he is needed.

Learnings from Mentoring Quotes

"Mentoring", this Greek term has been used in countless ways so you can expect
that there are various wise mentoring quotes that abound. But it all refers to
the same concept, giving guidance and advice to another person. The term
"mentoring" actually comes from the Greek word that means enduring. This is a
committed relationship between a youth and an adult wherein the adult has the
patience to teach the youth whatever he knows from life. It is the adult's
responsibility to provide support, assistance, and guidance as the younger one
faces new challenges and problems everyday. Mentors usually take the role of
the parents when the parent is busy or unavailable during the critical stages
of a person's life.

There are basically two types of mentoring; the first is natural mentoring and
the second is planned mentoring. Natural mentoring can come from everyday
situations wherein anyone can be your mentor. You can learn through
collegiality, through friendship, through teaching, or through counseling. On
the other hand, planned mentoring comes from a structured program wherein the
mentor and the mentee are chosen from a list and matched through a formal
procedure.

Currently, mentoring is becoming increasingly popular in the workforce as well
as for personal development. This is partly due to various testimonials among
people who have tried it and derived a lot of advantages from the mentoring
program. But how does mentoring exactly work? Well, if you wan to look into the
formal mentoring programs, you should be aware that your mentor will be chosen
by an authority figure through interviews, comparative index outlook, and by
looking at their personal profiles.

Of course, in most cases, the mentor and the mentee would need to get
acquainted first before the mentoring program can start. Mentors are needed
because they can be a positive influence on the mentee who is learning from
them. As Gandhi once said, "Be the change you want to see in the world."
Mentors can be a force of change and they can influence a lot of people,
including you, by becoming a respected authority figure.

Ralph Waldo Emerson stated that, "You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you
never know how soon it will be too late." And indeed, mentors are doing
kindness when they take on the responsibility of helping other people learn
from their experiences. Through this, they can give back to society and make
career growth, personal development, or intellectual achievement possible for
the person they are mentoring.

As you can observe, mentoring is helpful for educational purposes wherein the
mentor will help the mentee improve their overall academic achievement.
Likewise, mentoring is also very helpful in the workplace because mentors can
provide the necessary insights and perspectives on what a person should do to
achieve his goals. Meanwhile, having a mentor would also be a very helpful
option in your personal development because the mentor can help you during
tough personal and social stress and offer guidance just when you need it the
most.

A very nice quote from an unknown author read, "A lot of people have gone
further than they thought they could because someone else thought they could."
The mentor does just that, they believe that their mentees can do it. This, in
itself, is usually encouragement enough for the mentee to do their best to
succeed in life.

What to Avoid in Mentoring Programs

What is mentoring?

Before we can effectively look at the benefits you can derive from mentoring
programs, it is first essential to understand what mentoring really is.
Mentoring is simply the process wherein people are helped by a person or an
organization for their personal and professional development. The person who is
doing the supporting role is called the "mentor" while the person being
supported is called the "mentee". This relationship may sometimes because
complex because there are many types of mentors, just as there is many types of
people. You can expect the mentor to be somewhere between being a "trusted
friend" and a "counselor". But how exactly, can a mentor be defined? Well, we
came up with several categories; your mentor will most likely fall into one of
these categories. Read on to know what kind of mentor you should choose and
which ones you should avoid:

1. The crowding mentor

This is the type of mentor who seems to be ignorant of the term, "personal
space". This mentor may not necessarily be your choice but he or she was
assigned to you by your organization.

2. The impossible mentor

Meanwhile, the impossible mentor is simply someone who you are not comfortable
being with no matter what you do or what the mentor does.

3. The younger mentor

In some cases, you might encounter a mentor who is younger than you. You might
be more experienced than he is on work-related matters but this mentor was
assigned to help you nonetheless. You find it difficult to take such a young
mentor seriously though.

4. The ardent researcher

Your mentor would be someone who puts a big emphasis on academic research and
theories. While this characteristic may not be a fault in itself, you might
discover that it is hard to schedule important meetings with this mentor
because he always outs research as his priority. In addition, this type of
mentor might not believe that teaching the mentee is important so you are low
in his priority.

What does a mentor actually do?

So after you know the type of mentors you should avoid, it is time to take a
deeper look at what a good mentor should actually do:

* Be available for a chat over the telephone or face-to-face contact

* Be optimistic about the mentoring program and the development process of the
  mentees

* Help mentees feel good about their achievements

* Help mentees stick to deadlines and schedules

* Know someone who can aid their mentees when there are cases that they can't

* Aid the mentees in their work plan. For example, they should help the mentees
  write realistic goals, deadlines, and the strategy on how these can be 
  achieved.

* Give feedback on the work. They should give their opinions about the mentee's
  performance so that the mentee will know which areas they should improve on.

* Help the mentees look at the feedback of other people. The mentees should
  take a serious look at the opinions of other people so they can determine 
  their weaknesses.

* Make learning possible for the mentees. The mentors should provide the
  necessary resources such as time, effort, and space so that their mentees can
  learn even during their day-to-day work.

* Motivate their mentees. The simply act of asking how a person is doing is an
  act of asking how a person is doing can be motivation for them to improve 
  their performance.

Preparing a Proposal for a Teacher Mentoring Program

An established teacher mentoring program is an important asset for any
educational institution. It helps develop talent, maintain a school's quality
standards, ensure its compliance to state or even national benchmarks and
provide high quality standards of teaching for students.

It's also a way to help improve the quality of teacher personnel and assist new
teachers in getting assimilated into the environment. This is why preparing a
proposal for a teacher mentoring program should be a careful and well
thought-of process, something that must be carefully deliberated and designed
in order to produce a plan that will be a perfect fit for the institution.

There are several important steps and considerations to keep in mind when
designing a proposal for a teacher mentoring program. These include:

Establishing the goals and purposes of the school Before writing a proposal for
a mentorship program, it is important that the goals and purposes of the school
is understood and considered. Ultimately, this is the benchmark upon which the
efficacy of the program will be assessed. Determine what the organization
wishes to achieve through the mentorship program and how the program will fit
the image, values and philosophies set by the school.

Determining the needs of the organization In every organization, there are
areas where it can show strengths and weaknesses. If the goal of the
organization is to close the gap between its weaknesses and the current
standards, it will be a lot easier to establish what the organization needs and
design a more effective and successful teacher mentoring program.

A mentoring program also has to fit the specific requirements of the
participants. Elementary level teachers, for example, may have different needs
than high school level or collegiate level teachers.

Assessing the available resources for mentorship The next step to preparing a
proposal for a mentoring program is to find out what kind of resources the
school has that may be used with the program. Staff specialization, number of
teachers or personnel that can assist or participate in the program, materials,
funding and even external resources that may have to be tapped should be
considered.

For many organizations, including schools, the use of resources can be a touchy
subject, particularly if it involves budget. Establishing the cost and type of
requirements that may be involved in a mentoring program initially will help
school administrators to decide whether or not the program is feasible.

Establishing the responsibility and accountability of the program It is
important to establish which department will be responsible for the
implementation and assessment of the program. This department will ensure that
correct practices are enforced and that certain standards are met. If
necessary, creating an audit team might also be considered.

Establishing the benefits and creating quality perimeters The benefits of the
program should be enumerated in order to show the administrators that it is
necessary and useful to the school. The proposal should also include the
standards for checking the validity, relevance and efficacy of the mentoring
program. These standards should be quantifiable to allow for easy measurement
and evaluation.

Preparing the proposal The proposal is a formal presentation of the mentorship
program and as such, should follow certain guidelines. The proposal must be
well-written and informative, establishing the facts about the program
immediately. This will allow the administrators to see whether or not the
program will be useful for the school. The success of the proposal and
ultimately, the teacher mentoring program will depend on how well it is
designed and accepted by school administrators.

Peer Mentoring -- Helping the Teens Beat Pressures of Adolescence

Teenagers are facing the most critical stage in their life -- adolescence. At
this stage, they experience the transition from childhood towards adulthood; in
the process of transition, teens deal with lots of biological, emotional, social
and psychological changes. Often, these changes make a life of a teenager
miserable. There is a great desire to fit in, to be accepted for who they are,
to find their true identity, and to realize their own strengths and weaknesses.
This is where peer mentoring becomes a lot of help. It keeps the youth guided
and makes them feel loved, cared for and accepted.

Features and of a Peer Mentoring Program

Peer mentoring is a kind of mentoring program, which matches older youths with
younger ones. The former provide the latter with guidance, advice, and all
forms of support they need to be able to meet challenges of adolescent life.
The older youths do not only serve as mentors but as role models to the younger
ones. They are not perfect but having been through the same stage and most
likely, the same problems, predicaments, and challenges in their homes, school
and community; they are in the position to provide friendly advice, positive
influences, attention, and moral support to these younger teens.

Mentoring programs, either in schools, local communities, and youth
organizations bear the following characteristics:

* Centered on the needs of the youth -- Every peer mentoring program is
designed to meet the specific needs of the teens to be mentored. Those who come
from broken homes, for example, may need more time for counseling and recreation
activities that would help them divert their thoughts on sad experiences at home
towards happy ones. Those with academic problems may require more time for
tutorials.

* Participants voluntarily join a peer mentoring program -- A big part of the
success of peer mentoring lies on the voluntary participation of the mentor and
the younger teens. The student must not be forced to attend the peer mentoring
program as this would only make things more difficult for him. The student must
first acknowledge the need to have a mentor, someone who is older, wider, and
more experienced than him. Only upon acknowledging this need can he actively
participate in the activities in the mentoring program.

* Mentors are bound by the responsibility to keep things confidential -- Trust
is very important in building good relationship between the mentor and the
student; thus, it is a must or the mentor to keep things that he and the
student talks about confidential. Without trust, it would be hard for the
person mentored to talk about the things he feels and thinks especially about
very critical issues involving him, a close friend or his family.

Joining a Mentoring Program

Joining a peer mentoring program starts with the eagerness to be a part of a
support group or program that is aimed at creating changes both on the life of
the mentor and the younger person to be mentored.

If you want to be a mentor, first you must be prepared in all aspects. Do you
have a plan on how to conduct peer mentoring? Do you know what to do when
trying situations arise? Do you have the patience necessary for you to deal
with persons who might be going through tough moments in their life? How would
you handle issues such as early pregnancy, divorce, and drug addiction?

When you are ready, the next thing you should do is to look for a pee mentoring
program that is suited to your interests. You can look for these in your school,
local community and even online. You may also ask for your teachers,
schoolmates, and friends' recommendations. You can also ask the head of your
local community church or youth organizations in your community or neighboring
areas.

Tips on Successful Implementation of Mentoring

Mentoring, training and coaching programs for novice teachers are excellent
ways to improve the quality of skills and knowledge of a new teacher, his job
satisfaction, and his professional competence. These programs available for the
new teacher are also effective means of enhancing the student's abilities and
the mentor's skills as well. In many US schools, these mentoring programs are
mandatory to ensure that the new teacher is fully capable of handing the
classes.

In some schools, mentoring programs are instituted not only to prepare the new
teacher for the job but also as a way of addressing the problem of teacher
shortage. A recent news published on Contra Costa Times reveals that almost 25%
of new teachers in California leave their job in their first four years of
teaching because of lack of support from the administration and fellow
teachers. Also, the mentoring program adds bureaucratic burden both for the
novice teachers and their mentors. Apart from the additional responsibilities
that are given to the teachers, there's a lot of paperwork that needs to be
accomplished. This includes preparing lesson plans, evaluations, and progress
and accomplishment reports.

In order to ensure that mentoring programs are successfully implemented, here
are some tips and pointers to remember:

* Eliminate unnecessary paperwork and requirements -- this has been recommended
by UC Riverside researchers after finding out that a lot of mentors and new
teachers engaged in the program are complaining about the repetitive tasks and
extra paperwork they need to accomplish. Aside from the fact that neophyte
teachers are already overwhelmed by their new responsibilities, they are still
burdened with lots of paperwork including preparing lesson plans, which usually
consumes so much of their time. It is recommended that programs should focus on
mentoring itself. The new and veteran teachers may engage in less taxing
activities that would allow them to interact and share knowledge, skills and
experiences freely.

* New teachers must be matched with the right mentors -- It is important for
the new teacher and the mentor to interact without any inhibition. To be able
to achieve this, the administrators must strive to match news teachers with
mentors who share with them same qualities and interests. This would allow the
new teacher to freely ask questions and ask for tips and advices from the
mentor.

* Have separate evaluators -- In order for the mentor and the new teacher to
focus on their main tasks, they must be relieved from doing additional tasks
such as evaluation of the program. A separate evaluator who shall meet the
veteran and the new teachers to discuss the progress of the mentoring program
may be assigned.

* Conduct regular assessment of the whole mentoring program -- Campus-level
administrators should not only evaluate progress of the newly hired teachers
but as well as the whole mentoring, training and coaching program of the
school, which includes the mentors capability to coach neophyte teachers, the
process of mentoring, the students' progress vis-�-vis to the new teachers'
progress during the program, and other forms of support and assistance given to
the new teacher.

It is also important to determine the thoughts or opinions of other teachers
about the program and its impact on their desire to stay or leave the school or
the teaching profession. These things are vital to the implementation and
improvement not only of the mentoring programs of the particular school but of
others as well.

Best Practices in Mentoring

What is mentoring? Mentoring pertains to the development of rapport involving a
more knowledgeable mentor and a less knowledgeable protege or mentee. A protege
or a mentee is a person who is guided, supported and protected from an
experienced mentor. A mentor is the one who boosts the career of a protege or a
mentee.

What is best practice? Best practice is an organizational idea which states
that there is a standard activity, process, method, technique, reward or
incentive that is more effectual in accomplishing a specific result. The idea
is that a desired result is delivered with few or no unexpected complications
and/or problems. Best practices is also described as one of the most effective
and efficient way in carrying out a task, based on tried and tested procedures.

Therefore, best practices in mentoring involve the development of an equally
beneficial correlation that improves the proficient intelligence of the mentor
and the protege or the mentee. A good mentor usually projects expertness,
candidness, affability, and communication skills. Enthusiastic proteges or
mentees have a tendency to express desire for knowledge, utmost discipline and
self-respect.

A Good Mentor

A good mentor is a mentor who (is):

* Listens well and treats the conversation with the mentee as confidential. 

* Determines what is important to a mentee and explore their ambitions,
  propensities and skills. 

* Knows the importance of the learning process by creating a candid and open 
  relationship to promote confidence and trust. 

* Accepts the fact that in some cases a mentee may need to seek other sources 
  of assistance and help. 

* Appropriately trained and has vast knowledge in mentoring. 

* Should have a professional approach in mentor-mentee relationship.

* Refrain from mentoring those who are directly reporting to them, no matter 
  how professional the relationship is, this will avoid other colleagues to 
  think that the mentor may influence some matters pertaining to the issues 
  concerning the mentee's decision and position.

A Good Mentee

A good mentee is a mentee who (is):

* Very enthusiastic to be taught and trained and is liberated to new ideas or
  concepts. 

* A team-player who can interact well with other people. 

* A risk taker who is not afraid to go beyond the boundaries of safety and 
  venture into uncertainties to learn. 

* Patient enough to realize that an ambition in life cannot be acquired 
  overnight. 

* A positive attitude, even in the midst of a crisis. 

* Demonstrates inventiveness and resourcefulness in any task assigned.

* Accepts feedback, negative or positive, about behavior and skills, with an
  intention to improve and learn from it.

When is a Mentor-Mentee Relationship Good?

A good mentor-mentee relationship is not just gauged by the personality of each
that they bring into the relationship, more significantly, the occurrence of
proper interaction and behavior is needed all throughout the process. What the
mentor accomplishes with the mentee, and how eager the mentee responds and
receives it, is what matters most in such a relationship.

A good mentor-mentee relationship cultivates and successfully carries out the
following:

* Career Roles:

1. A mentor that introduces new opportunities to the mentee, which the latter
   believes in. 
2. A mentor that coaches and sponsors a mentee, which the latter gratefully 
   accepts. 
3. A mentor that protects and challenges a mentee, which the latter understands 
   as part of the relationship.

* Psychological Roles:

1. A mentor who is a role-model, which the mentee looks up to. 
2. A mentor who counsels, which the mentee receives wholeheartedly. 
3. A mentor who befriend a mentee, but is still focus enough to achieve the 
   goals of the relationship. 
4. A mentor and a mentee who accept and confirm each others ideas.

Within this representation, a mentor serves as a leader, a teacher that
encourages thinking abilities, an advocate of
realistic principles, an overseer, and an analyst. A mentee on the other hand
is a student who is willing to be taught and is ready to embark on a journey
towards an absolute learning experience.

Mentoring Nurses as a way of Empowerment

Mentoring provides an opportunity for a nurse to develop their careers and an
opportunity to aim for leadership positions. A mentor should be able to train
and guide a newbie nurse to better understand the importance of his or her
profession. Mentors should be able to give support, reinforcement to motivate
and to increase the job satisfaction rate of a mentee-nurse. Mentoring is a
helpful method in the recruitment and retaining staff members in a medical
institution for the citizen of the community.

Mentoring is:

* A relationship that is professional and based on free will. 

* A relationship that has communal respect and goals. 

* A relationship that is beneficial to individuals involved.

The two types of mentoring are:

* Formal: a peer kind of mentor-mentee relationship. 

* Informal: mentor-mentee relationship that is structured and created at a 
  general practice.

Mentoring relationships needs:

* Trust 
* Respect 
* Commitment 
* Confidentiality 
* Accessibility 
* Flexibility

The crucial facets of a mentoring relationship are:

* Objectives and goals. 
* Shared networks and resources. 
* Time and process for evaluation.

Mentors may assists mentees by:

* Making new nurses understand their role in general practice. 

* Making new or veteran nurses manage in the ever changing role in nursing 
  practice. 

* Making new or veteran nurses manage practice settings with issues that are 
  new and existing. 

* Making new or veteran nurses manage professional practice that deal with 
  personal needs.

The benefits and advantages of being a mentee is:

* To understand how the general practice functions. 

* To build up interpersonal skills. 

* To receive encouragement, support and feedback. 

* To acquire know-how about practice nurse roles. 

* To have a chance to expand networks and lessen isolation in the profession. 

* To get help in clarifying career pathways and goals.

The benefits and advantage of being a mentor is:

* To take part in the chance to contribute one's experience and wisdom. 

* To build up interpersonal skills. 

* To achieve a feeling of self worth and satisfaction. 

* To achieve further know-how in a new role. 

* To achieve recognition and acknowledgement among colleagues for the 
  contribution to the general practice as mentor. 

* To have a chance to expand networks and lessen isolation in the profession.

The benefits and advantages of mentoring nurses in the general practice is that:

* Through mentoring nurses are becoming more productive and motivated. 

* Through mentoring the general practice have the upper-hand in catching the
  attention of prospective staff members. 

* Through mentoring staff members improved their teamwork and communication 
  skills. 

* Through mentoring participating staff members are gaining positive 
  commitment.

What not to anticipate of mentoring in the general practice:

* Mentoring is in NO way a substitute to meet education needs. 

* Mentoring is in NO way a universal remedy for all concerns, issues and 
  problems. 

* Mentoring is in NO way a substitute for a professional educator.

In general practice a mentor is not:

* An advocate. 
* A tutor. 
* An educator.

Thus mentors should not be expected to know all the answers to all questions
and queries. On the other hand, mentors should be able to give guidance and
assistance to significant matters that may need relevant information and
sources. Basically, mentors are only there to guide mentees in the search for
learning experiences that are not taught in the four corners of a classroom.

The Importance of Mentoring for Children of Prisoners

It is estimated that there is approximately 2 million youths in the United
States that have an incarcerated parent. It is also estimated that there are
over 7 million children with one parent who is under the supervision of the
Federal or state correctional authorities. The figures indicate that there are
nearly 200 children out of every 1,000 who are in dire need of guidance and
mentoring from relatives, concerned parties or the government. Any mentoring
organization in private or government practice has a high likelihood of
encountering at least one of these children, making it extremely essential that
the needs of children of prisoners must be considered and integrated into
specific mentoring practices.

Children with special needs Children of prisoners undergo plenty of physical
and emotional challenges that other children who live in normal households
won't. Some of these challenges include:

- Having to cope with being separated from that parent for long periods of
  time, with some children having to deal with repeated incarcerations of his 
  or her parent/s.

- Having to deal with infrequent visitations or the experience of going through
  procedures in prisons just to visit the parent.

- Having to deal with social stigma that usually accompanies children with
  parents who are incarcerated such as teasing, name-calling, guilt, etc.

- Having to live in conditions or environments that are unstable, unreliable
  and often less than ideal.

The problems of allowing children of prisoners to cope without any extra help
often increase depending on certain factors, such as:

- the age of the child 

- the presence of another parent or authority figure 

- the quality of time spent by the child in the care and guidance of this parent
  or authority figure 

- the economic status of the child's family

Without the availability of an effective mentoring program for children of
prisoners, there is a high risk that they will develop problems both personal
and social, such as:

- using and abusing drugs and alcohol at a young age 

- irregular attendance in school 

- developing problems with their peers 

- finding outlet in destructive behavior or developing relationships with 
  questionable individuals or groups

Using mentoring programs for children of prisoners To help improve this group
of children's chances at experiencing success in school and in their social
interactions, certain mentoring programs are being made available in both
private and government organizations, such as those funded by the Department of
Health and Human Services.

Some of the mentoring resources that children of prisoners can look forward to
include:

1. Access to a wide variety of educational, counseling, guidance and healthcare
services that include the children, their siblings, other family members or
caregivers. Many of these programs may even include the incarcerated parent/s.

2. Access to the appropriate resources that children of imprisoned parents can
use, such as books, data and other information that will help them cope with
the absence of either or both parents.

3. Access to mentoring and counseling services that can assure high levels of
confidentiality to protect the child's identity.

4. Access to realistic and non-judgmental services from mentors and volunteers
who also have the right background, training and experience to assist the
children.

5. Opportunities to maximize their natural capabilities and experience new
activities that will help them learn and cope in their environment.

6. Opportunities to experience leadership roles with their peers.

7. Assistance in terms of guidance and even financial services to help
caregivers of children of prisoners cope with the financial burdens of running
a household in the absence of one or both parents.

Breaking the Ice: An Important Part of Mentoring

When mentoring is mentioned, what comes into anyone's mind? It could be
Socrates and Plato. Or it could be Jesus the Christ and his disciples. Whether
these men used 'ice breakers' to make their students feel at ease, we would
never know. But for sure, ice breaking exercises open doors for both mentor and
student relationship or student to student relationship.

Mentoring is doing something valuable such as leading a less experienced
individual to improve aspects in his life. It could be his faith, his skills or
even simple time management. But even if you are the best mentor in the whole 
world, you would still need to break that barrier that comes with the stranger 
whom you will now teach. And this is the area where ice breakers come in.

An ice breaking exercise need not be an unruly game. In fact, it doesn't always
come in the form of a game. Sometimes, ice breaking exercises could simply mean
the mentor introducing himself to his students and encouraging them to do the
same. It could also be storytelling time for everyone. The main purpose is to
make the students relax and feel comfortable.

An effective ice breaker is one that suits its participants. A more serious
group could feel at ease with open forums or storytelling while an active group
could easily relax physical activities. Ice breakers should also avoid
activities that coerce communication, games that are not related to the course,
games that take too long to finish, or activities that foster cultural biases.

In finding the perfect activities for a mentoring session, it is also important
to consider the time factor. How long will the mentoring last? Would it take a
week or two? Or will it only last for two days? You should be able to suit the
activities to the available time that you have.

Here are some tips on making your games or discussions much more interesting:

1. Be enthusiastic. Feel the game. You should be able to explain the mechanics
with much liveliness in your voice. An important part of this is to know every
detail of the game. You don't want to be caught unaware that you are confused
with the game yourself.

2. Experiment with a different game each time. Variety displaces boredom (which
the mentor might feel once he gets familiar with the activity).

3. Bring props. Funny props create funny moments. Make fun of anything except
someone from the group.

4. Encourage each member of the group to participate. Don't leave anyone out.
But if someone is implying that he is still not ready to be open or active,
then respect his desire.

5. The mentor should actively participate in all given activities and not watch
from a corner after explaining the mechanics.

6. Make fun of situations that are outside of the circle. Be careful of
sensitive topics such as politics, religion, sexual preference, etc.

The most important part of mentoring is achieving the student's goal which is
academic, religious or social improvement. Although ice breaking exercises are
fun activities, they are still a necessary part of the mentoring program. In
fact, it's so important that it's considered as the key that opens closed
gates. With that in mind, participants should pay more attention and
participate more on their next ice breaker.

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