12 Essential Mentoring Do's
1. Be passionate and excited about the subject matter
2. Be very organized
3. Know your team by name and get to know them
4. Be approachable and accessible
5. Match the level of teaching to the level of the audience
6. Make instruction time as informal as possible with lots of 2-way Q&A
7. Constantly connect the material to “the real world”
8. Provide candid appraisals but always be constructive
9. Empower the team to succeed autonomously
10. Always be patient, upbeat, and optimistic
11. Celebrate accomplishments
12. Always give credit where credit is due (always them, never you)
2. Be very organized
3. Know your team by name and get to know them
4. Be approachable and accessible
5. Match the level of teaching to the level of the audience
6. Make instruction time as informal as possible with lots of 2-way Q&A
7. Constantly connect the material to “the real world”
8. Provide candid appraisals but always be constructive
9. Empower the team to succeed autonomously
10. Always be patient, upbeat, and optimistic
11. Celebrate accomplishments
12. Always give credit where credit is due (always them, never you)
Special Considerations for Working With Schools
We want our program — and our mentors — to be a strong and positive presence in the school. Accomplishing this requires an ongoing process of building and maintaining support from the school. There are two underlying guidelines to always keep in mind: schools require a lot of structure in order to accomplish their mission of educating children and youth, and they are always short on resources.
Organizations that have experience working with schools recommend the following practices for strengthening your partnership and your program’s role in the school:
1. Know the school culture, policies, and procedures.
Respect teachers’ time constraints and need for structure and order. Develop a mentoring schedule that fits into the school-day structure. And obtain feedback from teachers and other school personnel early and often so you can make any necessary adjustments.
2. Be sure your mentors are aware of, and sensitive to, the school culture.
Mentors should understand the procedures for using school property, honor the dress code, and understand whether, when, and how to access teachers. They should also know if there are any “unwritten rules” governing the space where they are meeting with the student. If, for example, they are meeting in an empty classroom, what are the teacher’s “rules” about using any equipment or materials in the room?
3. Understand that school staff and administrators may have had negative experiences with previous outside programs.
At times, well-meaning groups and individuals approach schools with the intention of working with them, and then fail to follow through with, or fall short of, their original commitment. That, in turn, is likely to influence a school’s attitude toward your mentoring program, and you may meet with resistance from some staff and administrators until your program has proven its reliability and value.
4. Be aware of the existence of other outside programs in the school.
Be sure your mentoring program complements rather than duplicates existing programming. Being aware of and, where possible, collaborating with existing school-based programs makes it easier to integrate your program into the school and is likely to enhance your value.
5. Remember that the program requires three-way communication among your organization, the school, and the mentor.
Be sure there is ongoing communication between your organization and the school. And have a clear system in place for notifying the mentor if the youth is not in school on a scheduled meeting date, for notifying the youth if the mentor has to miss a meeting, and for keeping the mentor informed about Anything taking place at the school that she or he should know about. Be sure to provide the mentor with a school calendar.
6. Address and resolve problems as soon as they arise.
As you work together to resolve problems, recognize and respect the validity of the school’s experiences and points of view.
7. Remember that partnerships between organizations often depend on particular individuals within each organization.
This is particularly true with schools, where a change in principals might require rebuilding the partnership. If the principal leaves, it is essential for you and the school liaison to meet with the new principal and talk about what the mentoring program has accomplished and what benefits the school has derived from it.
And, finally, review all evaluation findings with the school. Work together to use the findings to strengthen the program—and be sure to celebrate your achievements.
Adapted from the GWU Publication “The ABCs of School-Based Mentoring” revised September 2007
Organizations that have experience working with schools recommend the following practices for strengthening your partnership and your program’s role in the school:
1. Know the school culture, policies, and procedures.
Respect teachers’ time constraints and need for structure and order. Develop a mentoring schedule that fits into the school-day structure. And obtain feedback from teachers and other school personnel early and often so you can make any necessary adjustments.
2. Be sure your mentors are aware of, and sensitive to, the school culture.
Mentors should understand the procedures for using school property, honor the dress code, and understand whether, when, and how to access teachers. They should also know if there are any “unwritten rules” governing the space where they are meeting with the student. If, for example, they are meeting in an empty classroom, what are the teacher’s “rules” about using any equipment or materials in the room?
3. Understand that school staff and administrators may have had negative experiences with previous outside programs.
At times, well-meaning groups and individuals approach schools with the intention of working with them, and then fail to follow through with, or fall short of, their original commitment. That, in turn, is likely to influence a school’s attitude toward your mentoring program, and you may meet with resistance from some staff and administrators until your program has proven its reliability and value.
4. Be aware of the existence of other outside programs in the school.
Be sure your mentoring program complements rather than duplicates existing programming. Being aware of and, where possible, collaborating with existing school-based programs makes it easier to integrate your program into the school and is likely to enhance your value.
5. Remember that the program requires three-way communication among your organization, the school, and the mentor.
Be sure there is ongoing communication between your organization and the school. And have a clear system in place for notifying the mentor if the youth is not in school on a scheduled meeting date, for notifying the youth if the mentor has to miss a meeting, and for keeping the mentor informed about Anything taking place at the school that she or he should know about. Be sure to provide the mentor with a school calendar.
6. Address and resolve problems as soon as they arise.
As you work together to resolve problems, recognize and respect the validity of the school’s experiences and points of view.
7. Remember that partnerships between organizations often depend on particular individuals within each organization.
This is particularly true with schools, where a change in principals might require rebuilding the partnership. If the principal leaves, it is essential for you and the school liaison to meet with the new principal and talk about what the mentoring program has accomplished and what benefits the school has derived from it.
And, finally, review all evaluation findings with the school. Work together to use the findings to strengthen the program—and be sure to celebrate your achievements.
Adapted from the GWU Publication “The ABCs of School-Based Mentoring” revised September 2007
