TAOÍSTA YOGA

The name Mentor first appears in Homer’s Odyssey as a trusted friend who agrees to care for Telemachus, Odysseus’ son. But, as with much Greek mythology, Mentor also takes on the form of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, adding an interesting dimension of the importance of both male and female

attributes in the role of mentor as well as the need for age and wisdom. This hints at the complexity of the mentor role as well as the range of attributes and characteristics needed. This will be discussed in more detail later.

As the role of mentor has become more familiar in literature associated with management and staff development, competing definitions have emerged. Dodgson (1986:29) argues that the definition of a mentor is ‘elusive and varies according to the view of the author’ and this is certainly borne out in the lack of any agreed definition. As well as the position of academic writers, there is also the perspective of the mentor and mentee as their experience of the mentoring relationship will serve to define how the role of a mentor is perceived. Several pieces of research show a strong link between perceived quality and mentoring productivity in such a way that the mentor and mentee ‘construct’ their understanding of what it is to be a mentor which then becomes a key part of being a mentor (Smith et al., 2005; Nielson and Eisenbach, 2003; Allen and Eby, 2003; Roberts, 2000). The research by Smith et al. (2005) and Cox’s (2003) research also show how the organisational setting influences the way in which mentors and their characteristics are defined. The contested nature of the definition, the influence of organisational culture and the experiences of both mentor and mentee indicate that not only does the definition of mentor vary as an academic paradigm but as a construct for mentors and mentees. Therefore, it is likely that mentors working in different sectors of PCET will have context- specific experiences, knowledge and skills which will form their understanding of their role. Similarly, staff managing mentor systems will have their own

understanding of what they need from a mentor in terms of organisational and professional requirements. The situated nature of all professional activities needs to be acknowledged and made explicit in order to gain a full understanding of how definitions are reached and how this frames the interpretations and actions of mentors and mentees. An example of this is offered by Wallace and Gravells (2007:2) who remind us that some of the mentoring arrangements used in FE colleges ‘would not be recognised as such by the world of industry and commerce, which tends on the whole to attach to the term mentor a very specialised and specific meaning’. It seems that the role of mentor is context-specific, possibly requiring different skills and ways of working depending upon the setting.

Although Wallace and Gravells (2007) would argue against standardisation in mentoring of trainee teachers on the grounds that mentoring is a relationship, subject to an infinite number of human variables, this debate serves to raise concerns about the types of mentoring and mentors available and the impact of different experiences on trainee teachers. This exposes an inherent assumption in the legislation and associated guidance; all mentors and mentees will be appropriately and equally skilled to undertake their roles. Also, the practicalities of training sufficient mentors with subject expertise in every area would be too onerous to be workable. However, Wallace and Gravells, like many other theorists, do not consider alternative models of mentoring, beyond the boundaries of the FE institution. It may be necessary to open up definitions of mentoring to allow for new models to emerge as these may be required for the less traditional settings of the VCS providers.

Some writers have attempted to review the breadth of definitions on offer in order to provide a picture of the complexity in the field (Matthews, 2003; Woodd, 2001). Acknowledging the lack of a single definition, Matthews (2003:314) provides the following list of sample definitions;

Scholar Definition of a mentor

Phillips-Jones (1982) Mentors are influential people who significantly help you reach your major life goals.

Kram (1985) A mentor is an experienced, productive manager who relates well to a less experienced employee and facilitates his or her development for the benefit of the individual as well as that of the organization.

Ragins (1989) Mentors are higher ranking, influential, senior organizational members with advanced experience and knowledge who are committed to providing upward mobility and support to a protégé’s professional career.

Reece and Brandt (1993) Mentors are people who have been where you want to go in your career and who are willing to act as your guide and friend.

Garrick and Alexander A mentor is now defined as a person who takes (1994) on, or is given responsibility for another’s learning

Beardwell and Holden Mentors are more experienced employees (and (1994) often managers) who guide, encourage and

support younger or less experienced employees or protégés.

Smith (1998) A mentor is an older, more experienced person in the organization who takes on a younger member of the organization as a protégé, and through the relationship developed, helps the protégé to advance his or her career.

Lacey (1999) A mentor is a trusted and significant leader who works with a partner (a mentee) to help them learn things more quickly or earlier, or to learn things they otherwise might not have learnt.

Walton (1999) A mentor is an experienced and often senior employee who supports and advises less experienced and often younger colleagues through their personal and career development.

More recent definitions include:

Shea (2002:8) A mentor is one who offers knowledge, insight, perspective, or wisdom that is especially useful to the other person.

The mentor serves as an effective tutor, counsellor, friend, and foil who enables the mentee to sharpen skills and hone her or his thinking.

Rogers (2007) A mentor is ‘a colleague in the same or a parallel organization who is not in a line management relationship with a mentee’.

Matthews (2003:316) states that there are a number of common elements in all the definitions she offers:

(1) a mentor is usually a high ranking, influential, senior member of the organization with significant experience and knowledge, and (2) the individual is also willing to share their experience with younger employees (Beardwell and Holden, 1994: 317; Ragins, 1989:2)

This observation appears to be made within the context of a hierarchical organisation and draws a link between being a mentor and age. Thus, like Ragins (1989) and Smith (1998) Matthews implies that a mentor is older than a mentee. She also identifies a common theme that the role of mentoring is to assist ‘the protégé to learn, to develop and to make career plans’ (2003:316). This definition describes a mentoring relationships defined by age and power, whereby a ‘senior’ member of staff passes on their wisdom to a ‘junior’. This seems to be a mentoring arrangement designed to perpetuate existing practices in order to reproduce the organisational culture and develop new staff in a way which does not challenge the status quo. It also creates mentees in the ‘image’ of the mentor which will make it more likely that a particular type of mentor will be established as the role model for all future mentors. This may be suited to organisations where it is important to pass on

a culture but for many teachers in PCET they will work across a range of organisations and they may be mentored as part of a course that is not delivered by their employing organisation.

Cunningham (2005:25) also explores the themes of experience and culture without making the power relationship or issues of hegemony so obvious when he proposes the following definition:

Mentors in PCET are skilled, experienced teachers who are involved in guiding, counselling and supporting trainees in practical ways. They are able to offer both a role model and essential information on a college’s learners, its curriculum, its organisational structure and its policies, at least those relating to learning and teaching.

Again, there are inherent assumptions in this definition as to the background and skills set the mentor will bring with them to the role.

Woodd (2001:101) proposes three distinct types of mentor with different functions and responsibilities; the Induction Guide or Mentor, The Subject Mentor and the Career Mentor. The Induction Guide could be ‘any teacher with communication skills and an ability to deliver information in acceptable stages’. They act like a ‘buddy’ and Woodd links her definition to Dreyfuss and Dreyfuss’ (1986) level 1 and to Boydell’s (1994) prime type of ‘learning to implement’. In this sense it is a fairly practical and mechanistic role and does not appear to need reflective skills. The Subject Mentor type moves onto the development of the new teacher in terms of their professional practice and Woodd links it to Dreyfuss and Dreyfuss’ (1986) levels 2 and 3 as well as

noting that it implies some form of role modelling on being ‘an organiser’. The final type, the Career Mentor, recognises the importance of peer support, reflective practice and the value of the mentoring relationship to both mentor and mentee. This Subject Mentor seems to offer the type of support envisaged in the Ofsted (2006) comments whereas the Career Mentor contains the skill of reflection which would lead to transferable learning. By breaking down the role of the mentor, Woodd is alerting us to different functions and, potentially, different outcomes for mentoring relationships.