March 6, 2005 - Experts and Specialists
Mentors as experts. I don't believe that a mentor should be an expert. In fact, it may actually be more of a hinderance. If we believe that mentoring is a give and take rather than a directed experience, then it makes sense that the mentor does not have to be an expert. However, then I think about teaching and I ask myself, if you don't need to be an expert to be a mentor, then can a teacher with 2 years experience be a mentor to a new teacher? My first thought is no. A 2 year teacher doesn't have enough experience related to dealing with the variety of problems and situations that occur in teaching. Then again, if the 2 year mentoring teacher is passionate about their role and pursues the role, then it would probably be worthwhile and may be a successful relationship. As we've often stated, it is a give and take. Mentoring is a relationship and as such it isn't easy to reduce it to a few “rules.” It's fluid.
Perhaps deciding whether the mentor should be an expert or not depends on the purpose of the mentoring. Is it for job indoctrination or for professional growth? This really isn't an easy question with a yes or no answer. When I select someone to be a mentor for someone else, I look for a person that I feel exemplary the type of teacher that supports the school's mission. For me that makes sense. They may or may not be a expert in their field. They may or may not be an expert in mentoring. I do feel that the both parties should be provided with some training in the roles and the expectations. Experts become experts through experience and interaction.
We are mentoring and we are not experts in mentoring, however we are definitely learning and growing and developing methods that will assist us in becoming better mentors.