"The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches
but to reveal to him his own."
 - Benjamin Disraeli

I simply loved the short movie!!! Both videos are amazingly insightful, but I like the way both characters in the first video use the best of them to reach goals and jump obstacles; making the best use of tools at hand, and modifying them if necessary. Really enriching!! Thanks

Great videos: mentoring is not telling a new teacher how to do things, but to provide the tools for them to discover how to do it their way.

Mentoring can foster what Shon (1987) refers to as "reciprocally reflective dialogue of coach and student" (p. 40). I hesitate to use terms like mentor/mentee, teacher/student, etc. because the fallacy is that at every moment the same person is the "expert" while the other is the "novice". But if I must, the mentor and mentee thus maintain a reflective discourse that is ongoing and extends to other colleagues in the field. Today, a mentorship that is only being conducted f2f is constraining. Mentorship should involve some amount of technology so that the individual (mentee) can begin this reciprocal reflective dialogue with a group of people. In order to sustain learning, make it as ongoing, transparent, diverse, and interactive as possible. This is the job of a mentor, not assuming this all happens in a limited and less educative f2f, dyadic experience.

I remember my eight-year-old's Taekwondo coach telling all of his students that he wants each of them to work hard so that they can be better than him. Ultimately, mentors should want their mentees to become better than them.

Learning can occur online, offline, synchronously, and asynchronously: any combination of online/synchronous, online asynchronous, offline synchronous, and/or offline asynchronous. The final component is the actually learning theory or theories behind the way in which the mentee is learning. Blended learning or hybrid courses have shown to be effective in higher ed (http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolum/EnhancingStudentLearningandRet/219137), but the trick is to find the right balance of theory, delivery, and content.

Over the last year, I have attempted to setup online spaces where my colleagues and I can interact. I've actually never viewed myself as a mentor, only a facilitator in helping others become a better teacher. But my goal is to provide opportunities for my colleagues to share their ideas, beliefs, and teaching practice not only amongst themselves, but also with other EFL educators from around the world. I am still searching for that right combination of theory, delivery, and content however.

Educative spaces for EFL educators:

Jan.-July of 2010: http://bnleez.moodlehub.com/course/view.php?id=11
Aug. - Dec. of 2010: http://wikieducator.org/PFLE
Jan.-July of 2011: http://bnleez.com/moodle/course/view.php?id=3

Thanks Ben for that comprehensive look at your work. You note that you are still searching for the right combination of theory, delivery and content. What about 'practice' and what about 'community'? and what are your criteria for the discovery of the right combination?

I'm not looking to achieve a certain community of practice, per se. What I would like to see is teachers connecting with others through showing a researched-based rationale for what they do as a teacher and learner. The teacher (mentee) then is at the center of importance, not a community, culture, or school. In other words, I am not trying to bring teachers in from the periphery and am not trying to build consensus on "best" practices. I am more interested in creating the opportunities for teachers to reflect and share how their personal learning network influences their own professional development. This could mean interacting in the peripheral in some (online) communities or it may mean taking a more central role in other communities. So, I am not advocating to our faculty that we are THE community they should participate in. What I am trying to establish are a variety of options for them to interact...whether it's directly within our community or another.

Based on feedback from our students, we define areas of our program that teachers can use to problem set and solve through the involvement of action research. Addressing their problems through participatory action research becomes the means for their own personalized professional development endeavor that is supported by a personal learning network. As their facilitator, coordinator, supervisor, or whatever the term, my job is to coach them through the process in a way that allows them to take risks and to not be afraid of making mistakes. My goal is to move teachers from being dependent to independent, then on the being interdependent. This implies taking on a variety of directive, collaborative, and nondirective roles depending on the context.

Hi Ben,
Reading your first paragraph in the message above I felt referred to the mentoring iceberg Angi Malderez, in my opinion, effectively used to represent a wide concept of community back in 1999.
It is striking how words seem to bring ambiguities and how much fear of being misunderstood can be triggered by a simple question.
Are your teachers mentors of other teachers? Because in your description of your relationship with them I read what Shefali coined as "super mentor" , term I love, or some others call "mentor coach".
Thanks for all the info you are sharing.

I'd like to share a bit about my own experiences as a mentee in relation to the face to face vs. virtual mentoring relationship. My own relationship with my mentor initially began when I took a course she was teaching. Through the class, of course we interacted face to face and I got to know her both as a professor and also as a person. However, I live in another continent thousands of miles away. After I returned to my home, I feel the mentoring relationship has grown even stronger. The main ways that we communicate are through Skype and emails. There is also a sense of community amongst her mentees as she has started a private blog where we engage in conversations related to each others developments and experiences. I do think the fact that we had initially met in person did play a large part in building a strong foundation as there seems to be more of a personal connection, which can sometimes be harder to achieve in exclusively online communication.

My mentor is absolutely a mentor in every sense of the word. I feel incredibly lucky that I've had the opportunity to meet and work with my mentor. She does inspire me, paralleling Freire's quotes in the Diaz Maggioil article. Sure, I probably could have learned the content from another source, but it's not only that content and knowledge that is transforming me. It's bigger than that--seeing it in action from a mentor who is a powerful role model and recognizing the real possiblity that I too can engage in that part of the professional world gives me courage and confidence to aspire toward greater ambitions. (Sorry if that's a little cheesy, but it really is so powerful).

Basically I think what it comes down to is that the power of the mentor lies not in the medium of communication, but rather in the quality and strength of the mentor. Having this experience as a mentee is inspiring me to try to learn more about the mentoring process so that I can also share this experiences with my own mentees.

Ben, I agree that we should not presume that the flow of knowledge is one way. We call them 'mentors' and 'mentees' under the assumption that the mentor is more experienced and has more knowledge in the subject area. But we should not presume that the mentee may not be able to find a solution to the problem on her/his own. With a little suggestion the individual may come up with remarkable solutions. The mentor only suggests the tools and allows the individual to try them out. As John Wooden says, the mentor actually helps the individual to achieve his /her full protential and there is a likelihood or even an anticipation that he or she will surpass the mentor. Faith and patience are the key words for the mentor.

The first video also sends the message across that there are alternative ways to overcome a problem. The coach or the mentor suggests, provides the tools and at times scaffolds. The individual interprets it according to her/his schema and uses it in a way unique to her/him in the quest for success. This leads to the creation of something new in a situation which is as dynamic as it is challenging.

I can relate to John Wooden's definition of success; if you have tried your best you should get some self satisfaction. What you learn and experience on the way is what is worth the effort. You need to reflect on the process you go through in order to realize and be aware of what has been learned on the way. I liked his quotation of Cervantes (I think it was) "the journey is better than the end", and I'll make sure I'll share it with my students and people I work with.

When I see this gentleman face, I can't believe how much energy he still has for the teaching profession.Love what his father tod him: don't whine,don't complaint,dont' make excuses but do your best.

Lovely comments!Thanks. Problems are everyday matters in a mentor/mentee relationship, th epoint is tackling them together...