The Teacher’s Toolbox: Three Tips to Being a More Effective Mentor

Teaching isn’t always easy. Not only does it require being an expert in your subject, but it also means being able to step into the shoes of a beginner and help them bridge that gap towards achieving mastery.

As a mentor, you’ll do lots of teaching, sharing your knowledge with your mentee to help them find their way along the career path they’ve always dreamed of. But what can you do when your lessons aren’t hitting home? How can you help to ensure that your mentee is learning as effectively as possible?

Every student is of course different, as is every discipline, but fortunately there are some consistent teaching principles that will always work and that’s what we’ll be talking about today. By applying these three tips, you’ll be able to help your mentor learn at their best, helping to support them through their career journey.

Always Think About Goals

If there’s one struggle every teacher knows it’s using your time effectively. How can you impart as much knowledge as possible in the limited space you have? How can you keep your student focused when it can be so easy to end up down rabbit holes of intrigue?

This is only more of a problem when the subject is one both you and your student are passionate about because there’s always the temptation to explore some interesting but irrelevant topic rather than staying focused on the task at hand.

When it comes to your career you can double this problem. After all, there are so many options for how to proceed through a career. All too often it can be easy to take the ‘safe’ path and forget about following your passion altogether.

That being said, if you want your teaching to be really effective then you have to know where it is your mentee wants to go. That might change over time as they learn more about the job role and their options moving forwards but what’s crucially important is that you always understand what goals you’re working towards.

Building better goals – goals that are focused around getting your mentee into the job role they really want – will ensure your time together is practical and effective. Not to mention, once your mentee starts seeing results, they’ll be even more inspired to keep going.

Tailor Your Style to The Mentee;

If there’s one defining trait that can really make an excellent teacher, it’s the ability to be flexible and adaptable in your teaching style.

While the notion of preferred learning methods (auditory, visual, kinesthetic, etc) has come under scrutiny in recent years, the core notion that there are different approaches you can take is sound. In practice that means that if one style isn’t getting an idea across, you can always switch to another.

Say your student just isn’t quite understanding some complex principle you’ve been trying to get across to them. You could repeat your example over and over again or you could give them a practical exercise that will encourage them to come to the idea on their own. Instead of telling them, you’re encouraging them to work it out themself.

The key here is not to be prescriptive with yourself – not to always choose one style over another – but to be responsive to your mentee. To put it simply, see what works for them, be willing to take feedback, and try switching things up if you’re not seeing the results you need.

Project Positivity

It’s easy to underestimate the power of positivity but if there’s one thing we all need from time to time, it’s someone who believes in us. While it can be tempting to always be the voice of realism (especially if your mentee is particularly inexperienced), it’s crucial that you never let that urge towards realism stray into negativity.

It may be a cliche but a can-do attitude can take you a long way. If you want your 

mentee to believe in themself then the first step is showing that you believe in them.

Of course, that’s not to say you have to hide the truth, or even sugar coat it. You should always strive to be honest with your mentee about the challenges they face or whether or not their goals are even possible. The key is not to underestimate what your mentee is capable of.

When properly motivated, we’re all capable of doing great things and a part of that motivation is simply being told that you can. There are few people who can be a more powerful force of inspiration than mentors. After all, you’ve really done the things that your mentee is dreaming of doing. If you say it’s possible then that makes it easier to believe.

If you’re ready to become an inspiration and help people to truly achieve their dreams, then why not sign up to become a mentor today with Career Navig8r?