Unlocking your potential: why do you need a mentor?

What functions does he perform at school?

According to a survey conducted by MK, 76% of Russians consider the influence of a teacher-mentor on a teenager’s self-determination and his future professional choice to be important. Who is a mentor and why is he needed at school?

A mentor is a kind of strategist who helps schoolchildren study and choose a future profession. Most often, they are teachers or psychologists who want to share their experiences and help teenagers find themselves. According to the definition of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives of Russia, mentoring is the “personal shaping” of a person’s talents, assistance in maximizing potential and professionalism.

In a broad sense, any school psychologist or teacher is engaged in mentoring. Every day he answers questions, gives individual assignments, guides the student, offers different teaching methods, and monitors progress. Only a professional mentor does this purposefully and regularly.

A mentor—a person with extensive experience—helps a less experienced colleague achieve challenging work goals. For example, at school it will help a young teacher understand a new teaching methodology or prepare for a professional competition, and a child will help to join a team or learn to solve equations.

All children are different, some study straight A’s, but do not have time to think about their real desires, others study worse, but devote themselves entirely to one subject, which they will need to enter a college or university. They all need a hint, an opportunity to turn to someone who, from the height of their years, experience and qualifications, will help them decide, not to be scattered, but to be tuned in to their personal course.

In addition, the mentor helps to overcome the reasons that caused difficulties. For example, if a child does not know how to do homework, the mentor does not do the work with him, but teaches him to do it independently. To do this, he helps the student master the principles of planning, self-organization, searching for sources of information, and teaches him to identify his strengths and weaknesses.

“Our efforts are now aimed at creating key tools that will determine the status and position of mentors in society. The results of the work done allow us to say that the legal and methodological foundations on which we want to systematically develop the institution of mentoring in Russia will be accepted by the professional community – it is actively involved in their formation,” noted Deputy Minister of Education of the Russian Federation Denis Gribov during an expert discussion projects of the professional standard “Mentor” and the federal law on mentoring.

Executive Director of the All-Russian public movement of mentors of children and youth “Mentors of Russia” Andrei Samotoin drew attention to the key difference between mentoring and mentoring and tutoring – it is connected with the concept of “upbringing”. According to him, it is important for the younger generation to convey that the first mentors in a child’s life are parents. If parents realize that the future of their children depends on them, this will avoid many problems.

Deputy General Director of the ANO National Agency for the Development of Qualifications Alla Faktorovich noted that today the main task of a mentor is to create conditions under which a person receives the necessary professional skills to enter the corporate culture.

Photo: Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation