Learning mentee

The acceptance that mentees should set their own learning objectives. 

The understanding that mentees experiences and developments, even in their apparent failure to achieve objectives, are positive - they are still learning experiences, even (or especially) mistakes ... 

Mentoring utilizes the notion that the potential opportunities for learning include anything that enables mentees to consider or reconsider and possibly reassemble or expand their existing constructs mentors facilitate this process. 

Mentoring utilizes the beneficial effects of knowledge being jointly and socially created through interaction with others learning occurs in the mentor-mentee relationship. 

It induces purposeful change and maximizes the return on the investment in learning. This is achieved by applying methods such as helping the mentee to analyse and reflect on what happened and to compare this to what was intended. This, in turn, equips individuals with the ability to learn how to learn, a skill that will prove forever useful. 

It customizes the learning experience fully to the mentee, who ought to determine both the subject and the type/style of learning. 

An individual learns through mentoring in a variety of ways -for example, by virtue of the various roles that mentors adopt. The following list, based in part on an analysis by Kathy Kram (1983), depicts some of these functions, but it is by no means exhaustive. The mentor s assumption of any one of these roles is largely guided by the mentee s needs, and this means that the mentor is unlikely to adopt all of these roles for every mentee. 

Mentors further facilitate a mentee s learning and development by enabling mentees to ... 

Develop powers of self-evaluation and a capacity for autonomous learning, which together enable mentees to maximize their gain from all learning events and to seek out future learning opportunities on their own. 

However, mentoring relationships can only achieve these positive outcomes if the mentee s learning objectives are clearly established. The objectives set the tone and focus for the mentoring association. They also enable the mentee s progress to be evaluated. Two of the many effective techniques that mentors use in order to enhance mentees learning and development are formal learning objectives, and reviewing the development plan. 

Learning plans or personal development plans (PDF) detail mentees goals and objectives, and the actions necessary to... 

In terms of continuous self-managed learning, effective mentoring fosters within the mentee the ability and desire for... 

Employability. Because mentoring enhances mentees competence and inspires them to engage in life-long learning and development, they will improve their attractiveness to their employer. 

This is a limiting belief, and should not be adhered to. If we only seek out mentors of the same race and gender, we limit ourselves to a narrow perspective. The basis of a mentoring relationship is to learn, and mentees cannot fully appreciate the diversity of life and work if they solely seek out opinions similar to their own. A mentor should aim to challenge and stimulate the mind of mentees, and mentees should be hungry for new ideas and creative solutions. 

In terms of matching mentors with mentees, BAT takes the view that there should be balance between the similar and dissimilar personalities or backgrounds of the two parties. Compatibility depends on the individuals personality type, learning, and communication style. 

Helping the mentee to reflect and to learn from these reflections. 

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