Hi everyone this is a reflective account of research so far;
Through my interviews it has become apparent that the phenomena 'mentorship' is very ' very' diverse . The mentors who have agreed to see me so far, all have the qualities that would enhance learning for any student they mentored. In fact it has been a privilege to meet these people, their descriptions of service delivery and student learning is fantastic.
What is fundamental is that they are all graduates of Masters level and above (so far).
It seems that educational ability has a real connection with mentorship, or at the very least the mentor demonstrates a commitment to individual development.
The mentors seem to use their own educational understanding to both engage and assist the student. They have provided clear direction for the project and also have illustrated that it may enable both themselves and the students.
However it is becoming apparent that not all groups (FD) are actively involved with mentorship and if they are, this is not an experience they want to share.
Following contact with one mentor, she said
"I only did it once, for one of my staff, I won't be able to help. I won't be doing it again"
It transpires that this lady works in a team of 8 and only one person has done a Foundation Degree. It is also difficult to ascertain and maybe I am speaking out of turn, why some areas of study (FD) find it more useful to have structured mentor whilst others, do not recognise the need, or their own ability to enhance learning.
I have a variety of views on this , but it's early days and I have few more people to meet.
Michael.
