Teachers as Mentors

Educators educate, right? Absolutely right, and when asked ‘what do you do?’ my answer would be ‘I’m a teacher’.

However what struck me this week as I read about National Mentoring Day and watched the Opogo video, is that teachers also fulfill the role of mentor, and we often do this without actually realising it.

I teach Business and I’m Head of Careers and this half term I took some time to think about the young people who I have ‘mentored’ throughout my 8 years in education.

We all have one of those. The teacher who had a lasting impact and who made a difference.

I haven’t always been involved in careers education, so whilst this provides mentoring opportunities, what I realised is that many of us provide mentoring in the classroom.

As teachers we do the following every day:

• Set achievable targets
• Provide support to reach targets
• Suggest strategies to overcome challenges
• Provide pastoral support
• Motivate
• Praise
• Celebrate Achievement

While we do this for all pupils, it is inevitable that within each class or year group there will be certain individuals who will respond and benefit from your mentoring more than others.

The impact of this tends to results in that young person referring to you as ‘the teacher they will always remember’.

So as you start this hectic half term and plan for the craziness of what lies ahead, remember that you are not just educating, you are mentoring young people every day you set foot in your classroom.

You are making a positive difference in their lives and you might be the teacher they will always remember.