Mentoring in Postsecondary Education

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Mentoring in Postsecondary Education

I’ll be your Mentor

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Institutions of Higher Education are becoming increasingly diverse,

including more students with disabilities attending postsecondary

education. This increase in diversity may (or seems to) require new

teaching pedagogy and instructional strategies.

Students with Disabilities as Diverse Learners (SDDL) is a

federally funded project administered by the Center on Disability

Studies at the University of Hawai‘i. SDDL staff provide

Professional Development Trainings to college faculty for teaching

students with disabilities and other diverse learners, with the goal

of improving student retention and matriculation rates. As part of

this effort, we have developed PowerPoint presentations, best

viewed in SlideShow mode. We hope this PPT enhances your

teaching and learning experience for all students.



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Instructions

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Overview

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Mentoring

Exercises

Model

Components

Resources



• To discuss mentoring history and general concepts.

• To provide information about mentoring in general in postsecondary education.

• To provide information about mentoring related to individuals with disabilities in postsecondary education.

• To offer suggestions for using mentoring related to individuals with disabilities in postsecondary education.

• To share exercises to be used to facilitate mentoring in postsecondary education.

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Goals

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• To understand fundamental mentoring concepts.

• To understand why mentoring is important for students with disabilities in postsecondary education.

• To learn why faculty may benefit from being mentored by students with disabilities.

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Objectives

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Evaluation

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You can evaluate this module by clicking on the following link Click Here

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http://portal.coe.hawaii.edu/survey.php?survey=809



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Click on the appropriate box to go to that section

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Components



The History of Mentoring Mentoring, both conceptually

and in practice, is ancient.

Greek author Homer described Odysseus leaving for battle and requesting his friend Mentor to guide and protect his son in his absence.

Since the 20th Century when organizations such as the Big Brothers, Big Sisters and 12-step programs were popularized, mentors models have proliferated.

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Ancient

mentoring

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Mentoring is a dynamic, reciprocal, long-term formal, or

informal, relationship that focuses on personal and/or

professional development. A mentor is a sounding board

and guide. Mentors provide perspective, resources, and

ask thought-provoking questions. In the ideal mentoring

relationship, mentors and mentees or protégés learn and

teach each other.

What is Mentoring?

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Brown, S. E., Takahashi, K., and Roberts, K. D. (2010). Mentoring individuals with disabilities in postsecondary education: A review of the literature,” Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 23(2), 98-111.



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Working

Learning

Connecting

Thriving

Leading

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Why Mentoring is Important

Hare, R. (2008). Plotting the course for Success: An Individualized Mentoring Plan for youth with disabilities. Washington, D.C: National Consortium on Leadership and Disability for Youth, Institute for Educational Leadership.



The Importance of Mentoring in Postsecondary Education

Helps to develop relationships with professors

Assist in the alliance with peers

Helps to develop a support system

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Retention of students

Promotes accessibility

Promotes inclusion

Matriculation for students with disabilities

All are a hole in one!!!Click on the black holes to see the benefits. (Left to right)

Creates inclusive environments

Transfer skill sets to other areas

Increases the knowledge, skills and awareness of faculty members related to disability issues

Students with disabilities are both mentees mentors

Friendships

Why is Mentoring Important for Faculty and Students with

Disabilities?

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Benefits of Mentoring students with disabilities:

Increased self-esteemFeelings of accomplishmentInsight into childhood and adolescencePersonal gain, such as increased patience, a sense of effectiveness, and acquiring new skills or knowledge

(Rhodes et al, 2000)

Common Reported Benefits of Mentees:

Better attitudes towards school and futureDecreased likelihood of initiating drug and alcohol use (dual diagnosis)Great feelings of academic competenceImproved academic performanceMore positive relationships with friends and family

(Campbell-Whatley, 2001)

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Benefits Continued...A black figure holding an umbrella to protect himself and his puppy

Rhodes, J. E., Grossman, J. B., & Resch, N. L. (2000). Agents of change: Pathways through which mentoring relationships influence adolescents" academic adjustment. Child Development, 71, 1662-1671.

Campbell-Whatley, G. (2001). Mentoring students with mild disabilities: The “nuts and bolts” of program development. Intervention in School and Clinic, (36) 211-216.



Why Mentoring is Important for Faculty and Students with Disabilities (Cont’d)

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Mentoring can be an essential component of higher education. Many students, including students with disabilities, need mentors. For students with disabilities, mentors may be other students with disabilities who serve as role models, showing it's possible to:

1) Be successful in a potentially difficult environment;

2) Learn skills to leading to success in the postsecondary environment.

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Students provide insight into the disability experience within and outside of postsecondary education--Students with disabilities are often the experts in their own disabilities and how it affects them so they can become mentors to faculty who often know much less about disability.

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Why Mentoring is Important for Faculty and Students with Disabilities (Cont’d)

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Types of Mentoring

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Different Types

One-to-one

mentoring

Group mentoring

Mentoring

One-to-one mentoring

Electronic

Group mentoring

Peer

Community-based

mentoring

Face-to-face

Email

Phone

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Model

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Mentoring


Exercises

Overview

Components

Resources



Mentoring Model

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Brown, S. E., Takahashi, K., and Roberts, K. D. (2010). Mentoring individuals with disabilities in postsecondary education: A review of the literature,” Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 23(2), 98-111.



How the Model Applies

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Longevity

Commitment

Socializing and Spending time in more casual settingsRelationships more casual

and informalCollaboration

Time Together-Distance or Face-to-Face

MentorMentee

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What Do We Know About Mentoring in Postsecondary Education?

Faculty mentoring may be a valuable resource to students through:

Dynamic, reciprocal and/or professional development

A sounding board and guide

Mentors provide a perspective, resources, while asking thought provoking questions

Mentors/mentees learn from one another

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What Have We Learned About Faculty-Student Mentoring?

Students with disabilities are both mentees of faculty in areas of the faculty’s expertise and mentors to faculty in areas about disability.

Sharing perspectives, communicating and interacting are the essence of the mentoring relationship.

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Common Student/Faculty Mentoring Activities

Meeting to discuss academics, major selection, career goals, graduate schools, and personal matters.

Assisting with questions about University policies and campus resources/services

On campus lunches or coffee breaks.

Activities

Attending professional meetings with student mentees and holding discussion groups.

Reviewing resumes, scholarship applications and preparing for internship interviews.

Participating in student life and development, student leadership and special events.

Preparing and presenting at conferences.

Attending student’s graduation, meeting family and friends.

(Partners for Success, California State University @ Long Beach)http://www.csulb.edu/divisions/students/partners/mentors/activities.html

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http://www.csulb.edu/divisions/students/partners/mentors/activities.html



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Framework

Helps both faculty & students work together better

Supports

Reduces barriers in both academic & extra-curricular activities

Best PracticesProactively meets the needs of diverse learners


Mentoring

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Accommodations to Consider When Mentoring Students With Disabilities

• A mentor should always locate an accessible place in which to meet

• A mentee with a health condition may tire easily and need a flexible schedule, i.e., accommodate by planning a morning meeting rather than afternoon because the mentee tires later in the day

• A specific time to eat and a special menu because they for example have diabetes



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• A mentee with a physical disability may have challenges with transportation and, as a result, be late for mentoring meetings

• The mentee who is deaf or hard of hearing will likely need an interpreter or assistive technology at mentor meetings

• A mentee with a hidden disability such as a learning disability. ADD or ADHD may appear overwhelmed and confused at times. Be patient!

Accommodations to Consider When Mentoring Students With Disabilities (Cont’d)



Be open to working with students with disabilities.

Keep in mind that good mentor/mentee relationships do not happen overnight.

Open communication is important.

Mentor/mentees need to develop the best way to work together.

Seek opportunities to maintain contact.

Both mentee and mentor discuss expectations, so they are in agreement about what to expect from the mentoring relationship.

Recommendations for a Successful Mentoring Relationship

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Components

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Mentoring


Exercises

Overview

Model

Resources



Components of a Successful Mentoring Relationship

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Reciprocity• Mentor and mentee both learn from the experience.

Informality• Mentors/mentees develop a casual, or informal,

relationship, even if it begins as a formal mentoring relationship

Longevity• Mentors and mentees are together for longer than a

year.Socializing• Drinking coffee, socializing, spending time together in

non-academic ways.Technology• Using computer and networking technologies for

electronic, or e-mentoring.

Foster Heckman, E., Brown, S. E., & Roberts, K. D. (Fall 2007). Mentoring Partnership Project: Exploring mentoring practices for students with disabilities in postsecondary education. HEATH Resource Center Newsletter. George Washington University, Washington, D.C. Retrieved from http://www.ist.hawaii.edu/products/


http://www.ist.hawaii.edu/products/



Components of a Successful Mentoring Relationship (Cont’d)

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Collaboration • Cooperation, such as exploring scholarly research

writing, and presentations together.

Communication• Face-to-face meetings, emails, and phone

conferences.Commitment• Mentors and mentees make a long-term commitment

(generally at least a year).

Transferable • Faculty and student mentoring relationship evolve over

time. Relationships may continue after a student graduates. Mentoring relationships are fluid and can take a different shape over time.



http://www.ist.hawaii.edu/products/



Overview

Model

Components

Resources

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Mentoring

Exercises




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Exercises Exercise #1: Mentors in your Life

(can be conducted with a group or individually)

a.Have you had mentors?b.If so, think about some of your mentors

1. What did you like best about the mentoring relationship?2. Was there something about the mentoring relationship you didn’t

like?3. What, if anything, would you have changed? 4. If you haven’t had mentors, what would you like from a mentor?

c.Think of one experience or story from one mentoring relationship you’d be willing to share with the group to describe something you really liked about your mentoring relationship.

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ExercisesExercise #2: Forced Choices (this is a group exercise)

Instruction: Ask everyone if they are comfortable standing or going to a part of the room where there is some space. Tell participants you are going to ask a series of questions and they will be given a couple of seconds to make a decision and go to one side of the room or the other. There is no middle-ground and no questions.

Purpose of this exercise:To react to the choices- forced choices- rather than give participants time to think them through. They can be modified to your own situations.




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ExercisesExercise #2: Forced Choices (this is a group exercise)

After the exercise:Discuss what happened in the context of individuals with disabilities. Many times, people with disabilities are forced to make choices, or have choices forced on them, that are not ideal. This may also apply to mentees with disabilities, hence the purpose of the exercise is for mentors to understand that what is going on in the life of a student with a disability may be more impactful than what is happening in the classroom or in his or her studies.




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ExercisesExercise #2: Forced Choices (Continued)

Would you rather: •Have AIDS or Alzheimer's?•Have autism or mental illness?•Be rich and poor health or poor and healthy?•Be at home with parents or in a group home with supervision?•Read print or listen to a book?•Go to a movie theater or watch a DVD?

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ExercisesExercise #2: Forced Choices (Continued)

Would you rather: •Be a mentor or a mentee?•Talk on the phone or email?•Spend time on a social networking site or go to the beach?•Teach lecture classes or seminars?•Be in a formal or informal mentoring relationship?•Get together with a student in your office or at a coffee shop?




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ExercisesExercise #3: Mentoring Relationships

(can be conducted with a group or individually)

a.Describe a mentoring relationship (as mentee and/or mentor) that you have had in the postsecondary environment where diversity was a key component of the relationship.

1.Were you the mentor, mentee or both?2.Was this a formal or informal relationship and how did it start (i.e. were you participating in a mentoring program or did the relationship just evolve)?3.Did the issue of diversity and/or disability enter into the relationship?




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ExercisesExercise #3: Mentoring Relationships (Continued)

4. What did you learn from the relationship?5. What did you bring to the relationship?6. What were the challenges and successes of maintaining the

mentoring relationship?7. How did you maintain the relationship over time?8. What did this mentoring relationship mean to you in the

long term?9. How did your mentoring relationship evolve over time i.e.,

(instructor, advisor, supervisor, mentor, friend).




Evaluation

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You can evaluate this module by clicking on the following link Click Here

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http://portal.coe.hawaii.edu/survey.php?survey=809



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Resources

Mentoring

Exercises


Overview

Model

Components



American Association of People with Disabilities(AAPD): http://www.aapd.com/

Association of Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD): http://ahead.org/

DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology): http://www.washington.edu/doit/

STRIDE (Successful Transitions in Diverse Environments) Hawai‘i: http://www.hawaii.edu/stride/

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Resources

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ReferencesBrown, S. E., Takahashi, K., and Roberts, K. D. (2010). Mentoring individuals with

disabilities in postsecondary education: A review of the literature,” Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 23(2), 98-111.

Campbell-Whatley, G. (2001). Mentoring students with mild disabilities: The “nuts and bolts” of program development. Intervention in School and Clinic, (36) 211-216.


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ReferencesHare, R. (2008). Plotting the course for Success: An Individualized Mentoring

Plan for youth with disabilities. Washington, D.C: National Consortium on National Consortium on Leadership and Disability for Youth, Institute for Educational Leadership.Leadership and Disability for Youth, Institute for Educational Leadership.

Rhodes, J. E., Grossman, J. B., & Resch, N. L. (2000). Agents of change: Pathways through which mentoring relationships influence adolescents" academic adjustment. Child Development, 71, 1662-1671.

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For More Information, Contact:Project Coordinators

Steven E. Brown, [email protected]

Megan Conway, [email protected]

Project CoordinatorsTeaching all Students, Reaching all Learners

Website address: www.ist.hawaii.edu

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END

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Mentoring in Postsecondary Education