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Mentoring as Self-Care ... The Connection to Quality
by Beverlie Dietze

Mentoring began in Ancient Greece Around 1200 BC – Sherye Nefstead

Early childhood educators who make a commitment to the field, quickly recognize the need to engage in challenge, exploration, change, renewal and reflection as a way to support lifelong learning and knowledge building within the profession. Meanwhile, research on staff burn-out, job dissatisfaction and staff turn-over, remind us that self-care strategies must also be addressed so that caregivers achieve a balance between personal and workplace satisfaction. When personal satisfaction and job satisfaction are met, the quality of care for children and families is maintained or exceeds current levels of care. This article focuses on how mentoring empowers staff, creates a supportive workplace, and broadens the quality of self-care and caregiving skills, in a cost-effective manner.

Mentoring is a learning/guiding relationship between an experienced person who shares knowledge and skills with a less experienced person in order to support the less experienced person to develop their own skills and abilities.1 Mentors in early childhood education become role models, advocates, advisors, guilds, developers of skills, listeners, coaches, challengers, visionaries, balancers, facilitators and resource providers to colleagues. They initiate strategies or provide encouragement to mentees in the exploration, experiences and reflective practices of issues, strategies and processes related to quality care for children and families.

Mentoring of peers, groups and professionals can be correlated with Katz's developmental stages of teaching.2 Early childhood educators in stage I – survival – and stage II – consolidation – benefit from peer mentors. They may be the same age or equal status within the workplace, but have more experience and can provide onsite support. They may be group mentors, who have a number of mentees and meet with all or a staff group concurrently. The focus of group interaction is to address the needs of the mentees.

As early childhood educators progress to stage III – renewal – and stage IV– maturity – becoming a professional mentor supports the early childhood educator in his/her need to share and exchange information with others. The mentoring process encourages the establishment of a one-on-one relationship between a mentee seeking assistance with career and professional development, and a mentor who has experience working in the field, usually in a variety of progressive positions.

Mentoring is one of the most effective job-embedded staff development techniques. It can be an efficient and effective means of offering support and learning opportunities to team members delivering care. Mentors employed in the same setting model effective child care practices and encourage mentees to use reflection and discussion to describe effectiveness of a delivery. This supports a key component to quality care for children — a well-informed, highly-motivated and highly-skilled work team.

Apps maintains that although most careers today require individuals to participate in learning new information, in order for this to occur there must be an environment where continuous learning occurs. He suggests that opportunities for change in job responsibility increases best practices, collaboration among team members occurs, and an increase in team morale can occur.3 Wu reminds us that the most crucial learning for early childhood educators occurs in the first two years. He suggests that beyond this two-year phase, staff development must include opportunities to unlearn skills as well as to substitute new practices and processes.4

Mentoring has many advantages as a teaching/learning method for those in a caregiving role. For example mentoring in the workplace:
. helps the mentee gain direct experience in a familiar environment;
. offers cost-effective educational programming;
. provides accessible role modeling;
. increases confidence of both the mentor and mentee;
. improves leadership and communication skills for the mentor and mentee;
. supports mentees to discover new options and opportunities.

The value of the mentoring process may have significant impact on the individuals involved. Through the process, attitudes, values and philosophies about such topics as family-centred practice, community alliances, inclusion, identification of individual needs and self-knowledge are discussed and transferred to best practices in the workplace.

When mentoring is successful, generally both the mentor and mentee better understand cultural, social and economic backgrounds different from their own, build stronger ties with families and communities, build caring citizens through serving and responsibility. Overall, the relationship results in a stimulating, rewarding experience. From an early childhood education perspective, this supports how mentoring contributes to the development of self-knowledge, personal growth and workplace support. These combined, increase the foundation needed for achieving quality care.

The findings on mentoring are clear. Mentoring cannot be haphazard and there must be clear expectations established at the onset of the relationship. Failure to do so has the potential to create unrealistic expectations of mentors and/or mentees, expectations of mentee failure, or feelings of inferiority. When any of this occurs, quality care is jeopardized.

However, if the mentoring relationship offers interaction that compliments both people, if the mentor's experience supports the skills of the mentee to develop, and if both parties have realistic expectations, the positive effects will be felt in the quality of interactions and programming, and in the respect exhibited to colleagues, children, families and communities served by the early childhood service.

Beverlie Dietze is a professor in the Early Childhood Education program at Loyalist College. She is an educational doctorate candidate at OISE/UT.

Endnotes
1. Crossley,B., Dietze, B. & Hume, J.(2002). The Process of Mentoring. Loyalist College, p. 1.
2. Katz, L. (1995). Talks with Teachers of Young Children. A Collection. Westport, CT: Ablex Publishing Company.
3. Apps, J. (1991). Mastering the Teaching of Adults. Toronto: Keiger Publishing Company.
4. Wu, P. (1988). Why is change difficult? Lessons for Staff Development. 9(2), pp.10-14.