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My Mentor Philosophy Final-2
My Mentor Philosophy Final-2
My Mentor Philosophy
Melanie Bengtson
My Mentor Philosophy
Mentoring is an activity that is unique and personal based on each and every relationship.
Every mentor comes from a different upbringing that includes different experiences and
teachings and developing different strengths, weaknesses, morals, and values. Basically, every
mentor perceives life differently and has a different understanding of knowledge. This diversity
is why it is important to develop a personal mentor philosophy that will be able to maximize the
productivity of the relationship based on the individuals within the relationship. After analyzing
various readings throughout the semester, I have been able to define what I believe that
knowledge is, and analyze the role of knowledge in a mentoring relationship in an effort to create
Knowledge is a crucial aspect of mentoring. One must be able to critically analyze and
define what knowledge is before being able to declare what they know. One is not able to
directly and thoroughly teach others what they do not know and understand themselves. I use the
word ‘directly’ because a lack of knowledge in a certain subject may teach an unplanned or
unintentional lesson, but not necessarily the concept itself. With that being said, my personal
definition of knowledge is “A belief and justification that a true statement is true, while also
being able to provide evidence and explanation for that truth from experiences”. To be able to
directly teach someone something, one must be able to justify the truth with evidence, and
the sense that we both agree on an emphasis on experience. We as humans learn from our
experiences, and we use these experiences to develop our own perception of life. These
perceptions help to shape our relationships with other living people both near and far. For
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example, you might have a more positive relationship and experience with someone who
perceives an idea the same way that you do. This is not to say that one cannot have a positive
relationship with someone who disagrees with a certain belief; it all depends on your unique
experiences and perceptions. Building relationships with others is important because not one
person in this world lives and dies completely alone (Dewey, 1938/1965). We all learn from each
other and we gain knowledge from our perceptions of these relationships we build every day. As
Dewey wrote in Experience and Thinking, “the measure of the value of an experience lies in the
perception of relationships or continuities to which it leads up” (Dewey, 1938/1965). Dewey has
helped me in discovering the value of experiences in regards to knowledge which has then
helped me to overall become more self-aware of what I am learning on a daily basis, how I am
learning these things, how this knowledge has potentially altered my perceptions, and how I can
share this knowledge with others. If I am aware of this process of obtaining and sharing this
knowledge through valuable experiences, then I can mentor a mentee in discovering their own
consciousness of others, and a consciousness of context (Shankman, Allen, and Miguel, 2015).
Basically, being conscious of the world around us is an important skill that is necessary to be
able to successfully teach others. It helps us to understand our own strengths and weaknesses and
how that might shape the way we approach mentorship. While developing my personal mentor
philosophy, I have been able to analyze how being emotionally intelligent will impact a
mentorship, more specifically my own beliefs and values regarding mentorship. I now have a
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emotions, and be able to know how to use those emotions to incite progress within a mentoring
relationship. If I am able to recognize my own emotions and understand how they can potentially
alter my actions, then I am able to analyze how I can focus the energy of my emotions into the
success of my mentee. I am now more aware that I am personally more effective at analyzing
different perspectives and displaying empathy and I am not as effective at being flexible and
facilitating change (Shankman, Allen, and Miguel, 2015). Knowing these aspects about myself
Plato’s approach to mentorship is more about the process of obtaining information, and
less about the knowledge that is shared or obtained, which I also think is an important aspect of
mentoring. He periodically refers to “midwifery” and how that relates to being a successful
mentor. In 150c of Theaetetus, Socrates explains “For one thing which I have in common with
the ordinary midwives is that I myself am barren of wisdom.” And then he proceeds to explain
that he is the one asking the questions about the concept, and intentionally not providing any
answers. He accomplishes his goal of developing knowledgeable people by letting them discover
the knowledge within themselves. It is a very clever way of approaching mentorship, how he
uses his lack of knowledge to question his peers and challenge them to explore their knowledge.
I agree that it is important to be able to be aware of moments when you are barren of knowledge
in an effort to prevent false teachings. It is possible to mend false teachings when accidents
happen, but a mentor should be honest and not intentionally make false teachings seem true.
Socrates does not just want to provide an easy answer, he focuses on the process of
allowing the student to experiences triumphs and failures in order to truly learn. Allowing the
mentee to discover their knowledge also opens up an opportunity for the mentee to teach the
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mentor, which I mention because I believe that a mentoring relationship is not only supposed to
benefit the mentee, but the mentor as well. For example, I let my mentee from the YMCA make
her own decisions and I provide additional guidance when needed. I have spent a lot of time with
her these past few months and I know her very well, but at the end of the day she is the one who
makes any final decisions about her life. My resources become beneficial when I am able to
provide questions and ideas that help her to consider different perspectives before making a
decision. As I observe her go through the process of analyzing different situations and outcomes,
she teaches me about perspectives that I may have not considered on my own which not only
mentee is unable to learn to the fullest extent if there is no communication. This involves
speaking, asking questions, and listening. All of the factors involved in communication are so
important to not only develop a relationship, but to share knowledge with each other. A mentor
must also be open and clear about admitting a lack of knowledge when appropriate.
mentor through the YMCA, I have been able to practice effective communication skills because
the program does not give me any specific lessons they advise that I mentor my youth about. We
get to choose as we go, depending on what we feel is necessary based on the current situation. It
is crucial that I effectively communicate with my mentee to be able to understand what struggles
she may be encountering and where she might expect me to be able to provide assistance. We
listen to each other, ask questions, and provide feedback and we have developed a successful
relationship.
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A mentor has many different roles depending on the situation. A mentor is a friend, a
teacher, a motivator, a leader, as well as many other things. Overall, a mentor is there to aid a
goal, a problem must be declared. There must be a desire to learn at some point in the duration of
the relationship for the mentoring to be successful. After this problem has been established, a
plan must be made to resolve the problem. A mentor must be able to be aware of their
surroundings and relationships to analyze the most effective way to utilize the strengths of the
resources to develop a solution. Then action must take place. The plan must be intended to be
executed, but it can definitely change along the way if needed. Then the mentor and the mentee
should reflect on the situation in order to discuss what was and was not successful. This system
sparks necessary experience for both the mentor and the mentee to learn.
Many mentoring relationships come to an end at some point. A mentor cannot be present
and available to help their mentee at all times. I think that it is important to understand this
inevitability and be able to decide on goals to achieve independently. A mentor is able to help
their mentee learn not only new information, but how to use this information every day, even
when the mentor is not physically there for guidance. The final goal of all mentoring
relationships should be to provide the mentee with enough experience, knowledge, and skills to
be able to eventually graduate the relationship and be able to potentially mentor students of their
own. A mentor should build up enough confidence in the mentee for them to be able to
independently achieve their goals. That does not mean that a mentor has to permanently be of
absence in the mentee’s life. Situations can, and probably will happen where even though the
mentee may have gained enough knowledge to make decisions on their own, sometimes
My mentor philosophy will continue to change and develop throughout the rest of my
lifetime. Every single day I am gaining new knowledge and new experiences that alter my
perceptions and values. Each of my mentoring relationships will be completely unique. After
am anticipating growing with my current and future mentees in the pursuit to incorporate our
findings and discovering ourselves a little more every day. As a mentor, I strive to utilize what I
mentee continue to never stop reaching for their fullest potential for the rest of their life.
References
Dewey, J. (1965). Experience and Thinking. In J. J. McDermott (Ed.), The philosophy of John
Dewey (pp. 494-506). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (Reprinted from Democracy
and Education, pp. 139-51, by J. Dewey, 1938, New York: Macmillan Co.)
Dewey, J. (1965). The Need of a Theory of Experience. In J. J. McDermott (Ed.), The philosophy
of John Dewey (pp. 494-506). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (Reprinted from
Experience and Education, pp. 12-22 , by J. Dewey, 1938, New York: Macmillan Co.)
Plato, and Williams, B. (1992). Theaetetus. Indianapolis, Indiana: Hackett Publishing Company,
Inc.
Shankman, M. L., Allen, S. J., & Miguel, R. (2015). Emotionally Intelligent Leadership. San