Category

Mentor Dialogic Techniques

Activity Domain/Targeted skill area
inquiry skills/foster mentee self discovery
Developed by
JoLinda Greenfield
Step-by-Step Description of Activity
During a dialogue session, the mentor begins a question and realizes it is based on having "an
idea" of what the answer should be; realizing before the question comes out that it is a leading
question framed with the mentor in mind. For example the mentor is about a pattern to work
on; one then mentor has determined is important. This type of mentor driven question is in
opposition to a mentee-centered" approach and mindset where them mentor works with the
mentee as the mentee struggles- providing labels or putting out bits of energy that leads the
colleague to come to their own AHA or DUH or Hmmm or ... "self-discovery".
There is a tendency to sometimes stumble during mentoring sessions with finding a way to make
mentor’s agenda (i.e., I have something to say about that) turn off and the colleague's turn on as
it can during a fully mentee-centered dialogue.
Goal of the Activity Mentally, develop strategies for online formulation of ways to phrase
questions/comments to be a genuinely mentee-focused Vygotskian exploration with the mentee
- to overcome the tendency to explore items that the mentor feels are beneficial and allow the
mentee to drive the exploration

If possible, film mentoring sessions. The first stage of this activity will simply be to become
aware of the questions and attempt to refrain from speaking using self-reflection in the mentoring
session. - Reflect, in the mentoring moment, on the way your question/comment will affect
the mental energy directed toward their response. Reflect on what kinds of questions make
the mentor focus on the mentor’s goal compared to the mentee's goal. At the completion of
each mentoring session, immediately journal thoughts about questions and responses as well
as the direction the mentee took based on those and whether mentor felt they were "effective."
If available, review the film sample and compare it to the journal notes. Do questions appear
to be mentor- or mentee-guided? If mentor-guided, journal ways in which the questions could
have been reframed to have enhanced the effectiveness of the session. Additionally, mentees
may be presented with a basic questionnaire or asked to journal on their thoughts on the session
with specific focus on the questions asked and the thoughts and feelings they evoked, what they
thought the mentor's goal might have been, whether they assisted the mentee in achieving a
deeper level of analysis on the issues they wished to explore than had previously been reached,
etc. This analysis should take place for at least 6 mentoring sessions. The goal is to minimize the
number of questions that are mentor-guided and increase the numbers that are mentee-guided.
Using the following as a guide for journaling:
1. Make a note of leading questions that came up and responses that were received. Jot down
notes of non-leading questions used and responses received. Make a note of leading questions
that came up and responses received. Log questions/comments When mentee seemed more so
and also less engaged as well as what the factors were surrounding that phenomena.
2. Jot down "successes" (potentially effective questions) and responses such as "hmm, need
more work" along with any ideas of why or why not.
Activity can be continued indefinitely or sporadically to spot check the effectiveness of the
mentoring sessions and the questioning techniques.
Materials
Technology to support video recording. Depending on which technology used, storage for work
samples - DVD, thumbdrive etc
Journal
Suggested Timelines
1. Mentor will videotape and self-assess for at least 6 mentoring sessions (however long that
takes.)
2. At the completion of the analysis, mentor should meet with a mentor to review results
Mentor should meet with their mentor after at least 6 mentoring sessions or 2 months, whichever
comes first.
Next Steps
Discuss future escalation activities if necessary. During meeting with mentor, the two may
practice a mentoring session and discuss the questions used and their impact on the mentoring
session.

Progress Measurements
The first mentoring session analysis will serve as a baseline. Quantitatively, the measure of
how many non-effective questions can be counted and success is measured by decreasing those
ineffective questions to less than 1 or 2 per session