This week’s topic of ‘performing, reflecting, mentoring’ is
quite broad and can be interpreted in a number of ways. I will focus largely on mentoring in this
week’s blog.
Firstly, the definition of mentoring (as spoken by google)
is to ‘advise or train someone’. The benefits of mentoring will significantly
differ from person to person. Some
people may prosper dramatically and heavily rely on some form of mentoring in
order to improve. Yes, the aim of the
mentor is to see their ‘pupil’ advance their learning and realise their
potential. If however, the mentor
doesn’t allow their pupil the opportunity of independent learning, they may
become too dependent on the guidance offered by the mentor, which may impact on
their judgement or decision making in a game situation. What I’m trying to convey may be difficult to
understand. Essentially what I’m saying
is that although mentoring will have a positive effect in most instances, it is
important to allow the space needed for the pupil to learn in their own manner.
Everyone is different and the ‘space’
required will vary for each individual.
Knowing the person and understanding the degree of intensity required
when mentoring them in order to achieve the best results is critical.
I assume most people will associate mentoring with an older
person passing on advice to a younger person.
I don’t believe this should always be the case, and think advice can
(and probably should) come from all ages.
As part of the learning process, I think it is important to listen to
advice from any source, take in all comments and decipher what is necessary and
what isn’t. Part of the mentor’s role is
to advise. Assuming the mentor is a bit
older and has a vast amount of knowledge of the sport, simply passing on their
experiences of how to play the game can be the best advice given. Imparting knowledge and game sense in a young
person who has the ability and skill to be successful can prove beneficial for
their progress as they mature as a player at a faster rate.
I have taken a different approach to this week’s blog. With limited research, I have simply thrown
some ideas and thoughts out there.
Whether you believe they are actually valid and have some merit or you think they are
completely illogical, I would like to hear people’s thoughts on the matter.
Cheers
It was good to read this Blog B.Duffy. I found it particularly interesting to note that although mentors are largely considered beneficial for the pupil in gaining knowledge and speeding up the process of their playing abilities. On the flip side, and as you have mentioned above, if the mentor becomes too involved in guiding the athlete they can also hinder the athlete's potential as the athlete may become dependent on their mentor for advice. this can remove the problem solving and the decision making abilities that are necessary in almost all sports. So I am in agreement with you on this idea. It is also true to suggest that each and everyone one of us has a different understanding and knowledge that can be shared with ione another, and therefore the communication and sharing of knowledge should not be limited to a single flow from older to younger pupils, but rather both ways. However, your blog has assumed that the mentor will be older than their pupil and although this is usually the case, there is the rare occasion whereby the mentor can be younger that the pupil. I do like your idea of the mentor being a simple task of passing on experience and we now see this occuring in many elite sports, particularly AFL where ex-players/coaches will go onto help mentor younger development players. For e.g. Mark Williams former coach of Port Adelaide is now mentoring GWS players, Steven King captain of Geelong, mentoring St Kilda Ruckman ad Tom Harley also captain of geelong currently mentoring AIS/AFL academy players. The growth of mentors in the AFL is rapidly increasing and surprisingly does not seem it will stop. I assume this is also the same in other sports like Rugby and cricket.
ReplyDeleteOverall an interesting and informative blog!
Thank you for your comment Stew, I think you certainly enhanced the points I was trying to make!
ReplyDelete