Peer Mentoring Skills:Leveraging your experience to help others succeed

Catherine Salole Director, Centre for Student Community & Leadership Development

2

We will explore:

•How your experiences will benefit incoming students•How your experiences may inhibit incoming students

Communication skills as a strategy to avoid this

•The “Do’s and Don’ts” of mentorship

3

Puzzle Time:

In your groups, complete the puzzle on your table as quickly as you can.

4

Puzzle Lessons (part 1):

•What was your experience completing the puzzle? •What were the challenges? How did you overcome them? •Why were you successful in overcoming them?

5

Tell me about you:

Reflection exercise – write everything that comes to mind about….

•The successes you have had as a York student•The challenges you have had as a York student •The positive experiences you have had as a York student •Any negative experiences you have had here at York•Someone who has had a great impact on you as a student•The knowledge, skills and experience you have gained that you feel confident you are ready to share with others

6

The Benefit of your Experience:

How might your experiences benefit an incoming student?

7

The Benefit of your Experience:

•Navigating the system•How and where to get help•How to get good grades•How to make meaningful connections•How to talk to faculty•How to make the most of classes•How to get what you need from your readings•Knowing the language and culture of university

8

Mentoring Defined:

Learners are helped to higher levels of understanding and performance through collaborative interaction with a more capable peer.

9

Puzzle Lessons (part 2):

What would you say if I told you that none of the puzzles were/are incomplete?

10

The Pitfalls of Experience:

What drawbacks might there be to imparting our own experience to others?

11

The Pitfalls of Experience:

•What worked for me may not work for others•Academic rules change from year to year•Can come across as patronizing•Not about us! The focus should be the mentee•We make assumptions and have biases•We pass along our baggage and close off what might be valuable avenues for our mentee

12

Key Messages Recap:

•Important to put yourself in your mentee’s shoes•Borrow from your mentors song sheet•Your experience is a gift to your mentee…however….•Your mentee’s experiences may be different than yours

So...own your experience as yours and use it to tell YOUR story

13

Active Listening:

• Strategy to connect with those who are different•Active Listening Handout

14

Ethics of Mentoring:

Do Be:•A friend•An advisor•Pro-student•Sensitive to uniqueness of each mentee•Ready to share your experiences•An empowerer

Don’t Be:•A buddy•Condescending•Anti-York •Inconsistent in what you give your mentees

•Imposing your solutions•A problem solver