Reflective Practice for Peer Mentoring
Reflective Practice – is exactly what it implies. It is the process of reflecting on what we do. It is a thinking model but also our feelings are used.
Why do it? – becoming reflective of your mentoring style allows you to learn through your experience. This may increase your capacity to become more confident and accomplished in what you do. Over time reflective practice will create a process of continuous learning, you will:
- Have more self awareness
- Increase your ability of self regulation
- Respond to others more easily rather than react
- Make better decisions
How to do it? – after you have been mentoring spend some time thinking how you felt you were with the mentee. Here are some questions you might ask yourself:
- What exactly went on there?
- What was I hoping for when I said [...]?
- Could I have done something differently?
- What do I feel about how that went?
- Would that have been right for me?
- What do I say or do as a habit within sessions?
- What really worked with my mentee?
- Do I need to talk some of this through with another person?
Benefits of being reflective – people who get into the habit of evaluating how they operate in their world of experience create the potential to expand their skills and improve their practice and enjoy the moments when things have gone well.
Finally – it gives opportunities for individuals to learn a personal philosophy that changes and grows through experience and continuous learning.