Edwin Ralph (University of Saskatchewan); Keith Walker (University of Saskatchewan)

Rationale/Background

Evidence from cross-disciplinary research on mentorship in professional education has confirmed that: (a) mentoring is crucial to the professional development of prospective practitioners in all disciplines; but (b) the effectiveness of mentorship practice is often hampered by difficulties or inconsistencies that arise within mentor/protégé interrelationships and interactions. The present authors have conducted research on the use of the Adaptive Mentorship© (AM) model in practicum/clinical education for the professions; and they have found that participants employing AM can not only enhance the overall mentoring process, but can reduce or eliminate some of the interpersonal conflicts that inevitably arise within mentor/protégé relationships. The key principle underlying AM is that the mentor must appropriately match his/her mentorship response to correspond to the particular developmental level of the protégé.

Content

Workshop attendees will: (a) become familiar with the AM model, its rationale, and research results; (b) practice applying it in simulated scenarios; (c) assess its potential effects if it were to be implemented in their respective educational/training contexts; and (d) be invited to collaborate with the authors in subsequently applying the model, assessing its impact, and adding to its published research results.

Methods

Participants will engage in paired-dialogue, whole-group discussion, and experiential learning to assess the AM model, to learn how to apply it, to assess its strengths and limitations, and to determine if/how they might implement the model in their own mentorship practice.

Keywords

Mentorship, Mentors, Protégés, Experiential Learning

Length

90 minutes