Mentor Role

This page provides a brief overview of the role of a Mentor for DanceHE.

This is a cross-institutional initiative fostering a shared community of practice through one-to-one support and advice.

A mentor aims to act as a trusted adviser and critical friend. In so doing, the mentor may indirectly assist the participant to develop;

  • approaches to administration and research.
  • career development
  • academic practice / disciplinary based concerns
  • research profile development

The parameters for discussion for each partnership will vary  and would need to be agreed at the beginning of the scheme.   Interest  might focus on:

  • the provision of guidance and feedback on an agreed range of work and/or career related themes
  • the exploration of self assessment  and use of reflection in preparation, teaching and evaluation.
  • helping the mentee develop skills in teaching and related activities
  • providing personal support  and advice where feasible and within agreed boundaries
  • suggested resources in terms of disciplinary specialism as they affect teaching and learning
  • the provision of feedback on early stages of scholarly writing.

Meetings will be arranged at the convenience of each partnership.

As a benchmark, 3 meetings might take place during  an academic session.   These might include face to face meeting, skype, agreed email correspondence, telephone calls

Competencies of a Mentor

Colleagues who have been asked to carry out the role of mentoring are perceived to have the range of skills, experience and qualities necessary for the task.

These include the ability to:

agree and review objectives for a mentee in the mentoring process

establish an open and honest relationship with the mentee

identify and agree time availability to support a mentee

contribute to building a mentee’s self-confidence

encourage a mentee to take responsibility for his/her professional development

listen attentively and non-judgementally

maintain confidentiality

encourage a mentee to clarify his/her view and philosophy of teaching and learning

refer a mentee to other sources of support where necessary and/or appropriate, and provide constructive and germane feedback as appropriate

encourage a mentee to monitor and reflect on the outcomes of their teaching and management of learning for the purposes of development and enhancement

monitor and develop their own performance as mentors.

Operation of the scheme 

  1. The scheme is based on agreed confidentiality and the non-disclosure of institutional processes and practices that are not in the public domain without consent of the relevant institution on both sides.
  2. If for whatever reason the mentorship needs to be brought to a close it is agreed that there will be a period of 1 months notice in writing to the mentee, mentor and scheme administrator/ Representative of DanceHE.