In Thames Valley College, mentoring has become an integral part of our community life. This is because we believe that building right relationship based on trust, can serve as a connection that binds students’ academic and private lives and helps them channel their future course aright. Mentoring relationships thus involve the provision of career, social, and emotional support in a safe setting for self-exploration that results in positive academic and personal outcomes for students (Johnson 2006).
Here, the students meet a dedicated adult/mentor (same gender) on a weekly basis as part of their academic and personal development per session. This provides them with a sense of familiarity with different adults in the cause of their stay in the college. And so far, the forums have been impactful. As issues, challenges, progress discussed and or the full breadth of interaction between the mentor and mentee are documented by each adult and same is forwarded to the management for monitoring, evaluation, further directives and actions.
No doubt, the importance of mentorship for both students and adults cannot be over emphasized. Teachers are able to reach out to and connect with all students, knowing their hopes, fears, challenges and aspirations. This helps to create a more personalized learning environment where investment in students is not limited to academic life alone but it extends to spiritual, moral and other life trajectories.
For the students in particular, our mentoring sessions over time have helped them to be able to:
- Set goals on a personal basis: As adults meet with students one-on-one on a weekly basis, their academic progress is reviewed and assessed. This spurs a development of set of individual goals which will be backed with an action plan that will be observed per week, term and session. Invariably, at the end of the session, students would have imbibed time management and planning strategies. These set of skills are obviously, expected of a global citizen even as they face the ever dynamic future.
- Discover, polish, nurture and harness their potentials: our purposeful mentoring sessions also provides opportunities for self-reflections by each student. This allows them to talk about their strengths, personal interest and social goals. With this, adults encourage them to explore other existing and acceptable avenues in a constructive manner so as to unleash more potentials thereby leading to self-awareness and improvement.
- Imbibe virtues and discourage vices: All students are entitled to the rights of safety in the environment as they also need to have good relationships with adults and colleagues to set the stage for a smooth teaching and learning atmosphere. This, we make them understand from time to time and should there be a reason for a discomfort, such, should be discussed with the next available adult. Information as such, is treated immediately in confidence. At the end of a period, students who have flouted instructions or have misdemeanors credited in their records are taken up by the Disciplinary Committee for further subjection to procedures while those who have maintained peaceful co-existence and displayed good morals are applauded and awarded.
By the end of a student’s academic journey in TVC, our mentoring sessions would have helped fortify such with necessary guidance, encouragement and relevant updated information as to the larger world he/she will be confronted with. This will help make successful and easy transitions from the College to the next phase of life.
