Mentoring Young Minds

 During early childhood years specially pre-primary and primary classes teacher play an important role in shaping the identity and personality of the student. During this phase teacher acts as mentors who shapes not only their self image but also creates platform for them to choose their aspirations, dreams and goals for future.

At this time teacher is the  most important factor as they play important part in shaping child's social and intellectual foundation which becomes the base for his adult life.

The question now arises:

In these changing times how can teacher mold these young minds and mentor them?

Most important factor is to create balance between learning and education. even though both are interrelated topics  at the same time are two independent aspects of teaching. right balance between these two aspects will lead to innovation and experimentation in teaching which in turn will  lead to mentoring young minds towards a much better learning graph.

only when we can create this balance can we also make  teaching fun, as the child becomes the part of the learning  process, they  no longer act as  beneficiary of the system.

Let us know few strategies and techniques that can be implemented at classroom level to help mentoring young minds and also make learning fun.

Conferencing is an interactive method which a teacher can use while helping child learn the process of delegation and teamwork. for each assignment small groups can be made and each member can contribute to the learning based on their  interests, likes and strengths. Activities and homework can be tailored as per the need of the group; Apart from regular conference every day mini conference can be planned at the beginning of the class to help clarify doubts, monitor progress and keep everyone on the same page in the group.

Play method which is so often used in academic teaching should be initiated to inculcate social behavior, values and skills to mentor social and emotional  development in the children.

To help children learn the importance of cooperation, respect and camaraderie peer learning or cooperative learning plays an important role this also helps student learn and focus on thigs they can control and change. It helps builds social character in them along with emotional stability.

At this stage teacher is more of an ideal and is considered as model for imitation children try to act and behave like the teacher, therefore it is important that teacher speak their language are well versed with the technology and are conversant in the current lingo , jargons and slangs that young are so well versed with even at this stage. This helps in building a bond and trust which fosters not only a learning environment but also encourages better creativity, problem solving, communication and awareness.

mentoring will be successful only when children are made responsible  and are encouraged to take ownership of their education and learning. this makes them active participants in the process and this can be initiated by  helping them set class goals, individual goals, have them plan daily activity organizer and charts which have specific goals and ways to achieve them.

When we talk about mentoring young minds at such early age we need to focus on multidirectional learning where different subjects can be inter linked along with real life based project work which creates curiosity and motivates children and initiates collective efforts.

Setting firm and real expectations for children helps them become realistic and effective in planning their schedule, this also helps them to learn to regularly evaluate and make reasonable changes to their planning.

Open and honest communication is the key to mentoring because it helps children acknowledge their feelings and emotions and know how to communicate them effectively in an proactive manner rather than in an reactive manner. At the end of class leave ten minutes aside for to talk to children and to give them opportunity to share. have a special meet the mentor session where children can interact with you and discuss anything they want to.

Give them choice and let them choose, help them understand that every choice they make they have to  learn to take it to logical conclusion and also help them understand that to  make choices is not wrong what is important is that we work honestly and be prepared for what consequence our choice leads to. this understanding will help them master the art of not giving up and work towards their goals with sincerity. 

In the end we can say that by giving children choices, making them responsible and  part of the learning process teachers can make a remarkable progress in the classroom setting. This leads to their learning being permanent and education being integral part of their personality.

Teacher moves from being an educator to mentor helping children become empowered and well adjusted individuals in life.

Till next time we meet ....

take care and stay safe