Natural Educator 3719 is an article I wrote for someone's monthly newsletter. Time to share it. I'm fulfilling my month delay. 

Introduction 

In January 2018, after five years of deep and rich conversations with mentors about the state and quality of mentoring, and mentor-schools around the world, the International Mentoring Community (IMC) was born. 

Using ISO certified guidelines coupled with a development research approach to identify the important action-outcome statements for a Certificate of Competence - Mentor Profile, two committed mentor practitioners funded IMC’s start-up. 

They set the flywheel in motion. They prepared the seedbed to grow mentoring programs in organizations of all types, sizes, and locations, and to offer the best education and verification services to existing mentors and those seeking to serve as a mentor.

Definitions of Terms and Concepts

​IMC defines mentoring as a two-way, trusted arrangement in which the mentor and mentee can form a deeper and richer collaborative alliance resulting in both learning and growing personally and (quasi) professionally.It’s the mentee (learner, protege) who asks questions of the mentor - thus tapping into the lived experience of the mentor - that forges a vibrant relationship. Similarly, the mentor uses questions to stimulate critical reflection by the mentee supported by storytelling and story-sharing as a way to nurture an animated arrangement.  

In doing so, mentors and mentees can co-create an mentoring experience whereby an extraordinary arrangement is managed and an extraordinary relationship is led.

Extraordinary Experiences (EX2)

EX2 is an intentional development of a workplace situation where workforce learning and workplace education is encouraged through the use of evidence-based learning and experience-based educating. 

Equally, for EX2 outside of a “workplace” like youth mentoring learning and education, using evidence-based learning and experience-based educating, is encouraged and celebrated. 

The key features of an experience that is extraordinary are 

• Workable … practical, feasible, realistic

• Dramatic … considerable, noticeable, sensational

• Novel … original, fresh, imaginative

• Consequential … relatable, far-reaching, significant

• Metaphoric … figurative, symbolic, representative

• Transferable … interchangeable, assignable, negotiable

• Safer … protected, secure, shielded

The intention of extraordinary moves the dial from an experience that is good to great to memorable to remarkable to extraordinary. One in which the 10 Essential Action Elements of EX2 are woven into the situation by the mentor and mentee. 

The action elements are 

1. Encourage - enter with support and awareness

2. Energize - enthuse full expression

3. Engage - engross in the way forward

4. Extend - enlarge the area of possibility 

5. Evaluate - estimate the worth of it

6. Expand - elaborate on the development & flow

7. Emerge - emanate from what’s happening

8. Evolve - exhibit confidence in making IT so 

9. Entrain - equilibrate for movement beyond what is 

10. Educate - enlighten to gain knowledge and skill

These action elements are used in the extraordinary experiences approach as required. And, by the time the mentoring journey is completed - to some degree - each of these action elements has been experienced.

Competent Mentor 

When EX2 is the basis for the verification of competence, then the tools, techniques, and technologies supporting the verification must complement the experience-based educating to set up the mentor for win-learn-grow = success!

Verification requires the use of action_outcome statements where the 

• action is justified to all involved, and 

• outcomes are transparent to the mentor, the mentee, the verifier, and the governance reasonableness inherent to the verification process. 

To do otherwise weakens the accountability and responsibility exhibited by the mentor and verifier, and lessens the accuracy of the verification process and as a ripple effect the mentoring experience for the mentee. 

With IMC’s commitment to managing and leading via ISO standards and regulations, IMC moves forward using guidelines of ethical validity and reliability, and ecological dependability and generality to issue a Certificate of Competence - Mentor. 

To expand on IMC’s approach:

• Validity - being logically/factually sound [quantitative = in numbers

• Reliability - being trustworthy, performs consistently [quantitative = in numbers

• Dependability - being trustworthy [qualitative = in words

• Generality - being applicable to many [qualitative = in words

Competence Verification 

When the verification system is applied to the confirmation of mentor competence, then all of the elements mentioned above must align and integrate. They must ensure the identified actions and outcomes confirm competence according to inspired standards and wise practices agreeable to the international mentoring community.

IMC is dedicated to working with mentors, the mentoring community, workplace mentoring programmers, and policymakers to improve, focus, and strengthen the concepts and practices of mentoring for reasons of competence verification.

IMC has identified 68 action_outcome statements for the Certificate of Competence - Mentor using a development research approach. This iterative process involved/involves groups of people who have different perspectives on mentoring. They were/are asked for their insights and suggestions to develop a profile that fairly and respectfully summarizes the essential action_outcomes of mentoring. 

Of importance, the profile will undergo constant edits (add, alter, delete) to ensure a relevant and spirited profile is available to benefit everyone, everywhere.

The A_O statements are split into 7 modules

1. About the Mentor - introduce to the basic concepts and practices 

2. The Mentor Characteristics - remind oneself about personal commitment  

3. Mentoring Arrangement - identify structural elements of mentoring

4. Support the Mentee - consider the ways and means of helping the mentee

5. Mentoring Tools & Techniques - use appropriate tools and techniques 

6. Mentoring Learning & Educating - nurture continuous improvement/learning

7. Certification & Recertification - outline the (re)certification process 

Competence Education - Verification System 

There are five major steps or pillars to the IMC competence education verification system to award a Certificate of Competence - Mentor:

1. Certification Profile - list the 68 action_outcomes

2. Self-Assessment - submit the self-assessment to establish the benchmark of knowing/doing 

3. Education - fill the gaps identified from the self-assessment

4. Verification - confirm competence using verification tools & techniques

5. Award Certificate - send the certificate with recertification date

IMC Is A Community Advancing and Amplifying A Movement

IMC is a growing community of mentors who co-create the concepts and practices of mentoring, and mentoring programs that support the verification of competence. 

These mentors use collaborative conversations for the ongoing development and adherence to internal governance requirements and external ISO requirements so mentoring can gain quasi-professional status on an international basis. That is, to co-create a mentoring movement.

IMC is now operational - with international registrants and having issued 3 certificates - and is poised for growth … especially with your assistance. 

Onward ... 

In Closing Natural Educator 3719 ... ​
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