one of my mentors, Bobby Clinton, just sent me this note which I pass along for your own review/ reflection

re: On Serious Mentoring

Ray Freeman has been a coach of a high school chess team in the Berkley, CA area for several years. He had just told me about the championship teams he had coached over the past several years, then he said, "I finally produced my first master level high school chess player!" It was a matter-of-fact statement, proud but not braggy. And that got me to thinking, how many master teachers have I mentored and helped develop? How about you? How many master ______ have you produced?

And then I thought about the process of doing that. I believe I have developed four in very recent times (last 10 years) … but of course in the work of the Lord, no one person really does all the developing; lots of people and various things are part of the developmental process, but I have had a significant contribution. So I thought of the process whereby I develop master teachers:

(1) Selection: Selecting folks who really want it and are willing to give themselves to it and to cooperating with my mentoring efforts. This is an important key. Choosing someone who has potential for it, but is a person with divided interests is like "spitting in the fire!" You may put out the fire but it takes a whole lot more effort. In this stage of development, faithfulness is more important than background knowledge or even natural talent.

(2) Observation: Lots of Observation of me operating. Seeing a master operating creates a hunger to be a master. I like my Teaching Assistants (TA’s) to have taken a number of my classes. The more the better.

(3) Co-Ministry Using Your Mentor-Mix. It is actual co-ministry that will develop a person the most rapidly. In my case, I co-teach with my teaching assistants. They are given significant assignments that challenge faithfulness, their sense of responsibility, and provide the base upon which development can be measured.

(4) Fading Technique: Give a little; pull back. Give more; pull back. Give the whole thing; pull back. Release! The long haul approach I use is a technique I got years ago when I was learning to do programmed instruction. It is called fading. In fading, you present the whole thing to a person (e.g. via demonstration of it-the final results). Then you assign them a small chunk of it-enough to challenge but not too much so they can't do it); then you give feedback on the accomplishment of the small chunk. Then you give added chunks and repeat the feedback/ affirmation process (always affirm first before giving the constructive criticism). Then you add more and more until they can do the entire process. Then you pull back and let them do the whole process until they can do the whole process without your input or feedback (the master has faded away entirely and the upcoming master is now a new master).

(5) Heavy on Teaching , Coaching, and Modeling: A key to fading is lots of teaching-giving perspective (teaching), not only on content and information, but also on design of the overall, the why of things. You must also use the basic coaching techniques (I do it and you watch; you comment on what you observed; I do it with you; you observe me and I will observe you; both affirm and give interactive constructive criticism; you do it alone and I will observe and give feedback; you do it on your own and give your own feedback). And throughout the whole process you always model what you are mentoring on.

(6) Reproducible: They learn more if they themselves are simultaneously reproducing the process in someone else at the same time you are working with them.

Warren D. Carter

Mentor Reflections

9.9.99