edpsy launches pilot mentoring directory
Today we launch the pilot phase of our new mentoring directory. We’ve developed this in response to a community desire to make mentoring more accessible. The pilot will help us determine whether to invest more in this feature.
Mentoring for trainee and qualified EPs from under-represented and/or marginalised groups
We have kept the piloting of the directory purposefully small. We have 10 mentors who have kindly agreed to participate and we’re incredibly grateful to them for offering their time and expertise.
We’ve asked volunteers to mentor at least one person between now and May, with the focus, for now, being on providing mentoring to trainee and qualified EPs from under-represented and/or marginalised groups.
Volunteer EPs have indicated the areas they are happy to offer mentoring in on their profile pages.
Anecdotal evidence from the 6 EPs who have been involved in developing this directory suggest that there is a very high demand for mentoring from aspiring EPs. Although our long term aim is to offer a directory that is more widely available, we have to start somewhere. For now we’re starting small – we’re a very small team with limited resources and we need to know if this directory is valuable, useful and needed before we decide to dedicate substantial financial and development investment.
A directory of mentors, not a managed scheme or programme
We have developed a directory where EPs willing to mentor others can highlight this and be contacted directly. This gives mentors and mentees a high level of independence and flexibility in the nature, frequency and model of mentoring offered. This flexibility and openness was a key aspect of the initial project idea.
This approach does mean a greater level of responsibility for both mentors and mentees. For example there is no external matching process as in some managed schemes. Both mentor and mentee need to be completely happy about pursuing a mentoring relationship.
With this in mind we have produced two additional pages that we’d encourage anyone seeking mentoring to explore:
- The terms of the mentoring directory pilot (including limitations, responsibilities and information)
- Resources for mentors and mentees (including ethical guidelines and resources, mentoring frameworks, mentee resources and contracting resources)
We’ve also written a bit more about the background to the directory and the pilot phase.
Finding a mentor
So…feel free to browse the directory.
A number of people have been instrumental to establishing the directory and getting it to this pilot stage. Many thanks go to; Anita Soni, Anjam Sultana, Cherelle McDonald, Sasha-Louise King, Siya Mngaza and Dan O’Hare.
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