Highlights from the Mentoring Groups Virtual Showcase

My vision for our mentoring groups is that we offer opportunities for community members to be stretched, challenged, and empowered. The recent showcase that wrapped up the last round of mentoring groups showed that all three goals were achieved.

We have been running mentoring rounds for some time now. The highlights of the previous rounds can be seen here.

The highlights from this round included:

• Exploring different teaching skills using Teaching Tech Together
• Achieving an understanding of existing social barriers in classrooms such as language, or age
• Using an etherpad to summarise and share progress
• Using a group discussion format to facilitate peer mentoring

Participants found the mentoring round very useful. Mentee Erika Mias said:

During the time I was mentored I completed my checkout process and qualified as an instructor, I also taught at my first workshop [in Ethiopia]!

Mentor Malvika Sharan commented:

A mentoring group holds you accountable as a team to pursue goals which you might not prioritize otherwise.

What Group Members accomplished

• One person finally checked out as an instructor after having done the course in 2016.
• Another is teaching her daughter code (and hopefully will teach others in her network for a long time).
• All participants expanded their networks in The Carpentries community.
• One person is hoping to complete instructor trainer training in order to teach Carpentries workshops in Argentina.
• All benefited from advice on local community building, including getting help with running local workshops.
• All participants got to share experiences about teaching, gained proficiency with GitHub, and learned how to teach other parts of the curriculum.

Want more information about the showcase?

See the showcase etherpad, and see the slides presented there by attendees.

What is next?

Applications are open for the next round of mentoring. You can apply to be a mentor or a mentee.

Who can mentor?

Instructors who have taught at least two workshops are eligible to serve as mentors. It is a great way to share the experience you have picked up from teaching others. Please don’t feel that if you are a new-ish instructor, you won’t have useful advice to share. Your perspective will be immensely valuable to others who are just starting out. And your ‘pathway’ will resonate as your mentees seek to find their own pathways to engagement with the Carpentries both globally and within their local communities. So please banish any thoughts of ‘impostor syndrome’ and sign on to mentor today. Mentoring is a key skill, one well worth developing for your CV.

Who is a mentee?

Mentee applications are open to instructors who have taught fewer than two workshops. You can be mentored on a range of things: getting through the checkout process, contributing to lessons, organising workshops, or building a local community. You decide. Being a part of a group that addresses something important to you is both powerful and enjoyable. Mentoring groups are beneficial to participants because group members are able to focus on specific goals.

Applications for both roles close on Friday, 31 August. Get yours in today!