Mentoring and Coaching: Understanding the Differences and Roles

Running head: MENTORING AND COACHING
Mentoring and coaching
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

1MENTORING AND COACHING
Task 1:
Introduction
The term mentoring has different meanings and it can be interpreted in different ways.
It is often mixed with the concept of coaching. Both the ideas can be associated with having a
particular areas of knowledge that a trainer requires. Their sole responsibility is to train the
mentees whether they belong to the same field or not. Both the processes can be taken in the
same time. For the sake of the simplicity the term mentoring is used to cover all the processes
that are involved in giving a support an individual.
Mentoring is usually described as a process that is involves a structure of semi-
guidance. In this the person shares the knowledge and the skills and the experience in order to
assist others to make growth in their own lives and careers. The mentors should have such
nature so that they can be approached by all.
Mentoring can be a temporary arrangement till the original reason for the partnership
is fulfilled.
The role of mentor is not just to give advice, he is expected to deal a situation
according to one’s experience. A mentor is required to motivate and empower other persons
and assist them in identifying their own goals and issues. It is done so that the individual can
find ways to resolve the issues faced by him.
Coaching on the other hand includes the learning of the specific skills that would be
required to improve the performance of an individual. The person who is unaware of the
entire concept will have a different notion about both the terms. It might be similar to him. It
is based on the one-to-one relationship between the learner and the coach. In spite of this
different institutions follow different teaching situations and those should be recognized. The
essay explores the most important feature of the concept of coaching. Keeping this factors in

2MENTORING AND COACHING
mind the essay lays the focus on roles of the coaches. The strategy of instruction should be
based on the learning theory as if any athletes is unable to learn the technique it is not
possible to expect the expected goals from him. In this essay the use of student and athlete
has been made constantly. Therefore focusing on this I will look from a behaviourist point of
view on the way people learn best and the essay intends to learn the conditions that influences
the learning. It can be done by briefly discussing the place of feedback that will identify the
factors that influences the learning process and is related to the education of the pupils
(Richardson, 2002).
The two eminent scholars, Watkins and Mortimer defines pedagogy as any kind of
mindful activity that is conducted by a single person who is designed to improve the learning
in another. Recently coaching has been defined as pedagogy. This is the reason it is
domineering for the teachers or the coach to make sure of the fact that the learners are being
facilitated in their learning. Teaching a mere skill would not do, they should also teach the
learners when to use this tool. In other words it can be said that the coach means to be a
certain kind of teacher (Cassidy et al. 2004).
The role of the teacher or the coach is directive and instructional. They are rigid. For
example, the teacher decides when they would want the students to participate in an event or
any kind of skills or movements. This is the reason the coach is regarded as the sole source of
knowledge. The learners have a passive role in the process of learning (Potrac and Cassidy
2006).
The differences between coaching and mentoring
Differentiator no 1:
Coaching: in the process of coaching it is necessary to be effective as it is relied on the
performance of the learners. This might include the 360s and the performance reviews. The

3MENTORING AND COACHING
background information related to the coaching intervention is provided as a result the area in
which the improvement of the learner is needed is explored due to this.
Mentoring
It is different form coaching in terms of performance management. This system might
be used to determine the areas of competency in order to keep a check on the requirements of
the receiver. The looping back is less direct. The competency factor is considered to be an
important part of mentoring still it is not the primary focus.
Differentiator no 2:
Coaches are paid for their services:
It is evident in many instances that the coaches are paid by the company in order to
provide service. The coach makes extra effort to make sure of the fact that the coachee
succeeds as it is tied to the compensation of the coach. This leaves an impact on the process
of coaching. When a learner is able to succeed the effort of the coach is appreciated.
Mentors never receive compensation for their services:
The mentors provide the service out of generosity of service. The common reason
because of which the mentor wishes to provide assistance to the learners as they are willing
to give back something to the individuals who are willing to take it. They are compensated
for mentoring and this is the reason their performance is not tied to the ones who is receiving
the knowledge form the mentors.
Differentiator no3:
A coach operates independently: