Working with Individual Learners: Differences between Teaching, Coaching and Mentoring

0WORKING WITH INDIVIDUAL LEARNERS
WORKING WITH INDIVIDUAL LEARNERS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1WORKING WITH INDIVIDUAL LEARNERS
Task 1
a) Identify the differences between teaching, coaching and mentoring and summarize the
responsibilities that your role entailed.
b) Reflect and review the effectiveness of your role in helping the student achieving goal.
Teaching is a novel profession that has its own abound set of responsibilities. A learner’s
ability to achieve his or her goal successfully is highly dependent on the role that the teacher
plays. Other factors which affect the ability of a learner in grasping subject matter and content,
learning it and internalizing it before putting it to use, are of many varieties. They are,
1. The level of proficiency of the learner
2. The style of learning of the learner
3. The compatibility of the learner with the subject
4. The prior educational background of the learner
5. The cultural and ethnic background of the learner
6. The social and economic background of the learner
When striving to achieve a learning goal, these above-mentioned factors are paramount in
gaining success. A teacher is bound by duty to understand and help the learners on this
path.
There are three different ways through which an individual could help learners in their
attempt at achieving something. They can either play the role of a teacher or a mentor, or a
coach. Although these names sound similar, their characteristic responsibilities are quite
different from each other. In this section, I will be attempting to identify the differences that lie
between teaching, coaching and mentoring while at the same time analyzing my role and the

2WORKING WITH INDIVIDUAL LEARNERS
duties that entail my role. I will also be reflecting upon my role’s effectiveness in helping the
student achieve the set goal.
TEACHING
The main focus of teaching is to help a learner learn all the basic concepts and significant
points necessary in performing a certain task and achieving it. Teaching requires a suitable
environment which allows the students to commit mistakes in their understanding without any
repercussion or significant damage done to the project undertaken or the organization (Ihmeideh
& Al-Qaryouti 2016). The main motive of the teacher is to focus their communicative skills on
the concepts, key points, exercises, and examples that the students require to learn and practice
for implementation in the real world (Ihmeideh & Al-Qaryouti 2016).
From a cultural point of view, the teacher can have a variety of roles assigned to them.
The role of a teacher depends upon multiple factors that may influence the subject. Teachers
have the ability to provide instructions on literacy and numeracy along with vocational
education, arts and craftsmanship, civic education and community roles, basic skills in life and
much more (Ihmeideh & Al-Qaryouti 2016). Formal teaching tasks include preparing a lesson
plan along with lessons set on a curriculum, giving lessons and monitoring the progress of the
students. However, the professional duties of a teacher can extend beyond a formal classroom.
Outside the classroom, teachers have the opportunity of organizing and accompanying the
students on field trips, observe and monitor study sessions, help organizing co-curricular
activities, and act as supervisors. Some organizations may involve teachers in maintaining
student discipline as well.

3WORKING WITH INDIVIDUAL LEARNERS
RESPONSIBILITIES OF A TEACHER
Following are the key responsibilities that a teacher should be well aware of in their
profession:
1. Be responsible for the needs of the learners as well as the learning programme and the
wellbeing of the student.
2. Being a subject specialist
3. Be able to work with individuals and groups alike
4. Be able to focus on the outcomes of assessment
5. Be able to manage the whole process of learning
COACHING
Coaching happens in the real world based on the presupposition that the individual being
coached is sufficiently adept or efficient in the subject concerned. The expertise of the coach
must be based on the extensive experience of applying basic concepts and knowledge in different
real-life situations regarding a particular subject. As the learners start applying whatever they
have learnt, they will begin facing unique situations and majority of the times, they will have to
improvise. The duty of a coach is to help the learners with such adjustments and improve
efficiency in a given situation. The aspects that the coach should focus on is better
communication, understanding, action, performance and reflection.

4WORKING WITH INDIVIDUAL LEARNERS
Rogers (2016) defines coaching as “the art of facilitating another person’s learning,
development, well-being and performance. Coaching raises self-awareness and identifies
choices. Through coaching, people are able to find their own solutions, develop their own skills,
and change their own attitudes and behaviours. The whole aim of coaching is to close the gap
between people’s potential and current state” (p.7)
THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF A COACH
Following are the responsibilities that a coach should actively try to commit to
1. Identifying areas that require aid to enhance performance
2. Providing guidance or direction to meet the requirements of the students.
3. Targeting a specific outcome
4. Working on specific guidelines and structures to meet the outcome.
KEY SKILLS OF A COACH
Apart from just the responsibilities and roles, a coach should also possess some key skills
without which they would not be able to effectively put themselves to practice in their
profession. These skills are important to identify someone as a coach in their life and are skills
that are present apart from the background knowledge and the responsibilities that entail the
individual -
1. Effective Communication
2. Questioning Skills
3. Active Listening
4. Challenging
5. Supporting

5WORKING WITH INDIVIDUAL LEARNERS
6. Nurturing/ Motivating
7. Enabling learning
8. A Role Model
9. Strong skills of reinforcement
MENTORING
The main focus of mentoring is to guide learners in their path of success. As people
mature, they gain more experience and thus begin to rethink their future goals. The role of the
mentor is to aid these individuals imagine a picture and the path to reach their goals. The mentor
rarely engages in subject matter, concepts, or key points regarding certain topic. They encourage
people more to talk about what they feel more personally connected to, find a balanced
emotional state through their individual identity and a significant meaning of life by creating a
goal for the future so that the learner could know where they want to be. A crucial prerequisite of
becoming a successful mentor is to gain the trust of the learners, or in this case, the mentees.
“Traditionally, a mentor was not a trained professional helper, but chosen for their
specific experience that could be passed on to the mentee. However, mentoring has been
increasingly formalized as it has gained recognition as a powerful change agent. Previously the
key requisite to be a mentor was to have the right work experience and knowledge. It is
becoming increasingly recognized however that people skills are vital to the process, so the
mentor can communicate their knowledge and actively listen to the mentee to ensure they
understand their challenges and learning process” (Western,S. 2012 pg. 45 – 46)
THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF A MENTOR