Mentorship Matters

One of the new buzz words you may be hearing lately is “Mentorship”. Although mentorship may be something you are hearing for the first time, it’s been around since the very beginnings of apprenticeship.

Mentorship is the very essence of what we do when we train apprentices. Long before there were trade schools or formalized apprenticeship programs, Master Craftsmen, mentored young people under their care, who were looking to learn a trade. Although this may come as second nature to some Journeyworkers, passing on knowledge can sometimes be challenging.

This is why SkillPlan, in partnership with the IBEW’s Electrical Joint Training Committee, embarked on a new initiative to train Journeyworkers, or Mentors, how to teach and apprentices, or Mentees, how to learn. Through this collaborative process, a new program called “Mentorship Matters” has been developed in order to institute a proven structure that really does help both the Journeyworker and the apprentice work cooperatively toward making each other better rounded tradespeople.

The FTI was asked to participate in developing some of the instructional videos that make up the two 3.5 hour courses that have been developed for both the Mentor and the Mentee. If you click on the attached video, you will see our Painting Co-ordinator/Instructor, Chico Albino, demonstrating the six elements of Mentorship to a Mentee/ apprentice.

The FTI is evaluating the possibility of introducing this program to our Apprentices and Journeypersons as a possible add-on to the apprenticeship classes we deliver here.