There are professions out there – such as medicine and the law – which require graduates who would like to enter the field to have the required theoretical training gained at university but also to have undergone a period of time where the perform their craft under the guidance of a person who is a highly skilled and experienced doctor or lawyer (as is the case for the scenario that I have painted here.)
However, the challenge that graduates such as myself – who want to get into the copy writing and/or editing fields – is that they are highly trained in the theory that they need but they lack the confidence required to be successful in their field.
This is where I would like to make a case for mentoring to be a stock standard part of the curriculum for aspiring editors and copy writers – and perhaps even all disciplines across the board.
What Is Mentoring?
According to the Association for Talent Development, “Mentoring is a reciprocal and collaborative at-will relationship that most often occurs between a senior and junior employee for the purpose of the mentee’s growth, learning, and career development.”
This definition is specific to the workplace however it does characterise the mentor-mentee relationship that can exist in the education space. In education, the goal of the interaction is to prepare the mentee for the world of work. In other words, the mentor’s job is to show the mentee how to apply the knowledge that they have acquired during their studies and to mould them into the best working professional that they can be.
A Safe Space
In the ‘traditional’ education space, people are given specific marks to grade their performance. It comes with pejorative adjectives such as ‘fail’ and ‘wrong’. Yes, in the mentoring space there are times when constructive feedback needs to be given however it is given in such a way that the positive aspects are highlighted and the negative aspects – although mentioned – are not given as much emphasis. It is like a sandwich – the bread is the positive parts while the filling is the negative feedback.
It has been widely reported that South Africa is in an education crisis and although many people do register for higher education post school, a fraction actually stay the course and end up graduating. Perhaps the solution is to implement a mentoring system – across all disciplines – where learners are encouraged and moulded to produce at their very best levels.
About Lia Marus
Lia Marus is a highly skilled editor and writer who has worked in the publishing and digital marketing fields for more than 15 years. Lia is passionate about training and developing up-and-coming editors and writers who will be able to benefit from her experience and uphold the quality and professionalism of the industry.
