How to Become a Learning Mentor: Understanding the Role of a Mentor

If you are a person who loves helping others, becoming a mentor who works with those who have learning problems or are disadvantaged in some way, is one way to develop your own teaching skills further. Becoming a learning mentor may depend upon your academic level, skills and training, as well as your desire to help others.

What is a learning mentor?

“Learning mentors provide a complementary service to teachers and other staff, addressing the needs of learners who require assistance in overcoming barriers to learning in order to achieve their full potential.”

How do you become a learning mentor?

If you are serious about becoming a learning mentor, start by helping others who demonstrate difficulty learning. You may begin as early as in primary or high school, and continue while you attend college or university. Many baby boomers or seniors have been mentors for years and continue to find mentoring satisfying, enjoyable and fulfilling. In other words, there is no age limit for mentors.

If you relate well to others who have learning problems, it will soon be apparent to your instructors, teachers and professors. They may invite you to work as a mentor in their teaching settings, academic or otherwise. Begin to put extra time and effort into building positive, constructive relationships with them, as well as with the students who you are mentoring. 

Certification as a mentor may prove beneficial later when you are writing your resume.  

Recognize personal areas where you have had difficulty learning in the past. Many students have difficulty reading, writing or doing math. For a student who is handicapped, it may also be a co-ordination problem. Many learning experiences require constant repetition, requiring patience on your part.

Developing your own skills will help you to mentor others. For example, teenagers who play guitar and want to be music mentors to others can expand their horizons of learning and teach what they have learned to others. Many volunteers mentor others on a regular basis, in a wide variety of settings.

On a college or university level, as a mentor you may continue to work with other students. Discuss your desire to do so with your instructor, teacher or professor. Although the pay may be minimal, it will give you recognition as a mentor, tutor or assistant professor and be a source of potential income for you. 

Do you have a gift in some specific area? 

As a mentor, you may have an opportunity to work with another potentially gifted student on a one-to-one basis. For example, you may mentor a student who has exceptional computer skills in astronomy, the area of study that you are currently studying. Working together on a project will prove beneficial to both of you, even though it may take time and effort to relate properly to each other.

Learning mentors work in many areas of student’s lives, as well as those of others, and often continue mentoring in different realms of employment later. Being a learning mentor can prove highly rewarding for you, as well as to those you mentor, as you begin to recognize their potential and help them to fulfill it.