DOI: 10.15415/iie.2014.

22020

Motivating Students – Essentials of Mentoring,

Coaching & Counseling: Operational Strategy
Sonam Sachdeva1,*, Kanupriya Malhotra2,†
1
Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce, Delhi University New Delhi-110021,
India
2
Assistant Professor, Department of Management, Gitarattan International Business
School, GGS IP University, New Delhi-110078, India
*
Email: [email protected]; †Email: [email protected]

Received: July 22, 2014| Revised: August 20, 2014| Accepted: September 6, 2014
Published online: September 25, 2014
The Author(s) 2014. This article is published with open access at www.chitkara.edu.in/publications

Abstact: Mentoring, Coaching and Counseling are popular capacity -building

tools, especially in the area of education. They are often mentioned in proposals
and reviews as key elements of good capacity-building practice. Yet despite
their current status, many of us are unclear what coaching, mentoring and
counseling really involves, and where and when they work. We have a number
of questions: What does a coach, mentor or a counselor actually do? Is there
any real difference between them? Where have these approaches come from?
Are they really relevant to student development? When are these approaches
effective? When are they not appropriate? This paper addresses these questions
to demystify the concepts and practices of coaching, mentoring and counselling
and its contribution towards motivating students.

Keywords: Coaching, Counseling, Mentoring, Motivation, Students

1. INTRODUCTION
In virtually all human relationships, particularly those wherein an individual is
trying to nurture and assist in the growth and development of another person, the
issue of how to effectively motivate, arises as a significant contributor to success.
This is particularly true in relation to academic advising and success in college.
The word motivate is derived from a Latin term meaning to move. Thus
motivation involves the movement of an individual towards something—but Issues and Ideas
in Education
to what? Vol. 2, No. 2
If an educational institution is to sustain its competitive advantage, it needs September 2014
to focus on two pillars: Teachers & Students who should always feel motivated pp. 273–300
Sachdeva, S. and show eagerness to learn. Today’s companies need people who, at the
Malhotra, K. least, meet their goals and when given the opportunity, exceed those goals,
demonstrating initiative and creativity. In order to have such professionals,
every educational institution needs to have strong people skills, which can
build high performing students and further contribute to the competitive edge
of the institution.
So what is the role of a teacher? It is to have competency in three key people
skill: mentoring, coaching and counseling. Essentially learning involves two
parties, the teacher (also known as supervisor, mentor, coach) and the student
(known as trainee, mentee, and coachee). The relationship between teacher &
student plays an important role in promoting the students objectives. Many
authors have mentioned the importance of relationship between student and
a supervisor in this context, however, sometimes a problem of compatibility
occurs between them and therefore suggest that they both need to know their
roles in order to ensure a good relationship.
Mentoring, coaching and counseling forms the integral part of educational
training to develop people in their professions. There are several similarities
and differences in the main issues involved in mentoring and coaching. They
are related to self-development, professional growth and career development
of the mentee/coachee. In establishing the approaches to be used, care must
be taken to ensure that each person understands the limits or boundaries of the
relationship. Supervisory approaches vary and depend on the people involved,
the place of meeting and the terms of the relationship. Not only do mentors/
coaches have to play their role but the mentees/coachees too, and all this must
be placed within the specific institutional context.

2. THEORETICAL BASIS OF MENTORING, COACHING

AND COUNSELLING

2.1 Defining Coaching

All human beings are born with a dream, which are there goals in their life.
Attaining a goal is not that easy and hence there is a need for a clear and
correct path for the easy attaining the goals. This easy attaining of the path
can be achieved with the help of a coach and coaching. And so it is said
that  “coaching”  is the practice of giving sufficient direction, instruction
and training to a person or a group people, so as to achieve some goals or
even in developing specific skills. Though coaching is a system of providing
training, the method of coaching differs from person to person, aim or goals
to be attained, and the areas needed. Still there are some common methods

274
in coaching. They are essential part of an effective coaching. These common Motivating
areas includes Students –
Essentials of
• Motivational speaking Mentoring,
• Seminars Coaching &
• Workshops Counseling:
• Supervised practice Operational
Strategy
Coaching can be either training a single person in specific field or a group of
people in multitasking skills.
Coaching is defined as unlocking a person’s potential to maximize their
own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them. It
is primarily a short-term intervention aimed at performance improvement or
developing a particular competence. It is a process that enables learning and
development to occur and thus performance to improve.

The International Coaching Federation defines it as:

…a facilitated one to one mutually designed relationship between a
professional coach and a key contributor who has a powerful position
in the organization. This relationship occurs in areas of business,
government, not-for-profit, and educational organizations where there
are multiple stakeholders and organizational sponsorship for the
coach.....the coaching is contracted for the benefit of the client…the
focus of the coaching is usually focused on organizational performance
or development…..

Eric Parsloe has defined Coaching as…

“A process that enables learning and development to occur and thus
performance to improve. To be a successful a Coach requires a knowledge
and understanding of process as well as the variety of styles, skills and
techniques that are appropriate to the context in which the coaching
takes place”
Coaching is a method of directing, instructing and training a person or group
of people, with the aim to achieve some goal or develop specific skills. There
are many ways to coach, types of coaching and methods to coaching. Direction
may include motivational speaking and training may include seminars,
workshops, and supervised practice.
“Coaching psychology is for enhancing well-being and performance
in personal life and work domains underpinned by models of coaching

275
Sachdeva, S. grounded in established adult and child learning or psychological
Malhotra, K. approaches”
(Special Group of Coaching Psychologists,
part of the British Psychological Society).

“Coaching is about developing a person’s skills and knowledge so that

their job performance improves, hopefully leading to the achievement of
organizational objectives. It targets high performance and improvement at
work, although it may also have an impact on an individual’s private life. It
usually lasts for a short period and focuses on specific skills and goals.”
(CIPD 2009)

2.2 Defining Mentoring

Mentoring involves primarily listening with empathy, sharing experience
(usually mutually), professional friendship, developing insight through
reflection, being a sounding board, encouraging.
Mentoring is a fundamental form of human development where one person
invests time, energy, and personal know-how assisting the growth and ability
of another person. Mentoring is an off-line help by one person to another in
making significant transitions in knowledge, work, or thinking.
Mentoring is a voluntary, collaborative, and mutually beneficial partnership
between a protégé/mentee (who is looking to enhance his knowledge, skills,
and experience) and a mentor (who possesses this knowledge, skills, and
experience).
“Mentoring is to support and encourage people to manage their own
learning in order that they may maximize their potential, develop their
skills, improve their performance and become the person they want to be.” 
Eric Parsloe, The Oxford School of Coaching & Mentoring
Mentoring is “A mutual relationship with an intentional agenda designed to
convey specific content along with life wisdom from one individual to another.
Mentoring does not happen by accident, nor do its benefits come quickly. It
is relationally based, but it is more than a good friendship…mentoring is not
two people who just spend time together sharing”. - Thomas Addington and
Stephen Graves
“A mentor is someone who can patiently assist with someone’s growth
and development in a given area. This assistance can come in the form of
guidance, teaching, imparting of wisdom and experience”.
Chicago Computer Society

276
Mentoring has been defined in many different ways but it’s basically a system Motivating
of semi-structured guidance whereby one person shares their knowledge, Students –
skills and experience to assist others to progress in their own lives and careers. Essentials of
Mentors need to be readily accessible and prepared to offer help as the need Mentoring,
arises - within agreed bounds. Coaching &
Counseling:
Mentors very often have their own mentors, and in turn their mentees might
Operational
wish to ‘put something back’ and become mentors themselves - it’s a chain for Strategy
‘passing on’ good practice so that the benefits can be widely spread.
Mentoring can be a short-term arrangement until the original reason for
the partnership is fulfilled (or ceases), or it can last many years.
Mentoring is rather more than ‘giving advice’, or passing on what your
experience was in a particular area or situation. It’s about motivating and
empowering the other person to identify their own issues and goals, and helping
them to find ways of resolving or reaching them - not by doing it for them, or
expecting them to ‘do it the way I did it’, but by understanding and respecting
different ways of working.
Mentoring is not counselling or therapy - though the mentor may help the
mentee to access more specialised avenues of help if it becomes apparent that
this would be the best way forward.

2.3 Defining Counseling

Counseling deals with wellness, personal growth, career, and pathological
concerns. In other words, counselors work in areas that involve relationships.
These areas include intra- and interpersonal concerns related to finding meaning
and adjustment in such settings as schools, families, and careers.

The British Association for Counseling (BAC) defines it as:

“Counseling is the skilled and principled use of relationship to facilitate self-
knowledge, emotional acceptance and growth and the optimal development
of personal resources. The overall aim is to provide an opportunity to work
towards living more satisfyingly and resourcefully. Counseling relationships
will vary according to need but may be concerned with developmental
issues, addressing and resolving specific problems, making decisions,
coping with crisis, developing personal insights and knowledge, working
through feelings of inner conflict or improving relationships with others.”
Counseling denotes a professional relationship between a trained counselor
and a client. This relationship is usually person-to-person, although it may
sometimes involve more than two people. It is designed to help clients to
understand and clarify their views of their lifespace, and to learn to reach their

277
Sachdeva, S. self-determined goals through meaningful, well-informed choices and through
Malhotra, K. resolution of problems of an emotional or interpersonal nature. (Burks and
Stefflre; 1979)
A principled relationship characterized by the application of one or more
psychological theories and a recognized set of communication skills, modified
by experience, intuition and other interpersonal factors, to clients’ intimate
concerns, problems or aspirations. Its predominant ethos is one of facilitation
rather than of advice-giving or coercion. It may be of very brief or long duration,
take place in an organizational or private practice setting and may or may not
overlap with practical, medical and other matters of personal welfare. It is
both a distinctive activity undertaken by people agreeing to occupy the roles of
counselor and client . . . and an emerging profession . . . It is a service sought
by people in distress or in some degree of confusion who wish to discuss and
resolve these in a relationship which is more disciplined and confidential than
friendship, and perhaps less stigmatizing than helping relationships offered in
traditional medical or psychiatric settings. (Felltham and Dryden 1993: 6)

3. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. To review the past literature on mentoring, coaching and counseling &
describing the roles and practices of the parties involved therein.
2. To bring to light a range of supervisory approaches and its implementation
that can be commonly adopted towards students in order to help them
achieve their objectives.

4. REVIEW OF MENTORING LITERATURE

Mentor was the name of a character in Greek mythology. Ulysses left his
son, Telemachus under the tutelage of his old friend Mentor, who was a wise
and trusted adviser or counselor (Clutterback 1991). It is a word that is often
used by academics, politicians, sports people, actors and other performers to
describe the person they chose as a role model or someone who had significant
early influence on their professional careers. Looking at the origins of this
practice, Hamilton (1981) pointed out that it was common in ancient Greece
for young males to be partnered with older, experienced males. These were
often relatives or friends of the family, and it was expected that the youths
would learn from and emulate the values of their assigned mentor. The term
mentor thus became synonymous with a wise, faithful guardian and teacher
(Cooper and Palmer 1993; Fisher 1994) who was typically older, of greater
experience and more senior in the world that a young man is entering and
should have knowledge and skills to pass on (Carter and Lewis 1994).

278
 A mentor is identified as someone who teaches the student in a personal Motivating
and close long-term relationship that allows critical concentration on the task Students –
performance (Brown and Krager 1985). Essentials of
Mentoring,
4.1 Role of an Effective Mentor Coaching &
Counseling:
(Fisher 1994), Conducted a study to find out qualities and skills that the mentors Operational
need to possess in order to meet the expectations of the mentoring role. It lays Strategy
down some common characteristics of a good mentor include intelligence and
integrity, ability, professional attitude, high personal standards, enthusiasm
and a willingness to share.
According to Parsloe (1992), good mentors are: (1) good motivators, who
are perceptive and able to support the objectives of programmes and fulfil their
responsibilities to the candidate; (2) high performers, secure in their owner
occupied position within the organisation and unlikely to feel threatened by, or
resentful of, the candidate’s opportunity; (3) able to show that a responsibility
for mentoring is part of their owner occupied job description; (4) able to
establish a good and professional relationship, sympathetic, accessible and
knowledgeable about the candidate’s area of interest; (5) sufficiently senior to
be in touch with the corporate structure, sharing the company’s values and able
to give the candidate access to resources and information; (6) good teachers,
able to advise and instruct without interfering, and (7) good negotiators.

Mentor Roles & Responsibilities

Phase 1: Identifying Roles
• Have a clear understanding of why you want to be a mentor
• Mentor with a realistic assessment of your skills and experience
Phase 2: Communicating Expectations
• Have a clear understanding of your expectations for your mentee
• Clearly communicate those expectations
• Stay flexible in changing expectations or plans
• Create goals with milestones and deliverables
• Adapt your feedback to your mentee’s learning style
• Be realistic about setting timelines
Phase 3: Working Together
• Advise, don’t dictate
• Advise on what you know and admit the things you don’t know
• Give good examples

279
Sachdeva, S. • Recognize your mentee’s weaknesses and build on his/her strengths
Malhotra, K. • Offer constructive feedback
• Evaluate progress
• Be your mentee’s supporter when he/she reaches his/her goals
• Be consistent and reliable
Phase 4: Meeting All the Goals
• After mentoring is completed, follow up on successes
• Provide an evaluation of the experience
• Repeat the mentoring process with others

4.2 The Role of Mentees and their Relationship with their Mentor
As the relationship involves two parties, the mentee too should play a role in
achieving the objectives. The main objective of mentoring is to encourage and
assist in the development and growth of a learner, and to provide the mentee
with a resource regarding career aspirations.
Lee (2003) is a qualitative study which states that the mentors can provide
glimpse to the students regarding the profession where they are having
inclination and a clear picture of the day-to-day reality of working. A mentor
can also provide a wide variety of assistance to students, but there are certain
duties on the part of the mentees too, which include: (1) eager to learn and
willing to take on new challenges, (2) receptive, be open to feedback, viewing
it as an opportunity to improve his/herself, (3) open to new ideas and able to
see things from other perspectives, (4) loyal, not violating confidences or trust,
and (5) appreciative of the help the mentor is giving.
Heinz (2003) conducted a study which states the role of a mentee in a
school perspective, pointing out that mentee should manage the relationship
by establishing first contact and by continuing the relationship through e-mail,
telephone or in person communication. It also refers that a mentee should also
be willing to attend mentoring programmes and/or to plan activities, which
may enhance the mentoring relationship.

Mentee Roles & Responsibilities

Phase 1: Identifying Roles
• Have a clear understanding of why you want to be mentored
• Select a Mentor based on criteria relevant to your goals
Phase 2: Communicating Expectations
• Have a clear understanding of your expectations for your mentor

280
 • Clearly communicate those expectations Motivating
• Stay flexible in changing expectations or plans Students –
• Create goals with milestones and deliverables Essentials of
Mentoring,
• Inform your mentor about your preferred learning style Coaching &
• Be realistic about setting timelines Counseling:
Phase 3: Working Together Operational
Strategy
• Listen and contribute to the conversation
• Understand that your mentor will not have all the answers
•  Accept constructive feedback
• Set time aside for self-reflection
• Evaluate progress
• Celebrate success
• Be consistent and reliable

Phase 4: Meeting All of the Goals

• Provide your mentor with updates after the mentoring is completed
• Provide an evaluation of the experience
• Say thank you
• Give back to the profession and volunteer to become an AMTA mentor

4.3 How to be a successful mentee  

Being mentored is as much an art as mentoring. (Bonetta ed2006)
Here are some qualities to cultivate as a mentee that will help to make the
mentoring process a more enjoyable and productive experience for you and
your mentor.  
• Be organized- Plan ahead, work towards agreed tasks between meetings.
Think about issues you want to discuss before you meet again with your
mentor. Doing your homework will avoid wasting their time and enable
you to get the most out of the meetings.
• Keep a log- Make a record of what you discuss in each meeting and what
you aimed to do before the next one.
• Be proactive- Don’t expect to be looked after or given all the answers.
Universities and academia are tough environments. Maintain your
independence. Be responsible for your own decisions regardless of the
mentor’s advice.
• Ask useful questions- Don’t pretend you understand what the mentor is
saying if you don’t. The mentoring meeting is your time and the mentor will

281
Sachdeva, S. expect you to want to make the most of it and draw upon their knowledge
Malhotra, K. and expertise.
• Have respect. Be considerate. Make and keep appointments. Stay focused.
Don’t overstay your welcome.
• Have humility – be willing to accept critical feedback so that you are open
to learning new ways of thinking about and doing research.  
• Show appreciation - Everyone likes to be thanked. Remember that your
mentor has volunteered to help you. When you achieve a great outcome,
let them know and acknowledge their role.
• Reciprocate– mentors will be interested in learning from their mentee
as well as sharing their own knowledge and expertise.  Share what you
know with your mentor and be willing to share what you have learnt by
mentoring others.

4.4 Mentorship can be done in two ways:

1. Informally - This is based on the judgment of the mentor and the promise
from the protégé that the mentor’s advice or counsel will be taken seriously,
and not be wasted.
2. Formally - Where the mentor is assigned to show the protégé the ropes of
the organization through a formal mentoring programmes, often as part of
the organization’s affirmative action or orientation initiative.

4.5 Types of mentoring

The term ‘mentoring’ is interpreted in different ways, and is often used
interchangeably with ‘coaching’. Both can be about sharing particular areas
of expertise and knowledge that the mentee needs; as well as about developing
the individual whether or not they work in the same field. The two ‘processes’
can take place in the same session. For simplicity’s sake, we use here the term
‘mentoring’ to cover all the processes involved in supporting the individual.
The following are the various types of mentoring:

Mentoring for newly appointed staff — ‘induction mentoring’

• A mentor should be assigned to you as a new member of staff, to help you
orientate yourself to the department and its procedures, policies, personnel,
sources of help and information, location of key equipment — and to help
you ‘survive’ your first few weeks in a new post.
• They may act as a neutral and impartial confidante for any concerns or
difficulties you may have in settling down, and help you to work out
strategies for success.

282
 • Generally they will not be someone in direct authority over you, and usually Motivating
someone from outside your immediate circle is found, though preferably Students –
doing a similar or related role. Essentials of
Mentoring,
Peer mentoring Coaching &
Counseling:
Mostly mentoring is understood in the sense of a more experienced person Operational
mentoring a new or junior colleague. But as you progress, colleagues can ‘peer- Strategy
mentor’ each other either in particular areas (such as teaching observation or
project management) or for general support.
However, peer mentoring should still be about progress and development,
and be equally supportive of each partner.
Peer mentors should hold each other accountable for their action plans,
and help each other to achieve their goals.

Developmental mentoring
You’re no longer new, and everyone assumes you ‘don’t need help’ any more.
You’re ‘on your own’ now, it’s ‘sink or swim’ time.
In a way they’re right - mentoring isn’t ‘remedial’, it isn’t about ‘fixing’
or ‘helping’ in the sense that you can’t ‘do it yourself’. But successful
people don’t feel they have to ‘go it alone’ - they identify resources in people
as well as in print or online, and use them to maximize their potential.
Research has found that the most effective people may have four or five
different mentors for different areas of their professional and personal
lives.
It’s simply the case that your mentoring needs have evolved in line with
increased responsibility. You may have new duties, taken on new roles, been
promoted. It’s more about the synergy that two (or more) people can create
between them to generate solutions, strategies and action plans, to build on
success.
Mentoring is important as it provides individuals with role models and may
be a means of providing information about career and training opportunities
(internal and external). Importantly, the mentor might provide the inspiration
to take these opportunities up. Mentoring also widens the support network,
provides motivation and can improve confidence.
Developmental mentoring is just that - an experienced mentor helps you to
develop your strengths and potential, to identify your changing needs, values
and aspirations, and what’s most important to you. They work with you to
plan your professional development, and your next career steps. Personal
development planning is now encouraged in most universities, and is beginning
to apply to staff as well as students.

283
Sachdeva, S. 4.6 Features of a good mentoring relationship
Malhotra, K.
An effective mentoring relationship is characterized by:
• Clear roles and expectations.
• Excellent two-way communication.
• High level of trust with regard for confidentiality.
• Clear planning framework with a focus on the mentee’s needs and objectives.
• Additional support for both mentors and mentees.

5. APPROACHES OF MENTORING AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION

5.1 Student Peer Assisted Mentoring (SPAM)

The Student Peer Assisted Mentoring is one of the mentoring model which
is conducted in an informal setting and focus on the learning needs of the
student mentees. The nature of the approach is proactive rather than reactive
and is aimed at providing learning techniques to equip the student mentees
with the ability to solve problems not just answer questions. Student mentees
are encouraged to ask and discuss their learning needs and to develop good
study techniques including the formation of study groups or networks even
outside the SPAM program.
There are three key elements that underpin the SPAM program as it now
exists: a focus on providing students with directed peer support; encouraging
all students to attend SPAM sessions (when they have a problem with
understanding a topic) and to form study network groups (to establish a
support network for continued self-help study in any course); a reward scheme
in recognition of participation by Student Mentors – a number of rewards
schemes have been trialed from the provision of textbooks, cash rewards, letters
of commendation and more recently T-shirts in combination with designated
levels of proficiency.

5.2 Student Mentorship Program

Student Mentorship Program provides mentees access to experienced mentors
who can contribute to their professional and personal development. The
program provides a platform for mentees to realize their potential by enabling
personal and professional relationships with mentors, who act as role models
and provide guidance to them.
It offers opportunities to develop business contacts, access industry
information, and gain valuable insights from experienced and successful
professionals. Under the mentorship program, each aspirant will be assigned

284
mentors to guide him/her through the GD/PI and brain storming sessions. The Motivating
mentors will be available on a personal basis, and will be in constant touch Students –
over phone or email. Essentials of
Mentoring,
Mentorship Program provides each mentee with following features: Coaching &
Counseling:
• Advisory Meetings with respective mentors every fortnight.  Operational
• Comfortable environment to share and discuss. Strategy
• Mentors to monitor their mentees academic progress.
• Regular academic and fun filled activities.

5.3 Brainstorming
Brainstorming is a group or individual creativity technique by which efforts
are made to find a conclusion for a specific problem by gathering a list of ideas
spontaneously contributed by its members.
Some of the methods below use familiar learning styles and will be good
tools for taking in information and learning.

5.3.1 Mind-Mapping
Mind-mapping is a visual writing and note-taking brainstorming process that
will help your team breaking through creative dry spells. If you have flip charts,
use them. You may rather use sticky notes placed on a wall and separated into
categories.

5.3.2 Cause-Effect Diagrams

Teams will brainstorm and then discuss and diagram the cause and effect of
each situation you list. This is a helpful tool to use before the season begins.
5.3.3 Problem Identification and Multiple Solutions
Come up with a problem the team can solve using problem identification,
which consists of identifying the problem and creating more than one solution
to it. Ideas will pop and encourage creative team thinking.

5.3.4 Logic Trees

Logic trees are useful for brainstorming also. You can diagram vertically or
horizontally, using boxes and arrows. Brainstorm for a solution, being sure to
include sub-problems and solutions to each. Logic trees assist in handling of
problems by:
• Facilitating clear definitions using a visual of the problem
• Clarifying contributing factors and their interactions and effects

285
Sachdeva, S. • Partitioning problem solving into sub teams, without losing sight of the
Malhotra, K. whole
• Improving communication between sub teams
• Assessing various risks, such as expertise, materials, and time constraints

6. REVIEW OF COACHING LITERATURE

The term coaching is often used interchangeably with counseling and
mentoring, but many scholars differentiate these activities. A general literature
on coaching exists from a sports and athletics perspective. As stated by
Parsloe (1999), coaching is derived from university slang for a private tutor
or instructor in sport. Therefore, much of the literature about coaching in the
context of management has been drawn from sports coaching (Evered and
Selman 1989).
Coaching is, in essence, about human relationships, between the coach
and coachee, and the coach and the organization (Pearson 2001). The
relationship between coach and athlete is an empathetic one extending beyond
the instrumental operation of the process, which takes place over an extended
period of time.
Abiddin (2012), Coaching for them is a partnership between a manager
and an individual who reports directly to him or her in which the coach focuses
on helping the coachee to optimize his or her potential. Coaching can help an
organization create an environment of meaningful jobs and a positive atmosphere
by eliminating barriers that prevent employees from reaching their full potential.

6.1 Coaching Fields

Coaching can be given in all the aspects of human life. Some of the area where
coaching is given is
• Education coaching
• Sports coaching
• Entertainment (arts, dance, music) coaching
• Career coaching
• Life coaching
• Personal coaching
• Life and personal development coaching
• Systemic coaching
• Confidence coaching
Each type of coaching is having its own aim and so the coaches differ according
the needs of the trainees. Each area is having its own specialized coaches.

286
There are even coaching centers of training coaches. Coaching should be Motivating
effective and correct, then only the goal expected will be attained. The process Students –
of coaching is not aiming at the cure of psychological illness. It is the training Essentials of
and direction of the trainees to reach and attain their goals. Mentoring,
Coaching &
Counseling:
6.2 The Role of an Effective Coach Operational
There are many authors who suggest that coaching is a form of facilitating Strategy
learning which is concerned with the improvement of performance and the
development of skills. Coach can also be seen as a trainer or counselor and
should be development, preparation and motivation on how to improve the
coachee’s performance.
Parsloe (1999), examined that the role of a coach should include,
analyzing current performance, planning suitable learning, implementing the
plan and evaluating performance. It also states that a coach should also be
expert in change, spot strengths and limitations, help to crystallize visions
and values, clarify and define strategy, coordinate resources to achieve goals,
optimize performance, satisfaction and balance in life and stay accountable
to a vision.
Oermann and Garvin (2001), explored the responsibilities of a coach in
the nursing context, state that, when coaching a new graduate these include:
(1) assessing gaps in their knowledge and skills; (2) providing necessary
instruction; (3) being available to them during new situations and procedures;
(4) increasing patient assignments; and (5) developing a supportive
relationship.
According to Beam (2001), a good coach must: (1) have a general sense of
what the supervisee wants to work on or clarify expectations; (2) evaluate the
personal chemistry; and (3) set an initial timeframe and establish checkpoints
along the way to measure progress and make midcourse correction.

6.2 Role of Coachee and their relationship with their Coach

(Seifert 2004), identified some tips for a good coachee who includes openness
to feedback, flexible, and willing to see them as others see them. If a coachee
can make an evaluation of himself, at the end of the day, he can expert to: (1)
enhance his self-awareness, learning from mistakes and successes; (2) identify
and overcome obstacles; (3) develop new ideas and strategies; (4) build self-
confidence and self-reliance; (5) develop and apply new skill; and (6) design
action plans, and follow them through in order to advance the career.
As suggested in the Manager’s Intelligence Report (2000), the following
five-step strategy can build a better coaching relationship: (1) start with a face-

287
Sachdeva, S. to-face meeting to establish trust; (2) discuss confidentiality and parameters
Malhotra, K. which are intended to help the coachee perform at his or her best; (3) lay out
the goals which both parties will need to decide on; (4) make a contact for the
initial meeting; and (5) give feedback, which hopefully, can raise important
questions and even boost self-confidence.

6.3 The Process of Coaching

Coaching as a part of the normal process of management consists of:

Figure depicting the coaching process

• Making people aware of how well they are performing by, for example,
asking them questions to establish the extent to which they have thought
through what they are doing.
• Controlled delegation: ensuring that individuals not only know what is
expected of them but also understand what they need to know and be able to
do to complete the task satisfactorily. This gives managers an opportunity
to provide guidance at the outset-guidance at a later stage may be seen as
interference.
• Using whatever situations may arise as opportunities to promote
learning.

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 • Encouraging people to look at higher-level problems and how they would Motivating
tackle them. Students –
Essentials of
7. APPROACHES OF COACHING AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION Mentoring,
Coaching &
There are many techniques that teachers/faculty as coaches’ use. We will Counseling:
examine a few of these techniques and will show how they can become Operational
embedded in strategies that tap higher levels of thinking, which promote Strategy
analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

7.1 Performance and Solution-focused Approaches: The

GROW Model
One of the first performance coaching models developed – the GROW model
– continues to be the most popular. It is a simple yet powerful framework
to guide coaching sessions. Coaches ask a series of questions relating to the
person’s Goal, their Reality, their Options and their Will.

• How will you know that you have • What has been stopping
achieved that goal? you reaching your goal?
• What are the expectations of • Do you know anyone who
others? has achieved that goal?
• Who else needs to know about the • What can you learn from
plan? How will you inform them? them?

• Where does this goal fit in with • What could you do as a

your personal priorities at the first step?
moment?
• What obstacles do you expect to • What else could you do?
meet? How will you overcome
them?
• How committed are you to this • What would happen if you
goal? did nothing?

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Sachdeva, S. 7.2 The STEER Model
Malhotra, K.
The STEER model (Spot, Tailor, Explain, Encourage and Review), like GROW,
is task oriented and also has its basis in the world of sport. But it differs from
the GROW model, and from the other models detailed below, in that it includes
the coach demonstrating how a specific task should be done.

S – Spot training needs

T – Tailor training content to meet the needs of individuals
E – Explain and demonstrate how the task should be done
E – Encourage the individual while he/she is learning
R – Review progress during and on completion of learning.

7.3 Negotiable Contracting

Negotiable contracting consists of giving students shared ownership in their
own learning. The teacher serves as a facilitator of discussion of the assessment
process. Students and the teachers work together to define what they think is
quality work.
In the coaching environment, the teacher as coach initiates a dialogue with
the class, an egalitarian “eyeball to eyeball” talk with the students empowering
them to decide what exactly should be graded and how. What can better
demonstrate the highest level of attainment in the learning experience than the
give and take of a dialogue, where teacher and students exchange ideas and
information in a setting that teems with mutual respect and equality.

7.4 Coaching Through Facilitation

Facilitation is a process through which a person helps a group complete its
work and improve the way it works together. In other words, this person has
the necessary knowledge, explains the process to the team members, guides
and encourages them to contribute ideas, and in the mentoring spirit, enables
the team to work together better.
As a facilitator, a faculty needs to provide direction that supports
accomplishing tasks and team success. This can be done by helping the team
stay focused on the jobs they must complete. Many people, however, have
trouble distinguishing the difference between teaching and facilitating. The
difference is when a faculty communicates the knowledge they have learned
on a given subject to one or more people, it is called as teaching. In facilitation,
facilitators enable communication within a group so that everyone contributes
knowledge and experience toward the solution.

290
7.5 Solution-focused Coaching: The OSKAR model Motivating
Students –
Solution-focused coaching differs from other approaches focusing on the Essentials of
problem as a way of moving forward, by focusing instead on solutions. The Mentoring,
OSKAR model (Outcome, Scaling, Know-how and resources, Affirm and Coaching &
action, Review) is one of the tools used to guide solution-focused coaching. Counseling:
This approach is designed to discover what is working well and to replicate Operational
that, rather than continuing to do what is not working well. It centers on Strategy
bringing out the existing skills and capabilities of the person being coached/
mentored to reach the goals that the coached person has set for him/herself.
The questions that this model prompts the coach to ask are designed to create
a sense of possibility and capability.

7.6 Transformational Coaching

Transformational coaching uses story-telling as a method of inspiring
participants to reconsider how they tell stories about themselves, in the
belief that stories shape, limit and define a person’s way of being. According
to this technique, reframing stories about oneself is part of the process of
reframing one’s view of oneself. Thus the three aspects of transformational
coaching are:

• Transforming who people Are (triple-loop learning). Empowering

people to create a shift in their context or point of view about themselves
with the intent of helping them learn, grow, and produce the results they
truly desire.
• Coaching people to learn to do new things (double-loop learning).
Enabling people to fundamentally reshape their patterns of thinking with
the intent of helping them break through impasses and learn to do different
things.
• Coaching for incremental improvement (single-loop learning).
Coaching people to continuously improve their current practices or do
what they are already doing better.

8. REVIEW OF COUNSELLING LITERATURE

Performance counseling is a manager-initiated strategy for improving
employee’s performance. It is the process of communicating to an employee
the manager’s assessment of the strong aspects of the employee’s performance
of jobs and ways in which that performance may be improved. Performance
counseling helps to remove or reduce the inner obstacles to outer performance.

291
Sachdeva, S. These inner obstacles could be due to personal problems or organizational
Malhotra, K. changes that adversely affect job performance.

8.1 Principles of Performance Counseling

• Strengthening communication between manager and the employee.
• Making the employee understand performance level exhibited by him-
successful performance or marginal
• Involving the employee in the problem-solving process.
• Enabling the employee to identify elements that contributed to success
• Helping the employee to attain performance objectives.
• Motivating the employee for gaining commitment to improve performance.
• Maintaining and increasing the employee’s self-esteem
• Providing support, guidance, and resources as may be required by the
employee to successfully achieve performance objectives.
• Encouraging the employee to learn.
• Focusing on behavior, not personality.
• Using reinforcement techniques to shape behavior.

8.2 Performance Counseling Skills

• Active listening: In context of Speaker’s message, Eye contact, Body
posture, Head nods, Facial expressions
• Responding: Active listening is followed up with responding by the
managers to show that they understand their employees. Managers should
clarify and confirm the employee’s response in order to remove any
ambiguity that may prevail in their minds by summarizing, interpreting,
and clarifying employee’s message. The manager’s empathy in responding
to the employee shall make the performance counseling a success by
enabling the employee to help himself.
• Questioning: Although a necessary skill, questioning must be used with
caution. Too many questions can aggravate the power differential between
managers and employees and place the employee in passive mode. The
employee may also react to excessive questioning as an intrusion of
privacy and become defensive. Generally the questions should be open-
ended to gain insight into an employee’s performance related problems.
Well-posed questions may help to verify understanding, encourage further
explanation, or help the employee move through the stages of performance
counseling session.

292
9. APPROACHES OF COUNSELING AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION Motivating
Students –
9.1 The 3-Step Process of Problem Solving Essentials of
Mentoring,
There are always those moments when a student or even a counselor finds Coaching &
that they are confronted by a problem that seems impossible to solve. In this Counseling:
situation, a faculty as a counselor could come to the rescue, using the 3-step Operational
process that achieves great results. In essence, it is a reflective process to ask Strategy
the right questions (Wright, 1998). The counselor working with the student,
looks back upon similar situations to determine what has been successful,
allowing the youngster to decide what exactly had made it successful, why it
succeeded in the first place, and how that particular formula can be applied. It
gives them empowerment and motivation.

STEP 1: What in the past was similar to what you are dealing with currently?
How were you able to solve that problem? Describe what made it
successful.
STEP 2: Why did it work so well? How can you assess what worked?
Describe specifically what steps you used.
STEP 3: How can you use that knowledge and apply it to your current
situation? What strengths and resources do you have that will help
you achieve your current goal?

9.2 Behavioral Counseling

This is based on the premise that primary learning comes from experience.
The initial concern in therapy is to help the client analyze behavior, define
problems, and select goals.
Therapy often includes homework, behavioral experiments, role-playing,
assertiveness training, and self management training. Like its cognitive therapy
cousins it utilizes collaboration between client and therapist, and is usually of
short duration.

9.3 Cognitive Counseling

This method of Counseling is based on the belief that our thoughts are directly
connected to how we feel. The cognitive therapies include Rational-Emotive,
Cognitive Behavioural, Reality, and Transactional Analysis.
A counselor here tries to solve present day problems by helping students
to identify distorted thinking that causes emotional discomfort. There’s little
emphasis on the historical root of a problem. Rather, what’s wrong with my
present thinking that it is causing me distress is emphasized.

293
Sachdeva, S. Common traits among the cognitive approaches include a collaborative
Malhotra, K. relationship between counselor and student. This method is best known for
treating mild depression, anxiety, and anger problems.

10. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COACHING, MENTORING

AND COUNSELING
Coaching Mentoring Counseling
FOCUS: On problem solving and
On learning/development
On performance decision making
PURPOSE:
Learning to take place Problems/issues to be solved
Performance to be enhanced
RELATIONSHIP:
Self selected or assigned Self selected
Comes with the job
AUTHORITY:
Mentor, advisor Counselor, confidant
Coach, boss
AGENDA: Agenda mutually discovered by
Mentee sets the agenda
Coach sets the agenda counselor and counselee
LEADER’S ROLE:
Sets goals, advises and Teaches, advises and prods Asks, listens and facilitates
critiques
FOLLOWER’S ROLE:
Asks, listens, learns and Shares problems and feelings
Follows suggestions, tries
experiments and tries new ideas
suggested methods
OUTCOMES: Problems solved, decision
Affirmation, learning
Teamwork, performance made
ARENA:
Work and Life Life and home
Job and organization

11. AREAS WHERE A TEACHER ACTS AS A MENTOR, A COACH

AND A COUNSELOR COUNSELING
MENTORING COACHING COUNSELING
CIIIE PDPs Anti Ragging
Mentorship Conferences and Sexual
Programmes Workshops
Projects and Harassment
Dissertations
Online courses Grievance
Handling
Clubs, Committees
and Societies

294
12. GUIDELINES FOR TEACHER’S TO ACT AS A MENTORS Motivating
Students –
As highly performing teachers, the prime expectations are about pedagogy Essentials of
which includes: Mentoring,
Coaching &
• Quality teaching in the provision of education for all students.
Counseling:
• Improving student outcomes. Operational
• Integrating ICTs into classroom practices. Strategy
• Data driven differentiated instruction.
• A mindset of being united in pursuit of excellence.
• Demonstrating effective teaching.
• High level pedagogical content knowledge relating to curriculum area(s)

13. MENTORING PROCESS IN A STUDENT-TEACHER

MENTORING PROGRAMME
Student teaching progresses through five stages of mentoring and supervision. 
Typically Stages 1, 2 and 5 require approximately two weeks to accomplish
the desired objectives, and Stages 3 and 4 occupy the remaining time.  While
the length and structure of each stage will vary, all are important to student
teaching success.

Stage 1:  Observation

• The student teacher observes as the mentor teacher models good teaching
practices.
• The student teacher should be able to clearly reflect understanding of the
skills demonstrated before moving to the next stage.  During this time the
student teacher should be anticipating and preparing for Stage 2.

Stage 2: Team Work

• The student teacher and the mentor teacher plan and teach lessons
collaboratively.
• The team teaching experience should provide opportunities for the student
teacher to ask questions and for the mentor teacher to demonstrate specific
techniques.

Stage 3: Independent Teaching with Observation

• The student teacher teaches independently, with the mentor teacher reviewing
lesson plans and observing the student teacher’s instruction methods.
• The mentor teacher holds a conference with the student teacher after each
lesson, providing encouragement and feedback.

295
Sachdeva, S. Stage 4:  Independent Teaching
Malhotra, K. • The student teacher teaches independently, continually gaining independence
and confidence.
• The students in the classroom learn to depend on the student teacher rather
than on the mentor teacher during this stage.
• The student teacher has many opportunities to exercise judgment and learn
from experience while teaching independently.
• Conferencing continues throughout this stage.

Stage 5:  Closure with Critical Observation

• The mentor teacher begins to resume more responsibility for the classroom.
• The student teacher may again become the observer, now from the vantage
point of more knowledge, or he or she may be invited to observe in other
classrooms.
• The student teacher may now repeat a personal evaluation with new
insights on his or her knowledge and skills.

The Value of Mentoring

At its most basic level, mentoring helps because it guarantees a young person
that there is someone who cares about them. A child is not alone in dealing
with day-to-day challenges.
Think back. Did you know how to study for a test or make plans for
college? Do you remember wanting your first car or looking for a part-time
job? Simple things that seem easy or straightforward to you now may appear
to be a complete mystery to a young person.
Mentors provide their mentees with an experienced friend who is there to
help in any number of situations.

14. GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR TEACHERS TO ACT AS A COACH

Support for education

• Mentors help keep students in school.
• Students who meet regularly with their mentors are 52% less likely than
their peers to skip a day of school and 37% less likely to skip a class
(Public/Private Ventures study of Big Brothers Big Sisters).
• Mentors help with homework and can improve their mentees’ academic
skills.

296
Support with day-to-day living Motivating
Students –
• Mentors help improve a young person’s self-esteem. Essentials of
• Youth who meet regularly with their mentors are 46% less likely than Mentoring,
their peers to start using illegal drugs and 27% less likely to start drinking Coaching &
(Public/Private Ventures study of Big Brothers Big Sisters). Counseling:
• About 40% of a teenager’s waking hours are spent without companionship Operational
or supervision. Mentors provide teens with a valuable place to spend free Strategy
time.
• Mentors teach young people how to relate well to all kinds of people and
help them strengthen communication skills.

Support in the workplace

• Mentors help young people set career goals and start taking steps to realize
them.
• Mentors can use their personal contacts to help young people meet industry
professionals, find internships and locate job possibilities.
• Mentors introduce young people to professional resources and organizations
they may not know.
• Mentors can help their mentees learn how to seek and keep jobs.
The number of ways mentoring can help a youth are as varied as the people
involved in each program. While the lists and statistics can be impressive,
personal stories can be even more impressive.
• Begin by helping the new teacher to establish realistic and appropriate
goals for professional performance.
• Foster the novice’s sense of personal efficacy.
• Embed the teacher’s reflection within the context of the classroom.
• Challenge the novice to use a problem-solving approach to analyzing
instructional events.
• Support the teacher’s efforts to try new instructional strategies.
• Guide and support reflection throughout the instructional process.
• Support and guide metacognitive reflection throughout the coaching
process.

15. GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR TEACHERS TO ACT AS A

COUNSELOR
• Recognize the student’s need for intervention and build rapport.

297
Sachdeva, S. • Provide an appropriate time to truly listen to the child.
Malhotra, K. • Help the person identify and clarify the problem.
• Illuminate options and alternatives for problem solving.
• Help create goals to facilitate improvement or change.
• Encourage the student to succeed.
• Enhance child’s perspectives, well being through educating about the
problem.
• Refer to others if in depth skills are needed.
• Keep the student’s confidence sacrosanct unless abuse is involved or it is
believed that the student might hurt self or others.
• Listen to the inner messages that come through interaction with the
child.

16. Conclusion
Mentoring, coaching and counseling is all part of educational training to
develop people in the professions. They are related to ` self-development,
professional growth and career development of the subordinate and can also be
used in education sector where a teacher play’s the role of a mentor/ coacher/
counselor and a student play’s the role of a mentee/ coachee. The mentor’s/
coach’s/ role is to help learners to achieve their goals by acting as counselor,
facilitator, advisor and guide. Counseling is an important function in relation to
the above-mentioned because it can lead to an improved relationship between
the supervisor and supervisee. It consists of support, feedback, providing
counseling, consultation, teaching, evaluation, motivation and the monitoring
of professional issues. One of the important functions of a supervisor is to be
a role model for the supervisee.
In order to react effectively, a mentor/coach/counselor must: (1) have
certain goals and plans; (2) be a good communicator; (3) have the knowledge
and relevant skills about the candidate’s area of interest; (4) be able to establish a
good and professional relationship; and (5) be flexible in supervision strategies
depending on the individual requirements. In maintaining a good relationship,
the supervisor and supervisee must have certain goals or objectives. The
relationship will focus on these and both parties must trust, respect, empathize
and be honest to each other. Apart from this the paper also focuses on certain
supervisory approaches and its implementation which include: GROW Model,
STEER Model, OSKAR Model, and Negotiable Contracting etc. that can
be commonly adopted towards students in order to help them achieve their
objectives.

298
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