What Does an Organisation Need to Support Music-based Mentoring?
Are we ready to do music-based mentoring?
This page is part of a resource pack on Music-based mentoring.
Get ready...Do you know why you want to do music based mentoring?
• Mentoring isn’t for every organisation. It’s specifically about working to help a young person with their personal challenges. (See What is Mentoring? Definitions)
• Music based mentoring uses music as a shared interest between a mentor and a mentee to help develop the mentoring relationship – the music is central, but it’s not the reason for music based mentoring.
• Agreeing with the mentee specific personal and social goals (See: Setting Goals) to be achieved in a time limit is therefore an important part of music based mentoring.
• As an organisation, therefore, you need to be comfortable with setting your participants personal goals and tracking their progress towards those goals. If this isn’t the way you want to use music in your organisation, then music based mentoring may not be for you.
Get set . . .What you need to set in place
Ingredients:
- Mentees – the young people who will be mentored
- Mentors – the people who will do the mentoring, through and as part of music making with the mentees
- Documentation – to record agreements, action plans, progress, and outcomes with the mentees
- Coordinator – to engage, administer, support and manage all of the above!
- The organisation – to value and own the work
The coordinator is vital. S/he holds the vision for the whole programme, taking responsibility for – ultimately – ensuring that the mentees are able to achieve their goals.
Are you set to be the coordinator? Take this checklist:
- Do you know why your organisation wants to do music based mentoring, and are you also signed up to this?
- Do you understand how to carry out a music based mentoring programme (take this online course!)
- Have you the skills, experience and authority to manage and supervise mentors?
- Do you know where you are getting your mentees from, and why you are recruiting them? (See: Recruitment and Induction of Mentees)
- Do you understand the importance of documentation in music based mentoring? And, are you happy you’ll be able to get your mentors to fill in records properly!
Coordinators are sometimes the main manager in an organisation. But if you have a line manager above you, ensure they understand the values of a music based mentoring, and the importance of your role as the manager and supervisor of the programme as a whole and the personnel involved in it.
Why you need documentation, and the sort of data you should collect, is covered in Processes: Tracking progress (coming soon to the Network!)
In 'Am I / Are we ready to mentor: What do you need to be a music-based mentor?' you’ll find out what it means to be a mentor. Am I / Are we ready to mentor: On-going support requirements for music-based mentors explains what that means for the organisation employing them.
Mentees, of course, are the reason why you’re doing a music based mentoring programme. You will need to:
- Understand why you’re recruiting a particular mentee in the first place [See Processes: Recruitment and induction of mentees]
- Probably have links with non-musical agencies who will refer you suitable potential mentees [See Processes: Recruitment and induction of mentees]
- Ensure each mentee is matched, musically, emotionally, and socially with the best mentor for them [See Processes: Matching mentees and mentors]
- Ensure that mentors and mentees agree goals [See Processes: Setting goals] and that progress towards these goals is monitored.
- Ensure that mentees understand that their mentoring time is limited and that they have options for progression routes beyond [See Journeys: Mentoring as a springboard to new opportunities]
As an organisation you will also have to commit to the values of mentoring. Things to think about are:
- Will everyone in the organisation support the programme?
- Will they treat the mentees with respect?
- If mentees use your premises, will their presence be invasive or is the organisation’s culture already a reasonable fit? If not how would you need to change and is that appropriate?
- Will there be a sensitivity towards the mentees’ challenges and life situations and will all knowledge/ material be handled confidentially?
- To what extent can you link mentoring into existing networks and programmes as this is likely to have a stronger effect?
- Do you have the appropriate resources for the type of mentees you are targeting? For example, if you want to work in urban genres do you have sufficient studio space, decks etc
- Will any public performances and launches be sensitive to the needs of the mentee group? Can you signpost the mentee to life opportunities within and beyond your organisation and can you give them adequate support to avail of these opportunities? [See Journeys: Mentoring as a springboard to new opportunities]
- Is the organisation’s style of communicating responsive to the voices of the mentees, mentors and coordinator? Will they feel part of the team?
- Will everyone clearly understand their roles and responsibilities?
You’re ready to read the rest of this online guide.
For further information read 'Move On Up – an evaluation of Youth Music Mentors', (Chapter 11 pages 97 to 101).