Mentorship as individualization in education Each one teach one movement

Abstract

The development of lifelong education is increasingly bringing individualization into learning. Quantitatively group education (courses, seminars) is on the decrease, whereas individual, independent mentor-supported learning is growing. In the information or learning society, people typically have less and less time from the moment they become aware of their need for specific knowledge and the moment they need to possess this knowledge. So they search for the most rational way of learning, one that is adapted to their particular needs. The new society requires a one-of-a-kind personality with an increased competitive value. In the recent decades we have witnessed emergence of new types of education also in Slovenia. People do not stay only with their basic profession, they pursue training and education in other fields (specializing in different discipline(s), diversifying their knowledge), thus producing impressive professional portfolios.Informal mentoring and mentoring in pairs have been promoted by the Third Age University through the move- ment »Each One Teach One« since 2009. Informal mentors offer their computer knowledge to other persons, they introduce learning in pairs, a technique where a mentor helps a mentee with e-mail, the internet, skype, facebook, text writing and editing, digital photography etc. If the mentee wishes, he can receive instruction at home, on his computer, because he is more familiar with it and can make faster progress. The company ST Slovenia supports the Each One Teach One movement and is introducing it into its companies. Mentoring, or mentorship, is becoming an ever- more- common form of individual education. There are two kinds, formal and informal. The former, with an officially appointed mentor, focuses on acquisition of knowledge, whereas the latter fosters personal growth, through elimination of fear, raised self-confidence and design of new plans. Each mentor cannot mentor anybody. The qualities a mentor is expected to possess are kindness, sincerity, trust, ability to listen and advise on the one hand and professionalism on the other.