1. Learn more about mentoring – there is much to be learned about what mentoring is, what the characteristics of a good mentor are, and the impact a good mentor can make in the life of a protégé, be they an adult or a young person. I sincerely believe that if more people understood the benefits of mentoring for both the protégé and the mentor, we would have little difficulty finding mentors.
2. Become a mentor – Unfortunately, finding mentors is often the most difficult part of developing a mentoring program. Because good mentors must make a commitment to regular contacts, maintaining their ongoing obligation is critical to mentor/protégé success.
3. Partner with a mentoring organization or make a donation to an organization that has mentoring as part of its strategic plan – developing and maintaining a mentoring program has many costs involved. If a mentoring program is part of a business model, it is most often funded by the business and has a built-in financial foundation. However, for many educational and non-profit mentoring programs, the funding is scarce and dependent on partners. At the Center for Leadership, Equity, and Research (CLEAR) one of our goals is to develop mentoring programs at middle schools. Funding to do so most often depends on business partners who recognize the importance of addressing student social, emotional, and academic needs at this critical time.
4. Contact your past and present mentors – it only takes a minute to make a phone call or send an e-mail thanking your past and present mentors. Although it’s true that mentoring is not about receiving thanks, it’s still a wonderful experience to hear from a former protégé who recognizes the difference a mentor has made in his or her life.

Remember that mentoring is an opportunity to guide, support, and develop a lifelong relationship. Perhaps the following quote states it best…

“The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches
but to reveal to him his own.”
 – Benjamin Disraeli

It’s amazing to me that 2011 has come and gone so quickly. It was a year of many changes and challenges which, in retrospect, was a very good thing. Change happens and one can choose to see it as a roadblock or as an opportunity… we at CLEAR have definitely seen the future as bursting with opportunity.

In giving thought to this version of “Two Minutes on Mentoring,” I was taken back to 2001 when the subject of mentoring first came to mind as an area of research and action. It was a time when the inequity of the lack of Latino leadership in the educational system of the State of California first became clear to me. The numbers provided by the California Department of Education stood out like a neon light blinking to the public, “at the time there were 1056 school districts in the State of California; only 75 were led by either a Latina or Latino superintendent…61 Latinos and 14 Latinas.” These numbers were burned into my psyche and became the impetus for the work I do to this day in the area of mentoring.

Mentoring, and its importance as a support tool to less-represented groups, is still very obvious to me. Provided the opportunity to personally mentor young leaders throughout the Central Valley and in some cases, across the state, I continue to be amazed at the importance of mentoring as a method of support and position sustainability not only for young educational leaders but also for those a bit more “advanced in years.”

It is for this reason that the Center for Leadership, Equity, and Research (CLEAR) is currently partnering with the Latino Leadership Development Collaborative (LLDC) and my former protégé Roberto Serrato as he and his group move forward with plans of encouraging/finding, developing training and mentoring future school board members. This is a much needed venture that has been well thought out and planned by the LLDC group; for more information go to LLDC.US.

In addition, this month, CLEAR, in collaboration with CVELI (Central Valley Educational Leadership Institute) and doctoral students from CSU Bakersfield, will begin developing a plan to make available to Central Valley Latino leaders, a “Latino Leadership Academy” beginning in the fall of 2012. The expectation is that this particular academy will consist not only of educational leaders but also of community leaders looking to positively impact the growing Latino community. We are excited about this next step in the continuing growth of the leadership component of CLEAR.

Like you, we understand that these are challenging times. Nevertheless, we welcome the challenges and plan on developing opportunities from them. Have a great 2012…we look forward to working with you in the months ahead.

Best Always,

Ken

“Impacting Educational Reform thru Social Change”

In last month’s edition of “A CLEAR Voz” I shared with you that the Center for Leadership, Equity, and Research advisory group recently determined that we should focus on addressing two specific areas of need as action items in our equity strand; music and art in our schools, or the lack thereof, and informing foster parents and foster children of the importance of cultural relevancy as it pertains to their special relationships.

Since then, I have had the opportunity to meet with, or communicate with, various educational leaders throughout the state as it pertains to our first action item: music and art in our schools. The passion and knowledge among those active in this area is amazing. I was quite unaware of the movement already present to integrate the arts as part of the daily school curriculum.

Let me be honest; I have virtually no ability to play a musical instrument (although I made an attempt to play a clarinet in the school band earlier in my life) and I certainly have very limited artistic talent. Nevertheless, CLEAR was developed to address issues of equity and access where they are present…and this is certainly an area we intend to assist in.

Not long ago I was invited to attend a gathering of the Fresno Arts Network, who are described as “a professional learning community of educators, artists, and community members collaborating to create equity and access to a high quality arts education for every student, in every school, every day – www.teacharts.org .“ At this gathering I had the opportunity to listen to Dr. Victoria Stevens (www.victoriastevens.com) present on the value of providing meaningful arts learning for students. By the end of her presentation I was convinced that this is a subject all educators need to learn more about. I certainly am…

Best Always,

Ken

Fewer American children are getting access to arts education, whether at school or elsewhere, according to a new analysis of federal data issued by the National Endowment for the Arts. What’s especially alarming is that the overall decline is only part of the story: The drop is apparently most severe for African-Americans and Hispanics. http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2011/02/new_study_suggests_arts_ed_for.html

You may download the full report at: http://www.nea.gov/research/2008-SPPA-ArtsLearning.pdf

Earlier this month (November 4^th) I sent a message addressing the importance of having music and art in our schools. This past week the Advisory Group for CLEAR met and agreed that integrating music and art from a cultural perspective in our schools is an equity and access issue that we must actively support. In the spirit of following up on our advisory group decision, I’d like to direct you to the following “Playing for Change- Episode 54” link: http://playingforchange.com/episodes/54/ It’s a “must watch.”

Ken

This article appeared in the LA Times on November 9:  FCC launching $4-billion program to narrow digital divide

The FCC aims to make high-speed Internet access and computers more affordable for more than 25 million mainly low-income Americans.

Be sure to visit the following website http://playingforchange.org/ to learn about creating positive change in our schools through music and arts education.

Photo from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/luiscabrera10/2079812310/

October 2011

Although I rarely visit the website of AERA, the American Educational Research Association (as a member, I should use it much more often) I recently came across a statement written by the President of the organization and the Chair of next year’s conference while researching a particular topic. The theme for the 2012 conference very quickly gained my attention:

Theme: “Non Satis Scire: To Know Is Not Enough”

“To know is not enough…” What an excellent reminder it should be to all of us that knowing is most valuable when it is accompanied by “praxis or action.” An educational system grounded not only in praxis but in social justice as the foundation is what I believe the noted Brazilian educator Paolo Freire had in my mind when he taught that the educational process is not neutral but rather is one of “active participation.”

This same statement written by the President of AERA and the Chair of the upcoming conference also provided this quote from Dr. Martin Luther King which I believe truly speaks to the realization and not just the belief that “all kids can learn…”

I said to my children, “I am going to work and do everything that I can do to see

that you get a good education. I don’t ever want you to forget that there are

millions of God’s children who will not and cannot get a good education, and I

don’t want you feeling that you are better than they are. For you will never be

what you ought to be until they are what they ought to be.”

Like you, continuing the work…

Ken

November 2011

In September I began this short series of writings by sharing that the ancient Greeks considered effective mentoring to be grounded in three critical areas; ethics, relationships, and logic. Having previously shared thoughts on both ethics and relationships, this month’s focus will be on that of “logic.”I won’t pretend to understand the original Greek thought as it pertains to logic; however, there is a definition I found while researching the term: Logic (from the Greek λογική logikē)is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning (Wikepedia, 2011).

Many facilitators of mentoring programs believe that it is enough to choose mentors and protégés and leave the development of the “system” to that which naturally occurs. This is a mistake. Successful systems rarely “just happen.” Ask any successful business or athletic team and you will see that behind the success or wins is a system which has been developed over time. This is only “logical.” Should one review the development of most successful mentoring systems, you will note that there is the identification of: (1) the need, (2) goals of the participants, (3) the activities they will be involved in, (4) the outcomes, and (5) an assessment of whether the program is working or not.  

I recall to this day my dissertation chair at UCLA, Buzz Wilms, reminding us of the need to “plan, do, check, act” when developing our project. Making sure something is well thought out and working well is often based on a review of the Deming Cycle Model, or Japanese Lesson Study of PDCA, “plan, do, check, and act.” To this day, whether it is developing my curriculum for a doctoral class, developing a mentoring program, or working with the advisory board to develop the next level of the Center for Leadership, Equity, and Research (CLEAR), I can still hear the words…plan, do, check, and act. It’s logical.

Have a great November…and stay away from the left over candy J

Ken

CLEAR Board Member Rob Darrow writes about a recent K-12 online learning report and highlights the research about online learning.  Check out his blogpost here.