Abstract:

In centuries past, professionals and artisans gained knowledge and honed their skills in order to develop and refine one's craft by spending years in apprenticeships under masters (a.k.a., mentoring relationships). Under this approach, teaching and training occurred on an individual, one-to-one basis. The need for training more people occurred as we moved toward an “industrial,” assembly-line model, and other training models became prevalent. Coaching (traditional classroom teaching) developed as a method of imparting knowledge to many students simultaneously. Lost in this model, however, is the nuance of craftsmanship that occurs in long-term, individual, mentoring relationships. Our institutions of higher learning, with their success model of teaching, service, and research, could become more highly effective by reincorporating the individual mentorship model in conjunction with small cohort coaching.