Mentor's Manual

Sec t i on I I : Under s tand i ng the Ro l e of the Mentor

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The Profile of a TUMI Mentor

Role Summary In the TUMI pedagogical scheme, a Mentor plays a significant role in equipping students. With the context of their lives and ministries, and the actual engagement with the Scriptures and other training materials, the Mentor helps the student to both engage and con- textualize their study data. The discussions they lead provide an opportunity for the students to reflect upon and critique the argu- ments and case studies that emerge throughout the course of study. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the godly example and diligence of the Mentor himself/herself provides the students with a “living visual aid” to what it means to study the Word of God aggressively, with a passion to obey Christ and bear fruit, to God’s glory. In every way, then, Mentors serve as an anchor in the facilitation process, helping the students to develop a biblical framework for their own theological exploration and/or denominational commit- ments. As fellow students of Scripture, Mentors can give context and help students integrate their learning into the Story of God and their lives, aiding students as they grapple with the teachings of the faith while relating them to their own specific faith tradition. In many learning environments, it will often be the Mentor who makes all the difference in the training process for the students, as they strive to know, love, and live the story of God in their personal lives, their ministries, and in their lives in the church and community. On the one hand, a Mentor’s formal responsibility involves the specific tasks associated with facilitating a class of adult learners. You must implement courses by encouraging and recording student attendance, assisting the students in understanding and working together on the curriculum, overseeing video or audio content pre- sentations to the Learning Group, teaching implications/applications of the core content, helping students select appropriate ministry projects, grading and evaluating student work, and reporting student needs and progress to the Site Coordinator. On the other hand, your informal reality is that you will need to act as cheerleader and coach. You must learn to acknowledge their classroom and assignment performance, both encouraging and challenging them as they wrestle with difficult yet important

Mentor’s Job Profile