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This essay suggests that the mentoring process can be used in the classroom as a tool for building self-confidence in the students and therefore improving their learning. In this essay a mentor is an influential student that masters the subject thought better (or before) some other students in the classroom. Thus, the mentor can “assist” the teacher in some of his tasks by tutoring other students. As some studies have shown (Christy D. Mc Gee, Calming fears and building confidence: a mentoring process that works, 2001), the process of mentoring benefits both the mentors and the mentees. The benefits for the mentors seem quite obvious. After learning new material, the student can become a mentor for the others. In itself becoming a mentor adds challenge, reward and hopefully some fun. But mentoring is also a continuation of the learning process itself. For example, explaining the rules of grammar to mentees implies that the mentor needs to not only be able to use the rules, but also acquire the ability to explain it in simple words. Hence, the mentoring process increases self-confidence and sense of responsibility. Of course, the mentees also benefit from this system. As the mentors are “one them”, they can understand the mentees’ difficulties and support them on a pair to pair level. This pair to pair relationship is beneficial to the mentees’ self-confidence in the learning process. If one of them can do it, they surely can do it as well. However, in order to maintain a positive atmosphere in the classroom for each student, the teacher has to prevent dividing the class in two permanent groups. By all means, we don’t want to have a class divided in “the good ones” and “the bad ones”. In order to avoid this situation, it is important that the mentors and the mentees are not always the same students. This requires extra attention from the teacher who needs to be attentive to each student strength and weaknesses and provide exercises that valorize all students’ capabilities while following the logic of the lessons’ plan. Also, the mentoring process is probably not to be used in every class activity. The study phase is probably the best moment to use it. Some of the quickest students have therefore an extra-exercise while they completed the one that was given to the class. The mentoring process will also create more student to student talk time. It is important that this mentoring process takes place in English as soon as the students have the ability to do it. The mentoring process is therefore mainly used for intermediary and advanced levels of learners. But I strongly believe that it can be used as well with parsimony and adaptation with all kinds of learners. I would like to conclude my essay addressing some reserves one might have towards the mentoring process. Indeed, some might argue that it goes against the ideal according to which every student should be treated equally. However, I strongly believe that equality is way less important than equity when it comes to education. Indeed, each student requires specific needs in order to improve oneself. It is the purpose of the teacher to distinguish those specificities and act accordingly. The goal has to remain the improvement of each student in the subject thought and more importantly in the process of learning in general. Mentoring gives each student a different role that allows them all to progress better.
