MENTORING
Introduction
Some countries have been developing ways to support each in their work as interpreters. One important development is mentoring.
‘Mentor’ was the elderly friend of Odysseus who was the hero of the Greek epic ‘Odyssey’. Before he went to fight in the Trojan War Odysseus made ‘Mentor’ guardian of his son.
To read the Story of ‘Mentor’ – click here
Today the word mentor refers to a ‘wise and faithful counsellor’. (Source: World Book 2005)
A number of national interpreting associations have developed mentoring programmes as a means to support interpreters in their work.
This page does not set out to prescribe how you should mentor interpreters but rather it brings you a range of links and references to various national association and related websites so that you can see what is happening.
WASLI would like to thank those national associations and related organisations that have given permission for links to be made to their websites.
Mentoring Programmes
ASLI (Association of Sign Language Interpreters for England, Wales & Northern Ireland)
http://www.asli.org.uk/PD_Mentoring_start.htm
RID (Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf)
1) RID has a standard practice paper on mentoring: http://www.rid.org/UserFiles/File/pdfs/Standard_Practice_Papers/Drafts_June_2006/Mentoring_SPP.pdf
NOTE: All standard practice papers are in the process of being updated.
Additionally
2) We offer "mentoring grants" to affiliate chapters on a yearly basis.
The following link takes you to the search facility on the RID website where you will be able to find information about mentoring: http://www.rid.org/viewSearch.cfm?articleSearch=mentoring&submit=go
The recipients of the new program were South Central Pennsylvania RID, working in conjunction with Pennsylvania RID; Virginia RID; Montana RID and Utah RID. NewHampshire RID, Michigan RID and New York City Metro RID were the winners in 2001. In 2002, the winning program was Idaho RID. Louisiana RID was a winner in 2003.
In 2004, grants were awarded to Illinois, Nebraska and New Mexico RID. The winners of awards in 2005 were Minnesota RID, Washington State RID, Colorado RID, Alabama RID and the Texas Society of Interpreters for theDeaf.
These programs have been highlighted in various issues of VIEWS.
This year, RID seeks to continue the program for the seventh year. Local chapters and SIGS are encouraged towork with the affiliate chapters in a joint effort. Additionally, private or public organizations may work with the affiliate chapters as well.
The overall objective of the program is to increase the quantity of skilled interpreters in the field. Grant amounts of up to $2,000 are generally limited to one RID affiliate chapter per RID region. Unless there are compelling reasons to do otherwise, half of the grant will be awarded once the decisions are made, and the other half will come after substantial progress has been substantiated. Proposals demonstrating collaborative efforts and/or matching funds will be ranked higher.
The goals of the Mentorship Challenge Grants are: 1) to increase the skills of new interpreters in the field, and 2) to expand the number of interpreters from minority or underserved populations.
This program demonstrates the association's supportf or developing competencies with promising new colleagues in the field and to its commitment to the long range goal of increasing diversity in the discipline. The RID Board of Directors will determine grant awards.
Publications/Articles
“Mentoring” (1989) from Interpreters on Interpreting, Sign Media Inc. Burtonsville, MD, USA
“Mentoring in the Sign Language Interpreting Profession” (2001) – An EFSLI Publication
If you would like to submit a link or reference for inclusion on this page, then please contact the WASLI Secretary here