Peter Renshaw supervised the mentoring project that was held at the PCC in September 2005. The project was connected to the development of training to enable teachers to take up a mentoring role. In December Peter Renshaw attended the annual orientation week at the Prins Claus Conservatoire in Groningen and that's where this interview took place.

Q: In your research and publications you make a clear distinction between the concept of mentoring and other activities such as training and coaching, dont' you? 

Peter: Mentoring is a much broader concept compared to, for example, training or coaching. Both training and coaching are focused on the development of certain skills and capacities in certain contexts whereas mentoring is a longer developmental process. It has to do with personal growth and concerns questions like ‘Why am I doing what I do?’ and ‘Where am I going?’ So the goal is not only concerned with artistic or musical development but also with an individual’s personal development. In fact, in mentoring this identity question is fundamental in order to be able to grow as a musician. But the idea of mentoring can include related roles like coaching, advising, facilitating, buddying and tutoring as well. Switching between different roles is necessary but it has to be clear which role the mentor is using and for what purpose.

Q: What aspects are characteristic in a mentoring process compared to a training course or the like?

Peter: Nowadays there is a huge mentoring industry. Everybody has mentors and coaches. In a training course the goal is to enhance performance. This implies that the trainer has the knowledge and authority to engage in a relationship that is not entirely based on equality. In contrast, a mentoring process, in order to be successful, has to be based on trust and mutual respect, working within a non-directive, non-judgmental context. In addition, in a successful mentoring process a mentor has to ask the right questions, triggering questions sometimes. Equally important, a mentor has to be able to listen, to mirror, to challenge, to encourage etc. A central element in the mentoring process is fostering an understanding of the reciprocal relation between ‘reflection on action’ and ‘reflection in action’. There are ways to facilitate this process. 

Q: What is it you want to accomplish within a mentoring process with someone? What’s the most important quality you want to help develop as a mentor?

Peter: Perhaps you have noticed that I’m never talking about a mentee when I speak of the person you are working with as a mentor. The bottom line is that someone, in fact every person in certain phases of their development, needs a sounding board. I myself use different people as a mentor maybe even without knowing it. And I believe in intergenerational mentoring too. A mentor doesn’t necessarily have to be an older ‘wiser’ person. At its best, mentoring can facilitate the process of self reflection and self evaluation. This reflective practice and a person’s engagement in starting to work on that, is what you could call the main goal in a mentoring process. Allowing people to see themselves!

Q: Is there a difference in the way of mentoring in general and mentoring musicians? Does a mentor of musicians need to focus on other aspects?

The social and cultural landscape in which professional musicians work has radically changed over the last decade. Musicians are now expected to have the knowledge, skills and attitudes to engage effectively and creatively in a number of related roles – e.g., performer, composer, teacher, instrumental tutor, workshop leader, mentor and creative producer. Increasingly they have to work collaboratively across art forms, disciplines, cultures, music genres and different sectors within a wide variety of networks. Any creative response to such changes necessitates the development of new working processes, new modes of learning, new connections and new organisational models. The implications for the training sector are enormous and these are now being addressed by institutions across Europe with the support of networks like the European Association of Conservatoires (AEC) and the ERASMUS Thematic Network for Music ‘Polifonia’.

The challenge to those organisations responsible for training and development is how to create and sustain a culture of reflective and reflexive practice so that musicians can learn to respond to this changing workplace with confidence, flexibility, imagination and vision. It is now widely acknowledged that this challenge has to be met partly by a serious commitment to lifelong learning. It is this principle that underpins the lectorate Lifelong Learning in Music. The project takes the view that if lifelong learning is to become a dynamic and relevant force in the lives of both young and experienced musicians, a process of mentoring must be pivotal at those critical stages of an individual’s personal, artistic and professional development. Recognising that mentoring can be interpreted in many different ways, this particular study sets out to examine those approaches to learning that could be seen as fundamental in any mentoring process for musicians.

The proposed framework for mentoring draws on those forms of learning that are central to reflective practice in the areas of continuing professional development, informal learning and adult education. The principles that help to shape the study are rooted in a body of knowledge that is shared by such disparate areas of professional practice as nursing, general practice, social work, education and the visual and performing arts. Such a shared philosophy of practice can only strengthen the work of those conservatoires and training organisations that are beginning to realign their priorities within a culture of reflection and responsiveness. Within this context of renewal and development, mentoring is just one of several processes that can be used to help professional musicians engage in their own lifelong learning. It is incumbent on the training sector to provide the necessary structures and resources to ensure that this happens in practice.

The Place of Mentoring 2009 - Peter Renshaw

A Framework for Mentoring