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Shifting Paradigms in Mentoring Programmes in Higher Education
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Helen Treston,
Study Skills Adviser,
Academic Support Division,
James Cook University.
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In the current era of economic rationalism, there are tensions between the ideals and
practice of mentoring and the changing vision of the corporate university. The
rationalist student-as-client view of education reinforces a Ôget in, get-what-you-need,
get outÕ anonymity among students. In the higher education sector, building
the academic community has traditionally involved the transmission of academic
culture from the lecturer-as-patron to the student-as-disciple. With the current
reduction in government funding of universities and the increased workload for
academics, however, peer mentoring programmes have taken over much of the role of
new student support.
The Peer Mentoring Programme at James Cook University (JCU) Cairns has been
contributing to the establishment of the 'academic community' at the Cairns campus
with a programme that welcomes new students into the faculty on their first day and
gives support for the first year. The aims, ideas, difficulties and future plans of the
JCU student Mentor Programme are outlined in this paper and reviewed in the light
of contemporary developments in the higher education sector.
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About the
Author
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Helen Treston has been a study skills adviser at James Cook University, Cairns, for the past nine years. She has also been a primary and secondary teacher in Australia and the UK and a lecturer at technical and further education institues in Australia. She loves living in Cairns and enjoys the friendliness of the working environment of James Cook University.
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Contact Details
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Helen Treston, Academic Support Division, James Cook University, P O Box 6811, Cairns, Queensland, 4870, Australia, Phone: 61 7 4042 1153.
e-mail: HELEN.TRESTON@JCU.EDU.AU
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