The last couple of years I have been involved in one of the best programs to come out of the Teaching and Learning with Technology group here at Penn State in a long time. It is called ID-2-ID and it is a mentoring program for instructional designers.
Yes, there are instructional designers that have been doing this for a while, (and I think I fall into this club), and there are those with not as many years of experience. What a great idea! And so simple too! Pair up individuals so that they can get together regularly and talk about what the have in common and what interests them most.
[FLASHBACK: I can remember years ago when I was the library media specialist at the State College Area Junior High School and a member (or did I chair?) the professional development committee. I do remember canvasing the teachers in my building with a simple question, “What would be the most helpful way for you to spend this time?” Their answers, almost invariably, were “I want to spend time with other (like) teachers and talk about what we are doing.” Sounded reasonable but not practical to administrators who were worried that this would be time ill-spent. So, we ended up getting in a speaker and most of the teachers gave a percentage of their attention to listening but a larger percentage to grading papers! ]
The ID-2-ID program recognizes the value that can be found when two professionals get together and talk. Sure, we have some guidelines that keep us on track, but for the most part my ‘partner’ and I have spent more time on talking about how we deal with the everyday types of challenges that we face, the new things we have come across that look interesting and discuss the relative or probable successes that could result.
Also, this is definitely not a one-way street. Whereas mentor-mentee typically defines a hierarchical relationship, this has not been my experience. In fact, I prefer to use the word partner instead – much more symbiotic. Did I mention above that I had been at this for a while? Well, some of the experience and contacts do come in handy but most of this is usually for naught. Instructional challenges are never the same. The correct direction for decision making within education scenarios is usually, “it depends” and instructional design certainly falls underneath this umbrella.
The reason why our conversations are not a one-way street is because my partner has given me much to think about simply by allowing me to talking with her. As I explain what it is I do and why, this in itself gets me to re-evaluate my answers, my purpose, my understanding of the value that I try to add. I think that the converse is true as well. And the technologies! Don’t even get me started on this one. How does one person keep up with it all?! You simply can’t do this by yourself. You HAVE TO explore and think together with others.
My mentoring relationship began earlier this semester and will run through until March – at least officially that is. I can already tell that I have gotten to know another instructional design professional well, well enough to know that I will continue to explore new strategies and discuss options with, and think through where our best chance for adding value lies. Would I pick up the phone to get her reaction or feedback to something I am trying? Absolutely. I think this ID-2-ID thing is working for us.