Mentoring stimulates individuals to self-assess and reflect, thus becoming more conscious learners, teachers and mentors who are able to apply knowledge of their learning needs and styles to new areas of study and the development of effective classrooms. Self-reflection is a central dynamic to mentoring. Not only is it crucial in encouraging more open minded and creative thinkers and effective educators, but it also develops an awareness of self as learner, teacher and mentor. Individuals who are capable of self-reflection are able to examine their own internal processing mechanisms. This metacognitive capability can be used to significantly improve and modify their processing strategies to enhance performance (Forrest-Pressley, MacKinnon and Waller,1985 and Hine and Ismail,1997).

Through the process of mentoring with second and third year preservice education students in a subject entitled Student Mentoring, this paper explores a range of strategies that are utilised to develop self-reflection, metacognition and mentoring skills. Students are nurtured through self-reflection and mentoring to evaluate their strengths and attitudes, to monitor their learning and mentoring progress and to set goals for effective learning, teaching and mentoring (Hine, Newman and Peacock,1999). Mentoring encourages students to become more self-reflective, metacognitively-aware and self-directed learners, teachers and mentors.

The essence of mentoring is the establishment of beneficial interpersonal relationships based upon effective communication (Kerka,1998). Schwiebert (2000) asserts that "the power of mentoring lies in its one-on-one relationship that is focused on the mentees' learning and development"(p.132). He describes the relationship as often being "intense, intimate and personal" (Schwiebert, 2000, p.132). Mentors provide direction, support, insights and a challenge (Debolt, 1992; Bond 1999). They essentially provide "...their protégés with a sense of what they are becoming" (Debolt, 1992, p.30). A metaphor of a mentor as a 'mirror', illustrates the assistance from one to another, in order to recognise one's "own worth and potential" (Debolt, 1992, p.37).

Mentoring stimulates individuals to self-assess and reflect. Self-reflection encourages more open minded and creative thinkers and effective educators, while developing an awareness of self as learner, teacher and mentor. Carruthers (1993) declares that humans as social beings, naturally "group together to satisfy, as best they can, their needs" (p.12). Mentoring is a vehicle for dialogue, which serves to deepen mutual understanding enabling individuals to become more conscious learners, teachers and mentors who are able to apply knowledge of their learning needs and styles to new areas of study and the development of effective classrooms (Syrjálá, 1996).

A number of researchers include the element of reflection in their definitions of thinking. McPeck (1981), Ennis (1987), Lipman (1988) and Paul (1992) each position reflection as one aspect of deliberate mental processes. Ennis (1985, p. 30) advocates that teachers should "be receptive to questions and students' original thoughts; . . . arrange for students to engage each other in discussion and challenge; ... ask for a focus and for reasons in any discussion". Paul (1992, p. 643) includes the metacognitive notion of "thinking about your thinking while you are thinking in order to make it more accurate or more defensible". Hine and Ismail (1997) and Forrest- Pressley, MacKinnon and Waller, (1985), exploring the concept of metacognition, .see metacognition more as depicting the knowledge of the states and processes of one's own mind and one's ability to control or modify these states and processes.

According to Flavell (1976, 1977, 1978) cited in Resnick (1976), one of the earlier pioneers in the study of metacognition "metacognition refers to one's knowledge concerning one's own cognitive processes and products or anything related to them" (1976, p. 232), in effect it includes "the active monitoring and consequent regulation and orchestration of these processes in relation to the cognitive objects or data on which they bear, usually in the service of some concrete goal or objective" (Flavell, 1976 p.232). Marzano (1988 p.9), attempting to simplify the debate states that "metacognition is being aware of our thinking as we perform specific tasks and then using this awareness to control what we are doing." In other words " metacognitive processes refer to the control or executive processes that direct our cognitive processes and lead to efficient use of cognitive strategies (Forrest-Pressley and Waller, 1984 p.2). Yussen in Forrest-Pressley, MacKinnon and Waller (1985) conjectures that put another way "metacognition is that mental activity for which other mental states or processes become the object of reflection" (p.253).

These definitions of metacognition extend beyond awareness of one's cognitive processes namely self awareness to the deliberate and conscious control of these cognitive actions.. The phenomenon of metacognition is succinctly summarised by Forrest-Pressley, MacKinnon and Waller (1985) to mean " one's conscious attempts in regulating cognition, the self - regulatory mechanisms such as checking, planning, monitoring, testing, revising and evaluating used by an active learner in ongoing attempts at comprehension" (p.3) Nelson (1992) defined metacognition simply as "cognition about one's own cognitions" (p.1). Halpern (1996) concurs, claiming it is 'knowledge about knowledge', whilst Weinert and Kluwe (1987) add 'reflections about actions'.

Metacognition represents individuals' knowledge of the states and processes of their own mind and their ability to control or modify these states and processes. It powerfully addresses the problem of gereralization of performance across settings. The extent to which individuals know what and how they know should be utilizable higher-order knowledge across different settings. Individuals who are metacognitively aware are a self correcting system; one who has learned how to learn. It is the individual's metacognitive knowledge that enables them to behave proactively or to influence the input that in turn influences their activity (Forrest- Pressley, MacKinnon and Waller,1985). Teacher's metacognitive knowledge and executive control of themselves will empower them to work autonomously and effectively with others in a variety of situations and to nurture metacognitive processes knowledgeably in the students that they teach.

By learning to mentor, students learn new ways of viewing their world and developing their intellectual abilities. These pursuits require the acquisition, comprehension and application of new knowledge, and activate the need for perseverance, research and complex forms of problem solving. Kerka (1998) alleges that "mentoring supports much of what is currently known about how individuals learn, including the socially constructed nature of learning and the importance of experiential, situated learning experiences"(p.3). Processes of thinking, such as problem solving, reasoning and decision-making become the content of lessons - they become the tasks assigned to students. By allowing individuals to construct meaning within the context of interaction with others, learning is facilitated through guided problem-solving experiences. Metacognitive processes are engaged in, while learning and applying knowledge in a collaborative, scaffolded environment. Mentors are a scaffold that gradually decrease their assistance, "...as learners rationalize the process and construct their own knowledge and understanding" (Kerka, 1998, p.3). Such guided learning "...is the most effective mentoring" (Kerka, 1998, p.4). This metacognitive capability developed through mentoring can be used to significantly improve and modify individual's processing strategies to enhance performance (Forrest-Pressley, MacKinnon and Waller, 1985 and Hine and Ismail, 1997).

Metacognition needs to be embedded in collaborative, practical activity. Prior

experience, organisation of experience and information and reflection upon relationships within this organisation are characteristics of metacognitive thought, self reflection and mentoring.

One of the most important skills for students entering the work force is knowledge and control of themselves so that they can work autonomously and effectively with others. Flavell in Dickson (1981p.57) writes that "concrete metacognitive experiences and associated actions can provide input to permanent metacognitive knowledge, which in turn will influence future experiences and actions".

Kovac-Cerovic (1996) considers metacognition as the "...core phenomenon of development envisioned by Vygotsky..." (p.181). Vygotsky highlighted the importance of learning being framed through metacognitive and reflective experiences such as 'hesitancy', 'confusion', 'doubt', 'not-being-sure-what-to-do-next', as part of a journey leading to the 'aha' experience of certainty (Vygotsky, 1978). Self-reflection enhances students' ability to monitor, assess and improve their

performance and thinking; and hence promote deeper learning (Branch, Grafelman & Hurelbrink,1998; Reiman & Thies-Sprinthall,1998). Social interaction appears to be essential as an aid to scaffold the metacognitive process (Restaino-Keller & Moss Handle, 1996). Kovac-Cerovic (1996) emphasise the use of "social interaction as the major vehicle for constructing metacognitive development..." (p.190). Syrjálá (1996) explains that dialogue "...allows the opinions of all the participants to be heard and developed" (p.265). She advocates opportunities for "real dialogue based on the understanding of one's own restrictions and the realisation everyone needs other people" (Syrjálá, 1996, p.265). Mentoring provides such an opportunity for genuine social interaction, self reflection and metacognition within the educational arena (Bond, 1999).

Mentoring links metacognitive learning and self-reflection with collaborative learning. Hine and Newman (1996) declare that "...learning is expedited by personal awareness of how we are learning (metacognition) and by the social and cultural conditions in which we are learning - the collective construction of knowledge -" (p.41). Restaino-Keller and Moss Handle (1996) highlight the empowering and supporting nature of the mentoring process to transform learning, stating that the mentee creates "...a new perspective and a new vision. Seeing the world through new eyes is a transformative process"(p.291). Mentoring, therefore, allows metacognition and reflection to flourish within a supportive relationship that promotes constructive and transformative learning to occur.

Through the process of mentoring with third year preservice education students in the subject Student Mentoring, this paper explores a range of strategies that are utilised to develop self-reflection, metacognition and mentoring skills. Students are nurtured through self-reflection and mentoring to evaluate their strengths and attitudes, to monitor their learning and mentoring progress and to set goals for effective learning, teaching and mentoring Individuals who are capable of self-reflection and metacognition are able to examine their own internal processing mechanisms. Students' metacognitive awareness and perceptions of their own thinking were explored through collaborative, practical activity, which took the form of interactive dialogue, mentoring and reflection.

Research has shown that perceptions of individual metacognitive capability improve when pre-service educators are encouraged to talk together, engage in public reasoning, share problem solving responsibilities and otherwise jointly construct knowledge and meaning (Hine and Ismail, 1997). Frost (1994) warns that to be effective in mentoring, there are twin responsibilities, claiming "if mentors are going to be able to facilitate critical reflection...they need to be highly reflective practitioners themselves and they need also to be committed to...the enhancement of the reflective capacity" (p.140), Flavell (1987) recommends the mentor - mentee behaviours of 'careful monitoring, regulation and decision making'; open 'communication'; willing 'explanations' and 'justifications'; 'evaluation of alternatives'; 'planning'; 'inferring' and 'social cognition'; to enhance the metacognitve and self reflective processes (p.27). Such behaviours will promote both interpersonal and intrapersonal awareness and understanding, which will foster cognitive, affective and social growth of both the mentor and their mentee.

In the subject Student Mentoring, a variety of strategies which actively foster self reflection and metacognition were employed to develop effective mentoring practice and skills.

1. Metacognitive reflection / Wraparound sessions:

Metacognitive "debriefing" is a strategy employed within the mentoring subject. Debriefing is used at the end or sometimes at the beginning of an activity or discussion as a wraparound session to enable students to reflect, monitor, regulate and evaluate their own and their peers' thinking in relation to the mentoring topic, skill or strategy. (Hine, and Ismail, 1997, Fogarty, 1994). At times this wraparound session, similar to a round robin idea, would take the form of students presenting a visual symbol, physical gesture or movement, making a sound or singing a few bars from a song representing how they felt about a session, activity, skill or concept. Students are instructed not to judge the responses but to accept all ideas in a rapid progression. Wraparounds are also effective when used as a metacognitive planning tool for students. Wraparounds were often used at the start of the day to begin a new session as a means of reviewing the learning from the day before. This aided in linking the two sessions and reflecting upon the development of one's thinking and mentoring understandings. The wraparound afforded students an opportunity to enhance their thinking, mentoring and communication skills. It provided closure by asking students to analyse their use of specific skills or what they learned from the content through recall, analysis and synthesis of information. Also the wraparound provided an opportunity for transference and bridging of concepts and skills to the future mentor/ mentee sessions. As the content of wraparound activities focussed upon mentoring skills and concepts, internal dialogue was shared promoting reflection and metacognition. This strategy fostered critical reflection about the development of mentoring skills and strategies. The pivotal point of mentoring is the establishment of beneficial interpersonal relationships based upon effective communication (Kerka, 1998). Mentoring is a vehicle for dialogue, which serves to deepen mutual understanding (Syrjálá, 1996). A wraparound promotes metacognitive reflection while developing the mentoring skills of dialogue, communication and shared understanding. Some examples of wrap - around statements included:

Buddies interacted with each other at mutally convenient times in a conferencing mode, reflecting on issues, clarifying goals, providing one to one feedback on situations and activities in a personal, verbal transaction that focussed on analysis and synthesis. Sullivan (1992) and Schwiebert (2000) emphasize the importance, even in informal relationships, to clarify expectations and establish goals for the relationship, to prevent future misunderstandings and assist in time management. The importance of mentors listening to, and sensitively providing constructive feedback, both positive and negative, in "private, and in a setting that is as nonthreatening as possible" is emphasised by Schwiebert (2000,p.103). This is emphasised by Susan when she states:

Conferencing was used as a monitoring strategy to foster self regulatory and developmental learning. It was modelled and used in the classroom to periodically provide feedback to peers, engage peers in the act of buddy to buddy conferencing, monitoring progress, make necessary adjustments and reflectively mediate each other's mentoring behaviour and actions. Students practiced the skills of mentoring through peer mentoring with their buddy and engaged in the cognitive coaching of each other. Through the process of putting ideas into words and dialoguing with a supportive 'buddy', students internalised concepts at a deeper level and metacognitively monitored their thinking, ideas and mentoring skill development.

Students were encouraged to maintain a reflective journal throughout the duration of the subject and during their mentoring sessions with their mentees and write in it on a regular basis. Journals were often brought to mentoring sessions and shared with buddies or in small groups. They provided a useful way for students keep ongoing records, self reflect, record their learnings and write self critiques, as Denise wrote in her journal:

Social interaction appears to be essential as an aid to scaffold the metacognitive process (Restaino-Keller & Moss Handle, 1996). Kovac-Cerovic (1996) emphasise the use of "social interaction as the major vehicle for constructing metacognitive development..." (p.190). Syrjálá (1996) explains that dialogue "...allows the opinions of all the participants to be heard and developed" (p.265). She advocates opportunities for "real dialogue based on the understanding of one's own restrictions and the realisation everyone needs other people" (Syrjálá, 1996, p.265). Mentoring provides such an opportunity for genuine social interaction within the educational arena (Bond, 1999).

According to Vygotsky (1978);

Mentoring links metacognitive learning and self-reflection with the collaborative learning that is encouraged through small group mentoring. Hine and Newman (1996) declare that "...learning is expedited by personal awareness of how we are learning (metacognition) and by the social and cultural conditions in which we are learning - the collective construction of knowledge -" (p.41). Restaino-Keller and Moss Handle (1996) highlight the empowering and supporting nature of the mentoring process to transform learning, stating that the protégé creates "...a new perspective and a new vision. Seeing the world through new eyes is a transformative process"(p.291). Mentoring, therefore, allows metacognition and reflection to flourish within a supportive teaching-learning relationship, Restaino-Keller and Moss Handle (1996) reveal that "by engaging in dialogue, setting tasks and exercises, creating dichotomies, the mentor challenges the protégé and forces a situation of cognitive dissonance and reflection" (p.291). It is this cognitive disharmony that promotes self-reflection, and leads to deeper internal thought processes. These, in turn, transform into deeper learning. Mentors will need to develop a substantial repertoire of cognitive strategies to apply to "...a wide range of learning and problem-solving situations" (Hine and Newman, 1996, p.39).

Visualisation is the act of mentally imaging or picturing in the mind an idea or situation, imaging or seeing the unknown. Visualisation plays a critical role in helping us remember things as well as helping us see and plan the future, as Annie commented:

Planning is an essential characteristic.in metacognition and mentoring. To recall a mental image of something seen previously is one level of visualising, while imaging an unknown future event is another feature of this ability to visualise things mentally. Visualisation can be used to recall and reconstruct as well as imagine, invent and construct new ideas as Susan demonstrated in one journal entry:

In goal setting, a central characteristic of mentoring, we visualise a future time and image that imprints on the mind and enhances the verbalisation process of learning. In mentoring, visualisation is an effective skill that can be used as a planning tool and anticipation strategy. In the subject Student Mentoring, students were provided with opportunites to utilise visualisation strategies in goal setting, picturing their first meeting with their mentees, time management and seeing their role as a future mentor.

Mentoring offers a positive solution for the changing face of education. Smith and Kolosick (1996) declare that "together faculty and students face new challenges and questions regarding their roles in the emerging learning paradigm" (p.146). They claim that "teachers no longer need to be catalysts, vehicles, and judges for the learning process.... students can assume responsibility for meeting their own needs..." (Smith & Kolosick, 1996, p.146). This personalisation of education is possible through mentoring (Bond, 1999), as the shifting focus upon the teacher, changes to facilitating and guiding, rather than simply delivering (Smith & Kolosick, 1996).

Schwiebert (2000) claims the mentor provides the protégé with an assortment of benefits and opportunities; including "...opportunities for recognition and encouragement, honest feedback, advice on balancing responsibilities, and knowledge of the informal rules of the organization" (p.101). Kerka (1998) states that mentors provide "practical know-how and wisdom ('craft knowledge') that can be acquired only experientially" (p.3). Schwiebert (2000) claims mentors assist their protégés in "removing organizational barriers, and negotiating the 'system'" (p.21), as well as helping them "...overcome personal and social barriers" and exposing them "...to new relationships and opportunities" (p.25). Bond (1999) adds to this, the mentee benefits of

• remediation;
• encouragement;
• guidance;
• independent learning;
• improved self-confidence and self-esteem;
• increased personal and professional networks;
• increased knowledge, skills and expertise;
• access to role models;
• access to resources;
• solutions to perceived obstacles;
• peer support
• development of interpersonal skills.

Bond (1999) suggests benefits for mentors include:

• increased confidence;
• personal satisfaction;
• deeper understanding of self and others;
• improved management skills;
• deeper learning;
• stronger sense of leadership;
• improved understanding of existing barriers;
• heightened sense of self worth;
• improved interpersonal skills.

Without such benefits, Kridal, Bullough & Shaker (1996) assert that, the relationship would fail. Mentoring programs appear to be both appropriate and applicable to the "needs of students within the current educational environment" (Bond, 1999, p.v). Mentoring programs serve a duel purpose; they are client-centred and thus can target 'at risk' students, as well as promote individually challenging and relevant curricula (Bond, 1999). Bond (1999) affirms that there is "a growing body of evidence.... that links mentoring activity with positive student outcomes" (p.5).

Murray (1991), and Klopf and Harrison (1981) deny the mentor relationship is all one-sided. Forster (1998) affirms that such relationships can provide both mentor and mentee with "encouragement, inspiration, new insights and other personal rewards" (p.v). Murray (1991) outlines specific benefits for mentors as including "...enhanced self-esteem, revitalized work interests, professional assistance on projects, friendship, and fulfilment of development needs among others" (p.53).

The benefits of mentoring to the educational system are extensive. Mentoring promotes a collaborative rather than a competitive environment (Bond, 1999). Mentoring programs are cost-effective, available to all, increase talent identification and nurturing, enhance the development of learning strategies and study skills, foster intrinsic motivation and open communication, and promote autonomous learning (Bond, 1999). Explicit attention to the metacognitive promotes transfer and application of knowledge, skills, concepts and attitudes in new situations and prepares mentors for the role of mentoring mentees.

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