4.1. Introduction

Mentoring is an invaluable tool in supporting VET students as they let go of their negative baggage. By establishing trust and rapport, setting clear goals, providing feedback and encouragement, promoting self-reflection, and building resilience and coping strategies, educators and educators members can become coaches and mentors who empower students on their transformative journey. Through helping students set up coping strategies students will gain the confidence, self-awareness, and skills needed to start shedding their negative baggage and embrace the limitless possibilities that not only VET but life in general offers them.

In Chapter 1, we explored the concept of baggage and discussed techniques for identifying it. Now, in this chapter, our focus shifts to the utilization of coaching as a tool to assist students in recognizing and understanding their own baggage. Coaching and can be defined in various ways, but for the purposes of this manual, we will use the following. Coaching is a technique used to encourage a student to recognize their situation and seek their own solutions and development. It is an empowering experience which is focused on the student taking ownership of their desired outcomes. Mentoring, on the other hand, is a support technique where an experienced individual shares their knowledge and experience to help guide the student in the appropriate direction. It is based on the mentor sharing their experience and applying it to the student’s situation. Both approaches are based on powerful conversations between two individuals based on trust and respect. Sometimes you may be coaching and sometimes you will be mentoring depending on the situation. To be a coach, you do not need to have direct experience of the student’s situation but use questioning, listening and problem solving to help the student arrive at their best actions. In this manual our focus is on coaching.