Supervision Vs Mentoring

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Upon reading the differences between supervision and mentoring, I believed they were synonyms for each other. Outside of speech-language pathology, I have supervised children in my community in academic and sports related activities where I have also mentored those who needed support they couldn’t get in their environments. I assumed the two words had the same meaning, but reading the about them in the articles, I learned there is a difference but I have a better understanding now. Hudson, M. (2010) stated that mentors are appropriately less directive than supervisors as part of a collaborative process with the Clinical Fellow. Supervisors are often more directive and do not facilitate high level of critical thinking, (Dowling, 1995). The mentor …show more content…
This includes assisting supervisees in using intervention materials, procedures, and techniques that are evidence-based, and modeling principles and techniques for establishing effective client-clinician relationships. I agree with the authors because this is what a supervisor supposed to do especially making sure that the supervisee understands the material that is being taught throughout their experience. We, as supervisors, should want the best for our students so they are able to take what was learned and to apply it in the field of speech-language pathology. I also agree with this statement because as I was a supervisee during my undergraduate, graduate, and clinical fellowship year, my supervisor assisted me with everything that was mention above. Once I got into my clinical fellow, my supervisor was now my mentor as stated from the Hudson, M. (2010) article since they are less directive in this stage. It makes sense now with learning the difference between the two by reading articles posted in the materials section with also the addition of peer review …show more content…
Many supervisors, however, habitually use a more directive style of supervision with all students, regardless of students’ prior experience or competence in the clinic, and overlook the critical process of rapport within the supervisor-student dyad. This statement ties in with my experience in graduate school and after graduate school with the many supervisors and mentors that existed in my life as well in this field of speech-language pathology. Now I know the difference between what is a supervisor versus a mentor, my supervisors are the ones I met during my clinical rotations in the schools, SNF, and on-site clinic setting during my graduate year. I appreciate the things that were taught to me in school because I continue to show it now in my work place. The supervisors being so directed towards me, I learned what I needed to know about doing screenings, evaluations, lesson plans, progress notes, tens note, updated plan of care, assessments, interventions, and more rather in the schools and or medical settings I feel they all prepare me. I also believed I was well prepared because of the relationship and connection that occurred that we were all on one accord with our communication. My supervisors included my professors from the university, placement setting supervisors of the school and medical settings, and SLPA supervisors. Ostergren (2011)