Читать книгу Practical Applications of Coaching and Mentoring in Dentistry - Janine Brooks - Страница 35

Supervision is one of those words that is loaded with meaning. Unfortunately, supervision is not always viewed as a positive activity. Dental professionals generally do not like the idea of someone looking over their shoulder, viewing their work and judging them. Within mentoring the term supervision has a more benign, supportive, and developmental meaning. It also has an important qualitative element. Professional coaching bodies require coaches to undertake supervision.

The International Coach Federation (ICF) (2020) defines supervision as:

….a collaborative learning practice to continually build the capacity of the coach through reflective dialogue for the benefit of both coaches and clients. Coaching Supervision focuses on the development of the coach's capacity through offering a richer and broader opportunity for support and development. Coaching Supervision creates a safe environment for the coach to share their successes and failures in becoming masterful in the way they work with their clients.

Supervision should be undertaken by all professional mentors and coaches. Supervisors will be trained mentors and coaches who have themselves undertaken further training to be supervisors. A trained supervisor can help the mentor to challenge their own thinking looking for issues of bias, assumption, and unhelpful behaviours. Mentors can get into bad habits. Supervision can identify any unethical practices. It can also help the mentor to grow and develop their skill and capacity. It should be part of continuing professional development for all mentors and coaches in dentistry. In addition, training, and working as a supervisor will ‘up your own game’ as a mentor/coach.

Professional supervision benefits the mentor by building their confidence in their own practise, supporting skills development and reflective learning. It reminds the mentor to keep up with professional standards, the latest information in any specialist fields in which they practise and to go further, for example in exploring the theory that informs the field of coaching and mentoring.

Naturally, supervision for mentors and coaches is a strengths‐based and developmental approach, using the mentor's own strengths and resourcefulness to underpin their growth and learning.

Supervision supports mentors in the dilemmas and ethical questions that accompany every situation; it enables us to identify and utilise the resources available to us as mentors. It also supports mentors to hear and take feedback on board – whether that comes from their own reflection, from the clients they work with, or from their supervisors. For the organisations that commission and employ mentors and coaches, supervision has a monitoring and quality control role in ensuring that mentors are fit to practise.

We deliver our own (accredited) coach‐mentoring and supervision training programme which crosses the spectrum of these roles.

Dental Mentors UK is an organisation that was set up to support dental professionals who are also mentors. It provides continuing professional development for mentors which is a requirement of the General Dental Council (GDC) to keep updated in all areas of a dental professional’s practice. Importantly it also provides supervision, both one to one and in groups, see www.dentalmentorsuk.com.