Being a Positive Role Model

As a TeamMates mentor, you are a role model in the life of your mentee, by how you dress, the way you acknowledge others in the school, and how you show support and care for others.  In 1977, Albert Bandura developed the Social Learning Theory, which states that most people learn from one another through three ways:

• observation
• imitation
• modeling

When you say thank you to the Media Specialist or tell the SEM to have a nice day, your mentee sees those positive interactions. When you make a thank you card for a staff member in the school or practice a random act of kindness, you are modeling positive behaviors. Seeing these interactions every week during your mentoring time can reinforce the importance of positive behaviors and being kind to others, and can encourage your mentee to have these same positive interactions in their own life. Thank you for displaying positive behaviors to everyone you interact with at school.

So, the question is, what kind of role model do you want to be?