Working with young people rarely goes exactly according to plan.

You can arrive with a carefully prepared session, all your resources ready and a clear idea of what you want the group to achieve. Then a student refuses to participate. An activity that worked beautifully last week falls completely flat. Two students become distracted by each other. Someone arrives upset about something that happened earlier in the day. Or your therapy dog tells you, through their body language, that they need a break.

For a professional mentor, these moments aren’t interruptions to the work. They are part of the work.

At Canine Comprehension, we believe problem solving is a fundamental mentoring skill. We don’t expect our mentors to have an immediate answer for every situation. We expect them to be able to observe what is happening, think critically about why it might be happening, consider different options and adapt their approach while keeping young people, learning and animal welfare at the centre of their decisions.

Resist the Urge to Fix It Immediately

One of the interesting things about problem solving is that our instinct to solve a problem quickly can sometimes get in the way.

Conflict-management specialist Tim Hicks argues that a common mistake is trying to find a solution too early. Before choosing what to do, we first need to understand what the actual problem is and consider the needs of the people involved.

This has enormous relevance when working with young people.

Imagine a student suddenly stops participating. It’s easy to decide that they are being defiant, disengaged or difficult. But those are interpretations, not observations.

Perhaps the activity is too difficult. Perhaps the student didn’t understand the instructions. They might be embarrassed about participating in front of their peers, overwhelmed by the environment, anxious about making a mistake or distracted by something completely unrelated to your session.

Any of those explanations could be wrong too.

The important professional skill is being willing to ask “What might be happening here?” before deciding “What am I going to do about it?”

Look Beyond the Behaviour You Can See

Educational research supports this deeper approach to problem solving. Judit Orgoványi-Gajdos describes professional problem solving as involving much more than simply responding to a difficulty. It includes identifying and representing the problem, gathering information, analysing what is happening, generating possible solutions, making decisions, planning, reflecting and evaluating.

Her discussion of expert and novice educators is particularly interesting. More developed professional practice is associated with recognising deeper patterns in what is happening, adapting to individual learners and the learning environment, and looking for longer-term and preventative responses rather than only reacting to the immediate problem.

That is exactly the kind of thinking we want our mentors to develop.

If a young person is repeatedly disengaging, simply redirecting them every few minutes might deal with the visible behaviour. A stronger problem-solving approach asks why the disengagement keeps happening and whether something about the activity, environment, relationship, communication or student’s needs could be contributing.

Adaptability Is Part of Professionalism

Being prepared doesn’t mean rigidly sticking to the plan.

In fact, professional expertise in education is associated with flexibility, improvisation and the ability to adapt according to the learning environment, the group and individual learners.

For Canine Comprehension mentors, this might mean simplifying an activity, changing the pace, explaining something differently, breaking students into smaller groups, incorporating movement or giving a young person an appropriate choice. It might mean recognising that an important conversation deserves more time than originally planned or deciding that today’s group simply needs a different approach.

Our therapy dogs also give us unique opportunities to adapt learning experiences. Interaction with a dog can help create connection, support engagement and provide another way of exploring a concept. But using the dog should still be purposeful. The dog isn’t there simply as a distraction whenever students lose interest, and their own wellbeing must remain part of every decision.

There Is Usually More Than One Option

Strong problem solvers don’t become attached to the first solution they think of.

Hicks recommends deliberately separating the generation of possible solutions from evaluating them. In other words: first ask “What could we do?” and then ask “Which option makes the most sense?”

That small distinction can make an enormous difference in mentoring.

When something isn’t working, mentors can consider several possible responses and think about the likely effect of each one. The best option should consider the needs of the individual young person while also considering the rest of the group, the purpose of the session, the expectations of the school, professional boundaries and the welfare of the therapy dog.

Sometimes there isn’t a perfect solution. Professional judgement often means choosing the most appropriate option from several imperfect ones.

Problem Solving Continues After the Session

Some of the most important problem solving happens when the students have left.

Educational problem solving doesn’t only occur in the moment. Research distinguishes between decisions made during teaching and the more deliberate thinking that can occur before and after it. Planning, acting, evaluating and reflecting are interconnected parts of professional educational practice.

This is why reflection is so important to us.

If you changed an activity and suddenly the students became engaged, what does that tell you? If you tried three different approaches and nothing changed, perhaps your original understanding of the problem needs reconsidering. If the same difficulty appears every week, what pattern might you be missing?

Reflection turns an individual experience into professional learning.

Sometimes the Best Solution Is Asking for Help

Problem solving should never be confused with having to handle everything yourself.

Canine Comprehension mentors work within schools, professional boundaries and established child-safety and wellbeing procedures. Some situations should be managed by the mentor; others need to be discussed with school staff or escalated through the appropriate channels.

Recognising that distinction is part of good judgement.

Reliability doesn’t mean always knowing the answer. It means knowing how to respond responsibly when you don’t.

From Problem Solver to Better Mentor

The research on professional problem solving describes a combination of skills including identifying problems, setting goals, gathering information, analysing situations, generating alternatives, making decisions, implementing responses and reflecting on what happened.

Those abilities develop over time.

At Canine Comprehension, we don’t measure a great mentor by whether every session runs perfectly. Young people are individuals, groups are dynamic and animals have needs of their own. Unexpected situations are inevitable.

What matters is what the mentor does next.

A great mentor notices rather than assumes. They become curious rather than immediately blaming. They adapt rather than rigidly persisting with something that isn’t working. They use their educational and Animal Assisted Therapy skills purposefully, seek support when appropriate and reflect afterwards on what the experience has taught them.

Because professional problem solving isn’t about always having the answer.

It’s about knowing how to observe, think, adapt, act and learn when you don’t.

References

Hicks, T. (n.d.). Seven Steps for Effective Problem Solving in the Workplace. Previously published in The Business Journal of Sonoma/Marin.

Orgoványi-Gajdos, J. (2016). Teachers’ Professional Development on Problem Solving: Theory and Practice for Teachers and Teacher Educators. Sense Publishers.