Couldn’t make our recent B!G Idea Mentor Kick-off Session? Don’t worry — we’ve got you covered.
During the session, we spoke with B!G Idea teacher Deirdre Wilson from St Leo’s College, Carlow, who shared valuable insights from the classroom. Her reflections give mentors a clearer understanding of how students are thinking, feeling, and growing during the programme.
Here are the key takeaways and practical mentoring tips.
Students Are Moving from Fixed to Growth Mindset.
Right now, students are in an important transition phase. Over the past six weeks, The B!G Idea has helped them realise that they are creative, curious, collaborative, and persistent. However, many students are still emotionally driven and naturally competitive.
They like to win — and they especially like to get things right the first time. Therefore, encouraging fLearning (Failure + Learning) is essential. Although failure can feel uncomfortable, it plays a critical role in creative growth. In fact, mentor feedback was one of the highlights of last year’s programme because students genuinely engaged with it.
Your Role as a Mentor Truly Matters. As a mentor, you connect students to the outside world and to real industry experience. Consequently, your feedback carries weight.
Students value your interest in their projects more than you may realise. Moreover, your involvement helps them understand that design is everywhere — across industries, roles, and sectors. This year, in particular, students have been blown away by the breadth of mentors involved.
To help you make the biggest impact, here are some simple but powerful mentoring approaches:
Instead of saying: “Do more research.” Try something more actionable, such as:
“What would happen if…?”
“Have you considered looking at…?”
“How might this affect your hero?”
When you ask specific questions, students respond with specific action.
Students take mentor questions seriously. If you pose a focused question, they will work hard to answer it. Therefore, clarity and precision are your best tools.
Many teams generate lots of ideas — which is great. However, at this stage, they need to refine. Encourage them to identify one strong B!G idea. Ask:
Your guidance can help them spotlight their strongest concept.
Finally, don’t worry about making your feedback perfectly polished. Teachers are there to facilitate and help students interpret and apply your advice. Whatever insight you share will support students in upskilling, refining their ideas, and thinking more deeply.
In short: your perspective adds value.
Students are building creative thinking, resilience, and collaboration skills in real time. Meanwhile, mentors play a powerful role in reinforcing growth mindset, encouraging fLearning, and helping young people see that their ideas matter. And that’s where the real impact happens.
