Entries by Jean Rhodes

A meaningful activity for matches (and everyone else)!

Dear Chronicle Readers,   For the past several years, my sister Nancy and I have been working with the Library of Congress to improve the Veteran’s History Project of the American Folklife Center, which collects, preserves, and makes accessible the personal accounts of American War  Veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans […]

Why it’s so important to consider youth’s capacity for connection

by Jean Rhodes In a study of successful, long-term mentoring relationships, Renee Spencer pinpointed the precise turning point in the relationship between 14 year old Alana and Alana’s diehard mentor, Stacy (Spencer, Levine, & Rhodes, 2017). Early mistreatment had shattered Alana’s capacity to forge trusting bonds, and she’d grown adept at forcing relationships to their […]

How to Be an Ally to New Minority Scholars

By W. Brad Johnson APRIL 23, 2017 (Chronicle of Higher Education) The effects of strong mentoring relationships on the lives and careers of new scholars can be substantial. Evidence from studies of mentoring in higher education shows that doctoral students and new faculty members fortunate enough to be mentored by senior academics report smoother adjustment to […]

Black adolescents’ relationships with natural mentors

Hurd, N. M., & Sellers, R. M. (2013). Black adolescents’ relationships with natural mentors: Associations with academic engagement via social and emotional development. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology,19(1), 76-85. Background Natural mentors are caring and supportive adults that exist naturally in adolescents’ extended social networks, such as neighbors, coaches, aunts and uncles, and community members. […]

What an unexpected diagnosis can tell us about mentoring

by Jean Rhodes None of the specialists at the U. of Chicago medical center could pinpoint the source of Phil’s chronic back pain. Months of appointments, batteries of tests, and several unsuccessful treatments had culminated in a referral to the psychiatry department’s pain management clinic where I was a clinical psychology intern. Sometimes patients were […]

The future of mentoring: An infographic

by Jean Rhodes I recently worked with a talented team at the MacArthur Foundation Connected Learning Research Network to develop an infographic on youth mentoring (below). In essence, I argue that the number of Americans willing to serve as volunteer mentors has remained remarkably stable over the past decade — between 2 million and 2.5 million, or […]

Rich-poor divide in high school sports

Data reveal inequality that threatens American Dream BRUCE MOHL and  HARI PATEL (Commonwealth Journal) EACH YEAR, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association compiles athletic participation data from public, charter, and parochial high schools across the state. In nine out of the past 10 years, the publicized narrative about the data has been the same: that athletic participation […]