Posts

The importance of community context in natural mentoring

Schwartz, S. O., Chan, C., Rhodes, J., & Scales, P. (2013). Community developmental assets and positive youth development: The role of natural mentors. Research in Human Development. 10, 141-162.   Introduction:  Research on positive youth development has highlighted the importance of supportive community contexts (Youngblade & Theokas, 2010). In this study, Schwartz and colleagues explored how […]

For this educator, teaching is mentoring

By John Warner, Chronicle of Higher Education It is safe to say that I would not be here, doing this, if not for the assistance of mentors. One of the most important of those mentors was my undergraduate creative writing professor at the University of Illinois, Philip Graham. He’s been present in just about every stage […]

Esquire’s Mentoring Project: Fifty extraordinary men and their mentors

Who Made You The Man You Are Today? Simple question. Lots of possible answers. We asked fifty extraordinary men to tell us about the parents, coaches, teachers, troops leaders, religious leaders, and all-purpose mentors who helped them get to where they are today. They shared their stories, and their mentors, with us. Now it’s your […]

K-12 Corner: "You can't give what you ain't got" - Chronicle of Evidence-Based Mentoring

School-based mentoring: You can’t give what you ain’t got

post by Michael Karcher Recently I was talking with some mentors and program coordinators in Rochester, NY. We talked about school-based mentors who volunteer to enter the schools to work with youth. That lead to a discussion of natural mentors–remember them? that’s the way we mentored youth for the last 2000 years (but I digress). […]

FORUM: Should we be devoting more time and resources to “natural” mentoring?

There has been a lot of research in recent years examining the role that “natural” mentors play in supporting children and adolescents, highlighting the ways in which these supportive adults help youth develop identity, succeed in school, overcome racism and other substantial challenges, and learn to ask for help throughout their lives. Researchers such as […]

New research (and a story) about teachers

Sometimes a simple anecdote can illustrate a point far better than mounds of research.  It was written by Jerome Groopman, M.D., Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Chief of Experimental Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, one of the world’s leading researchers in cancer and AIDS, and a public intellectual. In this excerpt, […]

How mentors can help youth build satisfying, fulfilling lives - Chronicle of Evidence-Based Mentoring

Path Finders: How mentors can help youth build satisfying, fulfilling lives

“Find a job you love and you will never work a day in your life” – Confucius “It’s not how much money we make that ultimately makes us happy between nine and five. It’s whether or not our work fulfills us.” Malcom Gladwell As these quotes imply, the path to a happy, fulfilling life has […]