Mentoring Matters

Mentoring Matters explains a reproducible model for maximizing the potential of leaders and helping them go the distance. It gets behind the issues of leadership skills to address the leader as a person - their spirituality, emotional health, key relationships, vulnerabilities and rhythms of life. This approach to mentoring is highly flexible so that it can be tailor-made for each mentoring partnership, not relying on a strict format or curriculum. The mentor functions as a doctor of the soul, pulling us back to our most noble intentions and perceptive insights. The approach is formal and organised - and highly effective.

Mentorship is a catalyst capable of unleashing one's potential for discovery, curiosity, and participation in STEMM and subsequently improving the training environment in which that STEMM potential is fostered. Mentoring relationships provide developmental spaces in which students' STEMM skills are honed and pathways into STEMM fields can be discovered. Because mentorship can be so influential in shaping the future STEMM workforce, its occurrence should not be left to chance or idiosyncratic implementation. There is a gap between what we know about effective mentoring and how it is practiced in higher education. The Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM studies mentoring programs and practices at the undergraduate and graduate levels. It explores the importance of mentorship, the science of mentoring relationships, mentorship of underrepresented students in STEMM, mentorship structures and behaviors, and institutional cultures that support mentorship. This report and its complementary interactive guide present insights on effective programs and practices that can be adopted and adapted by institutions, departments, and individual faculty members.

As schools are trying to connect with their students and assure that every student has an adult mentor in the building, the need for school-based mentoring programs could not be

Mentoring Matters, A Practical Approach to fostering Reflective Practices, gives insight into the author’s experiences and the knowledge given to him by other seasoned teachers to help him succeed not only in the classroom but with his students. All too often, we read about what a mentor can do to help the mentee, but not so often is it about giving new teachers strategies on how they can assist their students, and that is what the author of this book conveys. Furthermore, this book provides real-world information on how your students may respond to you and assist you as well. For example, the author uses the art of storytelling to tell the story of Alice Smith, a recent college graduate at the start of her first teaching assignment. The purpose of her story is to cause you to think, reflect, and examine your instructional practice to foster the art of being a reflective practitioner. More importantly, the author gives the reader a basis in which to start an ongoing dialogue with their mentor about developing best practices for themselves as new teachers that will affect every aspect of an educator’s career. The tone of this book is sincere and genuine, with useful information to ponder over. This book is a must-read for all new teachers as well as veteran teachers looking to get a fresh take on teaching and learning.

Youth mentoring programs must change in order to become truly effective. The world’s leading expert shows how. Youth mentoring is among the most popular forms of volunteering in the world. But does it work? Does mentoring actually help young people succeed? In Older and Wiser, mentoring expert Jean Rhodes draws on more than thirty years of empirical research to survey the state of the field. Her conclusion is sobering: there is little evidence that most programs—even renowned, trusted, and long-established ones—are effective. But there is also much reason for hope. Mentoring programs, Rhodes writes, do not focus on what young people need. Organizations typically prioritize building emotional bonds between mentors and mentees. But research makes clear that effective programs emphasize the development of specific social, emotional, and intellectual skills. Most mentoring programs are poorly suited to this effort because they rely overwhelmingly on volunteers, who rarely have the training necessary to teach these skills to young people. Moreover, the one-size-fits-all models of major mentoring organizations struggle to deal with the diverse backgrounds of mentees, the psychological effects of poverty on children, and increasingly hard limits to upward mobility in an unequal world. Rhodes doesn’t think we should give up on mentoring—far from it. She shows that evidence-based approaches can in fact create meaningful change in young people’s lives. She also recommends encouraging “organic” mentorship opportunities—in schools, youth sports leagues, and community organizations.

On Being a Mentor is the definitive guide to the art and science of engaging students and faculty in effective mentoring relationships in all academic disciplines. Written with pithy clarity and rooted in the latest research on developmental relationships in higher educational settings, this essential primer reviews the strategies, guidelines, and best practices for those who want to excel as mentors. Evidence-based advice on the rules of engagement for mentoring, mentor functions, qualities of good mentors, and methods for forming and managing these relationships are provided. Summaries of mentorship relationship phases and guidance for adhering to ethical principles are reviewed along with guidance about mentoring specific populations and those who differ from the mentor in terms of sex and race. Advice about managing problem mentorships, selecting and training mentors, and measuring mentorship outcomes and recommendations for department chairs and deans on how to foster a culture of excellent mentoring in an academic community is provided. Chalk full of illustrative case-vignettes, this book is the ideal training tool for mentoring workshops. Highlights of the new edition include: Introduces a new model for conceptualizing mentoring relationships in the context of the various relationships professors typically develop with students and faculty (ch. 2). Provides guidance for creating a successful mentoring culture and structure within a department or institution (ch. 16). Now includes questions for reflection and discussion and recommended readings at the end of each chapter for those who wish to delve deeper into the content. Best Practices sections highlight the key takeaway messages. The latest research on mentoring in higher education throughout. Part I introduces mentoring in academia and distinguishes mentoring from other types of relationships. The nuts and bolts of good mentoring from the qualities of those who succeed as mentors to the common behaviors of outstanding mentors are the focus of Part II. Guidance in establishing mentorships with students and faculty, the common phases of mentorship, and the ethical principles governing the mentoring enterprise is also provided. Part III addresses the unique issues and answers to successfully mentoring undergraduates, graduate students, and junior faculty members and considers skills required of faculty who mentor across gender and race. Part IV addresses management of dysfunctional mentorships and the documentation of mentorship outcomes. The book concludes with a chapter designed to encourage academic leaders to make high quality mentorship a salient part of the culture in their institutions. Ideal for faculty or career development seminars and teaching and learning centers in colleges and universities, this practical primer is appreciated by professors, department chairs, deans, and graduate students in colleges, universities, and professional schools in all academic fields including the social and behavioral sciences, education, natural sciences, humanities, and business, legal, and medical schools.