COMPASS FEATURES EXPERT TIPS ON MENTORING
The latest issue of Compass: A Magazine for Peer Assistance, Mentorship, and Coaching features three articles written by mentoring experts. Professor David Clutterbuck of the European Mentoring Council identifies seven layers of mentoring conversations and guides mentors through the steps necessary to make the most out of mentoring interactions. His research on mentoring helps to sort out why things go wrong in mentoring relationships and how to get them back on track.
A mentor often faces dilemmas about the boundary between career development guidance and personal counselling. Experienced mentor, Howard Englander, shares three examples of mentoring conversations where he had to make decisions about the extent of the mentoring assistance he could provide. The choices he made focus on the heart of mentoring and are instructive to mentors who are challenged by expectations, boundaries, and outcomes.
David Neils, the director of the International Telementoring Center, shares the details about why the Center has been so successful in connecting hundreds of scientists as mentors with students around the world. He shows that the quality of mentoring that young people receive contributes to their success in learning.
In addition to these articles on mentoring, a story about how a short mentoring conversation changed the life and career direction of a retired writer from promising baseball player to university professor is a featured brief case study.
This issue of the magazine also includes articles on the role of peer support in reducing bullying at school; a case study of the way in which executive coaching contributed to significant growth; how brain research is influencing new directions in trauma healing and recovery; the many roles that peer coaches play in helping people make life transitions; how coaches in the workplace can become conflict competent; and summaries of the latest research in peer assistance, mentoring, and coaching.
Compass: A Magazine for Peer Assistance, Mentorship, and Coaching is the only advertising-free print magazine that focuses on these three topic areas. A subscription to the magazine is included with membership in the Peer Resources Network. The cover price for an individual copy for non-members is $15.00. An online membership form is available on the Peer Resources' website at http://www.peer.ca/PRN.html. Individual copies are available from Peer Resources, 1052 Davie Street, Victoria, BC V8S 4E3; e-mail: compassmagazine@peer.ca.
MENTORING CONFERENCES AND SEMINARS
Minnesota Mentoring Conference
September 20-21, 2004
Earle Brown Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Tel: (612) 370-9148
Request for Presenters Issued
www.mentoringworks.org
Tutor/Mentor Leadership Conference
November 15-16, 2004
City Colleges Headquarters, Chicago, Illinois
www.tutormentorconference.bigstep.com/
tutor/mentor2@earthlink.net
11th European Mentoring and Coaching Conference
November 17-19, 2004
Hotel Bedford, Brussels, Belgium
Call for Papers:
David Megginsonm, Professor of HRD
Sheffield Hallam University
Sheffield S1 1WB, United Kingdom
+44 114 225 5210
d.f.megginson@shu.ac.uk
18th Annual International Mentoring Association Conference
April 6-9, 2005
Marriott City Center, Oakland, California
www.mentoring-association.org
Tel: (269) 387-4174
cedu_ima@wmich.edu
MENTORING LINKS REPRESENT THE BEST ON THE WEB
An increasing number of mentoring organizations are including a "Links" section on their websites, but typically only a name and URL are provided. While this format is a common practice on the Internet, it provides far to little information to assist visitors in determining the relevance of the link to their own interest or enquiry.
The Mentor Links section at Peer Resources (http://www.mentors.ca/mentorlinks.html) takes a more educational approach. Listings are initially presented in alphabetical order and selecting any entry will take a visitor to a brief synopsis of the site along with contact information. Sites that specialize in e-mentoring are identified by a mail slot icon, and while the location of each organization is provided to help narrow a search, many organizations offer services worldwide.
Peer Resources staff members continually scour the Internet for mentoring resources. They have personally visited all the sites listed in their link list. To be listed each site must meet specific conditions. There is no fee required.
TWO STUDIES TO GUIDE PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Peer Resources continually scans the professional and popular literature for articles, books, videos and other useful reference materials. They provide a brief synopsis of the work as well as citation details and summaries in a searchable format on their site at www.peer.ca/SearchB.html. Each month the Peer Bulletin includes some of the many citations added every week.
King, K.A., Vidourek, R.A., Davis, B., and McClellan, W. (2002). Increasing self-esteem and school connectedness through a multidimensional mentoring program. Journal of School Health, 72, 7, 294-299.
High levels of self-esteem and positive school, peer, and family connections represent protective factors against youth involvement in risky behavior. Thirty-two mentors, ranging from high school students to senior citizens, received training in self-esteem enhancement, goal-setting, academic assistance, and relationship building. They were matched with grade four students who were selected to participate. Each student was selected based on high-risk criteria (low self-esteem, previous failures, sadness, depression, missing classes, involvement with drugs or alcohol). Results showed that mentored students gained significantly in self-esteem and positive connections to school, peers, and family. Mentored students also were significantly less likely to be depressed or involved in bullying and fighting. Compared to non-mentored students, mentored students reported significantly higher school and family connectedness scores at posttest. Recommendations from this study include: obtain and maintain administrative support; devote resources towards a mentor project coordinator; develop a multi-dimensional program that focuses on several components of growth and development; recruit mentors from the school community provide on-going training for the mentors; obtain parental and community support; keep parents informed; develop a solid and credible evaluation system.
Brown, D. (July 12, 2004). Mentoring boosts retention, T&D...but it's a long-term game. Canadian HR Reporter, 5+.
Formalizing mentoring can maximize it's benefits, but the majority of organizations, according to a study quoted, use informal mentoring. This article profiles some of the key elements of effective mentoring and quotes a number of authorities and features some of the outcomes from a financial institution's experience with mentoring. Two additional sidebars are included: one, is adapted from Peer Resources and details the advantages of mentoring for the mentor and for the partner, and the second provides a list and description of websites that provide mentoring case studies, examples of successful programs, and other resources.
"If a child is to keep his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in."
