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The Mentor News
ISSN 1708-9034

(October 22, 2004)

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TOPICS
  • Create the Origin of the Term "Mentor"
  • Add Workplace Coaching to a Mentoring Relationship
  • Attend a Mentoring Conference or Seminar
  • Articles Wanted for Mentoring and Career Development Journal
  • Use the Latest Mentoring Literature to Guide Practice

CREATE THE ORIGIN OF THE TERM "MENTOR"
Virtually every article about mentoring provides a brief story about the origin of the term itself. One story (the Homer version) has been repeated so often with only slight variations that it has become known as "the" origin of mentoring. However, some mentoring experts dispute "the" story as the true origin and they have provided alternative stories.

We have decided to hold a contest to focus on stories related to the origin of the word mentor or mentoring. The task is to create a story that is equally as plausible or credible as any of the four stories detailed below. However, it cannot be a variation of or use any of the elements of these existing stories. Imagination is probably key element for a "new" story, but it also must be based on some verifiable facts, historical events, or literature. The idea here is to have fun.

If you're old enough to remember the TV-program "To Tell the Truth," where three contestants, all claiming to be the same person, appeared before a celebrity panel who had to guess which one of the contestants was the real person, then that is the spirit of this contest.

A number of winners will be selected from all submitted stories and each person will receive a free copy of the latest print issue of Compass: A Magazine for Peer Assistance, Mentorship, and Coaching.

Here are four stories presented as the true origin of the term mentor or mentoring:

1. In Homer's Odyssey, Mentor is a trusted friend to whom Ulysses leaves the care of his household when he departs for the Trojan War (a ten-year battle). The goddess Athena assumes the form of Mentor and cares for Ulysses son, Telemachus, until the war's conclusion. Some variations of this story state that she actually accompanies Telemachus on his journey to search for his father at the end of the war. Some variations describe Mentor as a man.

2. In 1698 Françcis Fénelon was appointed by King Louis XIV as a tutor to the king's grandson, the Duke of Burgundy. He provided instruction to his pupil through his didactic epic, Le Adventures de Télémaque (1699), the most popular book written in the 18th century. Fénelon uses the term "sage counselor" to describe his main character, the goddess Minerva who appears as Mentor. The book is clearly an imitation of Homer's The Odyssey, and the lessons expounded in the book by Mentor are both more educational than Homer's Mentor and directed towards guiding his pupil in how to become a peaceful and wise monarch. The political views that Fénelon put in the mouth of Mentor, however, offended the king's position on these same issues. As a result Fénelon was forced to leave the employment of the king for less challenging activities.

3. In ancient Africa, prior to the time of the Greek and Roman invasions, when a child was born, each village shared the responsibility for raising and educating the child into the customs and traditions associated with that village. While the child had contact with every member of the village, there was always one older child (not a family member) who would be assigned the responsibility to ask questions and listen carefully to the younger child. In Swahili (one of the oldest languages on our planet), this questioning person was called, "Habari gani menta" which, in English, means, the person who asks "What's happening?"

4. La Grotte de Niaux is a prehistoric cave located high in the Pyrenees in southern France. After walking through the silent and womb-like stillness, a visitor emerges into a large, domed space filled with ceiling paintings, estimated to have been created somewhere between 12,000 and 9,000 BC. While most of the paintings depict horses and bison, there is one theme that is repeated in many places. This painting shows a group of men taking children to what at that time was considered the edge or end of their physical world. The men exhort the children to be brave and expand their reach beyond the borders of the present world. Some believe that the origin of the term "mentor" comes from what has been loosely translated in these ancient depictions as "men" taking children on a "tour."

Send your story along with your postal mailing information to story@mentor.ca. Peer Resources reserves the right to publish these stories in a future issue of this newsletter or on its website.

"I never let the facts get in the way of a good story."

~ Grey Owl ~

ADD WORKPLACE COACHING to a MENTORING RELATIONSHIP

One of the most frequently asked questions sent to the Ask a Mentor service of Peer Resources is: "What is the difference between mentoring and coaching?" All too often, however, the similarities between the two areas are minimized in an attempt to describe differences. In reality, an observer watching an effective mentor or skilled coach would likely have a difficult time telling them apart.

Peer Resources has created a one-day workshop where persons who are acting as mentors can learn to increase their coaching ability in their interactions with their partners. Participants in this workshop learn a step-by-step, simple model which coaches, educates and empowers all at the same time. Attention to how to use the model in a variety of workplace settings is included. Demonstrations of the model along with opportunities to directly experience the model as both mentor/coach and partner are essential components of this course. The next course is scheduled in Victoria, British Columbia, December 1, 2004. Space is limited. Registration is available online. The fee for the course is $749.00 and includes all materials plus lunch.

MENTORING CONFERENCES AND SEMINARS

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

ARTICLES WANTED FOR MENTORING AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT JOURNAL

For some time, mentoring has been recognized as an important developmental relationship, benefiting the careers of mentors and partners alike. More recently, emphasis has been placed on understanding the nature of the relationship itself and the context within which such relationships are
developed. To further the continued exploration of mentoring as a dyadic relationship set within today's increasingly dynamic career context, Career Development International will be publishing a special issue on "Mentoring and Career Development" in the Fall of 2005. This issue will be co-edited by Sherry E. Sullivan (Bowling Green State University) and S. Gayle Baugh (University of West Florida).

Submissions may be oriented toward either the internal (dyadic) or external (organizational or broader) context of mentoring relationships. Papers that focus on mentoring as one feature of a larger context of influences on career development are especially welcomed. Papers on the impact of globalization on mentoring or mentoring across international boundaries are welcomed. Empirical submissions, using either quantitative or qualitative research methods, as well as conceptual manuscripts, are encouraged.

Manuscripts must not exceeding 5-6k words and must be emailed to S. Gayle Baugh (Tel. 850-474-2206). Submissions must be presented in American Psychological Association (APA) format or the journal's style as shown at www.emeraldinsight.com/journals/cdi/notes.htm. Author details must be provided on a separate document to facilitate the blind review process.

The deadline for submission is February 14, 2005. If you would like to be a reviewer for the special issue, please contact Sherry E. Sullivan.

USE THE LATEST MENTORING LITERATURE 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.

Garringer, M. (July, 2004). Putting the "men" back in mentoring: A look at one of the mentoring movement's toughest challenges. Bulletin of the National Mentoring Center 2, 2, 1+.
The author provides a number of hints on how to attract more men to mentoring programs, particularly those establishing programs for youth. Additional articles in this issue focus on the same topic. (Available from www.nwrel.org/mentoring.)

Adams, J.U. (August 2, 2004). How to be a good mentor. The Scientist. (Retrieved from www.the-scientist.com/yr2004/aug/index_040802.html.)
A mentor in science provides opportunities for students to engage in research and learn how to manage (or juggle) all the components. The mentor acts as a role model, provides space for mistakes, nudges, and encourages persistence. This article identifies award winners John Janovy, Varner professor of biological sciences at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, who was honored by the American Society of Parasitologists; Ellen Vitetta, professor at the University of Texas Southwestern and recipient of the American Association of Immunologists Distinguished Mentoring Award; and R. Clinton Webb, the Greenblatt Professor of endocrinology at the Medical College of Georgia and recipient of the inaugural Bodil M. Schmidt-Nielsen Distinguished Mentor and Scientist Award from the American Physiology Society. Their collective wisdom boils down to three interrelated themes: 1. value the person and his or her goals; 2. spend the time and energy; 3. realize it's your job. Difficult relationships can be reduced by staying focused on the goal rather than personal flaws (Ask your student where he or she wants to be in five years rather than telling the person they're not measuring up, and you're going to fire them.) Science has changed considerably since 20 years ago. Scientists now have to be versed in compliance and regulatory issues, interact with industry, understand the legalese of patents and material transfer, departmental politics, gossip, and such, so a mentor has a responsibility to go beyond science in working with students.

SJB Research Consulting, Inc. (April, 2004). E-mentoring for women of color in engineering and science: Final report to the engineering information foundation. New York, NY: Author.
MentorNet received a grant from the Engineering Information Foundation to analyze data collected as part of MentorNet’s annual evaluation of its e-mentoring program for women in engineering and science. Statistically significant differences in the needs, experiences and perceived benefits were found for African American, Asian American, Hispanic/Latina and Caucasian students and mentors. African American students especially, but also Asian American and Hispanic/Latina students wanted a mentor to discuss issues of race/ethnicity with them. Caucasian mentors felt less comfortable than women of color in discussing such issues. However, student satisfaction with e-mentoring was not related to race or to whether a student was in a same-race or cross-race match. In fact, students of color were more positive than Caucasian women about the range of MentorNet features that supplement one-on-one ementoring. Students of color directly attributed to MentorNet both increased motivation to succeed in their field of study and the fact that they get through the academic year. The difference between students of color and Caucasian students on these two variables was statistically significant. Written comments volunteered by students illustrate how important it was to them to have their e-mentor cheering them on from the sidelines as well as providing strategies for learning, time management and other factors that enabled students to persist in their major. E-mentors of color were more apt to experience a number of benefits, significantly more so than Caucasian e-mentors. The most dramatic difference was with the e-mentors’ own increased self-confidence. Also significant were improved supervisory skills, improved skills for recruiting new talent, better networking skills for making contacts with others, renewed commitment to their field, insight into what it’s like to be a student today, the opportunity to pass along what they have learned and reflection about their own career. (The full study is available at www.mentornet.net/documents/about/results/evaluation/.)


"My favorite poem is the one that starts: 'Thirty days hath September,' because it actually tells you something."

~ Groucho Marx (1890 - 1977) ~

The Mentor News is a free publication of Peer Resources, 1052 Davie Street, Victoria, British Columbia V8S 4E3 Canada. Back issues are available online. To subscribe or unsubscribe send an email to info@mentors.ca. If you know of anyone who might benefit from receiving this newsletter, please pass it on. (All items in this newsletter have been selected or adapted from The Peer Bulletin, a paid subscriber publication for members of the Peer Resources Network. Copyright is held by Peer Resources.)