On this page, I’ll be sharing knowledge and news about youth mentoring.
I’ll draw from my personal experiences as mentor, from my knowledge of the science of mentoring, and from my opportunities to serve as a consultant to mentoring organizations such as Big Brothers Big Sisters.
There’s so much we have to learn about mentoring before we can say with confidence that it is an evidence-based prevention strategy. We know that mentoring can have positive impacts on the lives of some youth, but we struggle to understand how that happens, for whom, and how to make those outcomes bigger and more consistent.
Youth mentoring can take many different forms: long-term and community based; short-term and school-based; group mentoring; natural mentoring, youth-initiated mentoring, team mentoring, family/network-engaged mentoring. It’s exciting to consider the possibilities that flow from this rich array of strategies.
My goal will be to support the practice of youth mentoring, to share the science of youth mentoring, and to challenge current theories of youth mentoring.
I’ll tell stories about my role as a mentor and time with my mentee, I’ll discuss interesting studies about mentoring, and I’ll share news and events from the world of mentoring. It should be fun!
Mentors as Shepherds
Nearly 15 years ago, I submitted a grant proposal for a mentoring study that wasn’t funded. Soon after, I switched faculty positions and the idea behind the study was set aside. These days I think [...]