Expert Corner
What is Your Evidence-Based Mentoring IQ?
by David DuBois With the ever-growing volume of research on youth mentoring (Blakeslee & Keller, 2012), it is a formidable task for even the most evidence-minded practitioner, policy-maker, or funder to keep up with the latest findings. Resources and events such as this website, the Summer Institute on Youth Mentoring at Portland State University, [...]
Research Corner: Can I help you?
by Renee Spencer In this past Sunday’s New York Times, there was an Op-Ed piece by a couple of researchers who study interpersonal relationships, Eli Finkelll and Gráinne Fitzsimons, called When Helping Hurts. Their focus was on helicopter parents, you know, the ones who hover and have to be told that it is time to [...]
The critical importance of nurturing relationships
by Tim Cavell. Back in December, David DuBois shared a copy of what he called The Most Important Paper Published this Year that You Haven’t Read Yet! It was an article by Li & Julian and the title was “Developmental Relationships as active mechanism of change”. In that paper, the authors make the case that effective youth prevention hinges [...]
Forum
FORUM: How do you assess the level of “risk” in your mentees?
During last week’s webinar on the recent Role of Risk study, there was an excellent discussion about how to define “risk” in a young person’s life and how those factors might influence their mentoring relationship and even a program’s design and delivery. All young people face some level of risk or deal with a few [...]
FORUM: How does your program prepare youth for the mentoring experience?
Mentoring programs always place a premium on the training of mentors. After all, these are the individuals who deliver the essence of the program: a caring, meaningful relationship. But that relationship involves two people and it seems that properly preparing young people for the mentoring experience should have just as much impact on how their [...]
POLL: What new mentoring research do you think would be most beneficial?
The research base around youth mentoring has grown considerably over the last decade and it seems that every few months a new report or resource comes along that improves our understanding of how to deliver mentoring services and what they can achieve. Already this year we have the valuable insights from the Role of Risk [...]
New Mentoring Research
The attributes of effective camp counselors: Changing youths’ perspectives of being “cool.”
Taniguchi, S., Widmer, M., & Duerden, M. (2006). The attributes of effective camp counselors: Changing youths’ perspectives of being “cool.” Journal of Experiential Education, 29 (3), 378-381. Problem: Across the country, there are numerous outdoor camp programs that are designed to promote positive outcomes in youth. The majority of the research on these programs tends [...]
What can we learn from research on camp counselors?: The role of personality
Loveland, J. M., Gibson, L. W., Lounsbury, J. W., & Huffstetler, B. C. (2005). Broad and narrow personality traits in relation to the job performance of camp counselors. Child and Youth Care Forum, 34(3), 241-255. Background The authors sought to test whether personality traits could be linked to performance ratings of youth camp counselors. Assessment [...]
Study explores youth development program participation and self-regulation skills
Mueller, M., Phelps, E., Bowers, E., Agans, J., Urban, J., & Lerner, R. (2011). Youth development program participation and intentional self-regulation skills: Contextual and individual bases of pathways to positive youth development. Journal of Adolescence, 34, 1115-1125. Problem: Quality youth development (YD) programs have been shown to be a strong context for promoting positive outcomes. [...]
Research From Related Fields
Developing Emotional Literacy: Transition Planning for Youth at Risk
Fleischer, L. (2010). Developing emotional literacy: Transition planning for youth at risk. Reclaiming Children & Youth, 19 (1), 50-53. Summarized by UMass Boston doctoral student Laura Yovienne. Problem: Transitioning from high school to the “real world” can be a daunting and very anxiety-provoking task. Typical transition classes and planning tend to focus on learning the [...]
“They like me, they like me not”: Popularity and adolescents’ perceptions or acceptance predicting social functioning over time.
McElhaney, K., Antonishak, J., & Allen, J. (2008). “They like me, they like me not”: Popularity and adolescents’ perceptions or acceptance predicting social functioning over time. Child Development, 79 (3), 720-731. Problem: Throughout adolescent development, the importance of peer relationships greatly increases. These peer relationships help provide an important context for learning relational skills that [...]
The Significance of intergenerational relationships in the lives of immigrant students
Suarez-Orozco, C. Pimmental, A. & Martin, M. (2009). The Significance of Relationships. Academic Engagement and Achievement Among Newcomer Immigrant Youth. Teachers College Record, 111 (3), 712-749. Background: Immigrant youth and their families come to the United States with a variety of strengths and motivations; however, systemic challenges that emerge hinder positive adjustment, particularly within [...]
Profiles in Mentoring
★ Rising Star: Edmond Bowers
Editors Note: We are very fortunate to have the opportunity to learn more about the work of Dr. Edmond Bowers, Assistant Research Professor at Tufts University’s Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development. For the past few years, Ed has been developing and testing tools to increase the capacity of mentors in youth-serving organizations to [...]
★ Prof. Harold Grotevant discusses mentoring adopted youth
Questions for Harold Grotevant (HG), Rudd Family Professor, Psychology Dept., UMass Amherts. Interviewed by Laura Yoviene, graduate student in clinical psychology, UMass Boston LY: As the nation’s leading adoption researcher, how did you first become involved in adoption research? HG: Thanks for the compliment, but let me hasten to say that I’m very excited by [...]
★ Dr. Vartan Gregorian discusses mentoring in the 21st Century
Mentoring for the 21st Century Posted in the Huffington Post 01/31/2013 12:10 pm By Vartan Gregorian, President, Carnegie Corporation of New York Recently, it was my privilege to speak at the 2012 National Mentoring Summit, convened by MENTOR: the National Mentoring Partnership. The theme of the gathering was Mentoring Works: Inspire, Achieve, Advocate, an idea that [...]
News & Resources
Video games: An Interesting New Outlet for Mentoring
Games for the 50+: A New Outlet for Mentoring May 13, 2013 by Bob Stephen (posted in AARP) Wizard 101 by Kingsisle helps older players mentor younger ones. Over the past few weeks, I’ve written about the gaming study by Dr. Jennifer Jacobs Henderson, associate professor and department chair, and Dr. Aaron Delwiche, associate professor, of the Department [...]
Webinar: Exploring the Role of Risk in Youth Mentoring (May 16th)
Thursday, May 16, 2013 1:00 PM – 2:15 PM EDT Register for this event One of the most challenging aspects of designing and delivering mentoring services is determining who will benefit most from particular program practices or relationship approaches. In a time of scarce resources and limited volunteer availability, it is important that mentoring programs [...]
Male Executives Are Afraid To Mentor Young Women, And It’s Holding Them Back
Editors Note: Although this story is about women in the workforce, it has significant implications for the young adults who will be entering the work force in the coming years and, more generally, the role of natural mentors in the lives of our nation’s young women. Kate Ashford, LearnVest | May 2, 2013, 3:44 PM [...]
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