July 18, 2024Taking (Mentoring) Relationships Seriouslyby Tim Peeples, Maureen Vandermaas-Peeler, and Jessie L. MooreAs we have earlier explored, recent mentoring scholarship argues that our definitions of mentoring should move away from role-based orientations towards a relational-orientation that defines mentoring “in terms of the character and quality of the relationship and in terms of…
July 2, 2024Defining Mentoring: Towards Mentoring Constellationsby Tim Peeples, Maureen Vandermaas-Peeler, and Jessie L. MooreAs scholarship on mentoring moved away from roles and actions towards processes and relationship development, definitions of mentoring have developed greater commonality not only around a shared focus on relationships, but also a shared focus on the general functions and…
June 18, 2024Defining Mentoring and/as Mentoring Relationshipsby Tim Peeples, Maureen Vandermaas-Peeler, and Jessie L. MooreIf mentoring matters, what is meant by mentoring, and what does high-quality mentoring entail? Despite over four decades of research on mentoring, there is no universally accepted definition (Mullen and Klimaitis 2021). Ubiquitous use of the term has not only…
November 15, 2022Mentoring for Learner Success: Multiple Pathways to Mentoring Relationships by Jessie L. Moore and Maureen Vandermaas-PeelerMentoring relationships develop in relationship-rich environments (Vandermaas-Peeler and Moore 2022). In higher education contexts, they might evolve from other meaningful relationships like teaching, advising, supervising, and coaching, but they require time to become more reciprocal and mutually beneficial (Mullen and…
August 12, 2022Mentoring for Learner Success: Mentoring is not (just) having a cup of coffee, part 3by Maureen Vandermaas-Peeler, Cynthia Fair, and Caroline KetchamIn part 1 of this blog series, we introduced mentoring as more than (just) having a cup of coffee, and in part 2, we shared snapshots from our own experiences with mentoring relationships. In this final post in the series,…
August 10, 2022Mentoring for Learner Success: Mentoring is not (just) having a cup of coffee, part 2by Maureen Vandermaas-Peeler, Cynthia Fair, and Caroline KetchamIn Part 1 of this blog series, we described mentoring as situated in a larger sociocultural context and understood holistically and longitudinally, rather than as a snapshot of a meaningful moment (e.g., having a cup of coffee). In this post,…
August 8, 2022Mentoring for Learner Success: Mentoring is not (just) having a cup of coffee, part 1by Maureen Vandermaas-Peeler, Cynthia Fair, and Caroline KetchamWhat comes to mind when you hear the word mentor? What images and emotions are evoked by the term mentoring? Acknowledging that the concept of mentoring has become ubiquitous, not only in higher education but also in popular culture and…
April 6, 2022Mentoring for Learner Success: Defining Mentoring Relationshipsby Maureen Vandermaas-Peeler and Jessie L. MooreIn 2020, Elon University became one of ten institutions in the inaugural cohort of the American Council on Education (ACE) inclusive learning community called the Learner Success Lab (LSL), with an institutional focus on Mentoring for Learner Success. Elon’s 2030…
September 2, 2021Mentoring for Learner Success: Developmental Mentoring Relationshipsby Maureen Vandermaas-PeelerI have a few [mentors] that have just been absolutely phenomenal. I would say that mentoring has been the cornerstone of my Elon experience. I didn’t expect that when I came in, but I have been absolutely overjoyed with the…
March 30, 2021Mentoring for Learner Success: Bridging Known and Newby Maureen Vandermaas-PeelerIn order to enhance young children’s learning in the course of everyday interactions, parents often facilitate the acquisition of new knowledge by bridging, or establishing a connection between something familiar and something new (Vandermaas-Peeler, Westerberg, and Fleishman 2019). In a…