Description
Book SynopsisAdult volunteers try to do their part by mentoring young people in need, but ample empirical research shows that their efforts rarely pay off. Psychologist Jean Rhodes offers evidence-based suggestions for better mentorship. Above all, she argues, mentors should focus on building rapport while also teaching useful skills.
Trade ReviewRhodes has demonstrated why she is regarded as the foremost authority on youth mentoring in the U.S. and internationally. Her singularly broad and deep knowledge of the science and her unparalleled understanding of the program and policy implications of mentoring research are crystallized magnificently in this important and timely book. Accessible to scholars, practitioners, students, parents, and other caregivers, this book will quickly be seen as a classic. -- Richard M. Lerner, Director, Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development, Tufts University
Rhodes is not only a pioneer in mentoring research but she has always looked around corners for where the power of relationships can be harnessed most effectively so our young people can thrive and strive. She sheds light on innovative approaches that can amplify and refine mentoring to do what it has the potential to do at its best: provide the connections that meet young people where they are with the personalized support we all need for healthy development. -- David Shapiro, CEO, MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. In
Older and Wiser, Rhodes forces us to slam the brakes on ineffective practices; not to blame or criticize but to prove and improve an industry that is devoted to the potential of our nation’s children. We’re thrilled to watch how this candid new research and the author’s concrete recommendations will disrupt and redefine how to build social capital and create new pathways to opportunity for youth in greatest need. -- Michael D. Smith, Executive Director, My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, and Director of Youth Opportunity Programs, The Obama Foundation
This engaging and well-written book is a significant advance in our understanding of when and how mentoring matters. Mentoring is widely recommended as a strategy to help disadvantaged kids get a fairer start in life, but research has often failed to support that strategy, because of conceptual confusion about what ‘mentoring’ means. Jean Rhodes’s new book clears away this confusion and lays the foundations for an approach to mentoring that is both rigorous and rich in new ideas. -- Robert D. Putnam, author of
Our Kids: The American Dream in CrisisA wonderfully thoughtful, engaging, and interesting read. With a lifetime devoted to the study of mentoring, Rhodes delivers a powerful assessment of what is needed to best help young people today. She challenges us to consider a supportive accountability model focused on technology-delivered interventions that may significantly improve outcomes for mentees. -- Pam Iorio, President and CEO, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America
