International Mentoring Research Articles

Ivor Grattan-Guinness: Routes of Learning: Highways, Pathways, and Byways in the History of Mathematics

Professor Ivor Grattan-Guinness, an Emeritus Professor of the History of Mathematics and Logic at Middlesex University in England, is one of the leading scholars among historians of mathematics. His prominent role can be attested by the Festschrift in his honor which was published as two issues of History and Philosophy of Logic (vol. 24, no. 4, 2003 and vol. 25, no. 1, 2004). His vast scientific production encompasses a variety of subjects and he has published several important books, some of them written individually, others with co-authors. He also wrote a considerable amount of articles, encyclopedia entries, bibliographical publications and conference reports, besides editing scientific journals and participating in a myriad of professional organizations and societies. In the Preface of his new book, Grattan-Guinness summarizes his broad range of historical interests as: ‘‘the development of the calculus and mathematical analysis from around 1730 to 1930, symbolic logics and set theory from 1820 to 1940, and mechanics and mathematical physics from 1750 to 1850’’. Treating the history of mathematics in great generality, he takes into account historiographic issues and philosophical concerns; he examines the history of mathematics education and the utility of this knowledge for current mathematics education, and wanders into little studied topics like numerology in the music of Mozart and Beethoven. The book reviewed here is a compilation of reprints of some of the resulting articles on these lines in the period from 1974 to 2005. The author states that he has maintained the individual character of each article but that he has taken the liberty to modify a few views when he now objects to the initial formulation. Given the large number of lines of thought and ideas handled in this book and considering the main interest of readers of this mathematics education journal, we will give more attention to matters on mathematics education. Chapter 1, ‘‘Searching for reasons’’, gives a short account of the author’s entry into the ‘‘unusual’’ field of research on the history of mathematics, in his own words. This resolution was motivated by his dislike of the way he was taught as an undergraduate at Oxford. At the time, he came to appreciate the existence of remarkable bodies of knowledge whose ‘‘perfect delivery’’ did not contemplate neither heuristic nor historical issues. Later, as a graduate student, ‘‘mathematics turned out to be a human endeavor, with people working on interesting problems and connections and even making mistakes sometimes’’ (p. 3). The text continues by describing his first research interests and the construction of a scientific net of international mentors and friends; Karl Popper’s philosophy is mentioned as a central guide. In Chapter 2, ‘‘The Mathematics of the Past’’, the author discusses and exemplifies the differences between history and heritage. In broad strokes, history asks ‘‘what happened (or did not) in the past? Why not?’’ Heritage addresses the question ‘‘how did we get here?’’ and often the answer reads like ‘‘the royal road to me’’. The author emphasizes that both points of view are legitimate and important but that ‘‘the confusion of the two kinds of activity is not legitimate’’ (p. 13). The meta-theoretical notion of historysatire is introduced in the short section 3.I3, ‘‘On some consequences for Mathematics Education’’, and is readdressed in subsequent chapters. The author asserts that mathematical education fits well between history and G. de La Rocque Palis (&) Departamento de Matematica e Pos Graduacao do Departamento de Educacao, Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 22451-900, Brazil e-mail: gildalarocque@gmail.com

Mentoring: What Is It? How Do We Do It and How Do We Get More Of It?

Although mentoring is something most of us talk about doing and needing on a regular basis, it isn’t obvious what being a mentor means, precisely, or what the process of mentoring entails. Is it the same as training? teaching? advising? Is being a mentor the same as being a good role model? Are these all labels for the same thing? Having agreed to talk about mentoring at this event in honor of Harold Luft, I did what any good researcher of today would do——I googled the term. I discovered that there are a fair number of websites out there dedicated to the topic. The term is used by organizations that focus on youth mentoring, including an organization called Mentor that stresses ‘‘Expanding the world of quality mentoring,’’ as well as those promoting business mentoring, and, something more familiar to many of us, academic mentoring. Further evidence that this is a global concept, there’s even an International Mentoring Association. My search also revealed a large selection of books and articles with mentoring in the title (e.g., ‘‘Toward a Conceptualization of Mentoring,’’ Anderson and Shannon 1988) and even a software package offered by one business consulting firm called ‘‘Mentoring that Makes a Difference.’’ While not an exhaustive search, I was nonetheless amazed by the range of uses and lack of consensus out there about what mentoring is, much less how to do it and get

Killing The Greatest Killer—Smallpox

Killing The Greatest Killer—Smallpox

Strategic knowledge networks for global education

The inherent opportunities for communication, collaboration and experiential learning in an online and global network create the impetus for the new network paradigm in higher education. A strategic knowledge network in education was designed and developed to build 'Mode 2' knowledge capabilities; create new knowledge for innovative application; and help to shape, influence or create professional practice. This paper presents a case study of a masters program at a large university of technology in Australia, in which students undertook industry-based coursework as part of a strategic knowledge network. Complexity of projects increased throughout the program; and the real-world projects included working with local and international mentors, thus positioning coursework within the industry. In this flexible learning environment, graduates developed 'Mode 2' knowledge capabilities for the networked world of work.

Luis cifuentes: un ejemplar itinerario formativo, científico y profesional

We describe the training itinerary of Dr. Luis Cifuentes, in a time in which Urology lacked of scientific prestige and was a limited field of surgery. His excellent education in basic sciences, his permanent voluntary contact with the most representative scientists of that time, his innovative PhD thesis, and other initiatives, altogether with his inquisitorial character and extraordinary personal aptitudes enabled him to get to Urology with an exceptionally rich burden of knowledge.With the help of excellent national and international mentors he achieved a urological training of such quality that his scientific and professional prestige was immediately recognized, as well as his clinical quality, technical expertise, and research rigor. All these led him to leave an admirable and everlasting trail. His training itinerary continues being a model to be followed by new generations of urologists as a complement to the MIR system.

Does expansion mean inclusion in Nigerian higher education?

Synopsis The expansion of higher education in Nigeria has been astronomical since 1948 when the first university, University of Ibadan (UI), was established. This article explores gender equity issues relating to access, curriculum transformation and staff development within the faculties of technology and agriculture at the University of Ibadan. It concludes that while gender is not explicitly on the university's agenda, university life is a highly gendered experience. Women's access to the Faculty of Technology is hampered by poor preparation at lower levels of education, male dominance of time and space and societal expectations of appropriate work for women. Affirmative action is perceived as discriminatory and counterproductive. The Agriculture curriculum is not gender mainstreamed because of limited knowledge and expertise, bureaucracy in curriculum change, poor pedagogy and prevalent negative attitude to gender. For female staff, power relations symbolically construct and regulate their experiences of work. Exclusions, while covert, are attenuated by women's exposure to local and international networks and mentoring. There is a need to formulate, implement and evaluate gender equity policies to address gendered experiences of female staff at the university.

A needs-driven approach to expatriate adjustment and career development: a multiple mentoring perspective

Although effective in improving socialization, development, and retention in the US domestic context, mentoring would likely benefit expatriates and their firms, but it remains theoretically underdeveloped in the international context. We develop a theory of international mentoring by integrating current perspectives on protean and boundaryless careers with the literature on mentoring and expatriates. Expatriates need multiple mentors to assist their adjustment and development during the pre-departure, expatriation, and repatriation stages of international assignments. We discuss both hierarchical and peer, and formal and informal, mentoring relationships to delineate which relationships best address specific expatriate needs. International mentoring may improve expatriate adjustment, development, and retention, and thus may affect outcomes of international strategy. We conclude by discussing implications and avenues for future research.

Working worldwide: Differences in work, workers, and workplaces demand HPT cultural due diligence

Performance ImprovementVolume 42, Issue 8 p. 8-8 Guest Editorial Working worldwide: Differences in work, workers, and workplaces demand HPT cultural due diligence Margo Murray CPT, Margo Murray CPT Margo Murray, MBA, CPT, is the preeminent researcher, designer, and evaluator of facilitated mentoring. She has collaborated with clients on mentoring processes in more than 100 organizations in 23 countries. Margo is a Director on the Board of the International Mentoring Association and former Chair of the Board of the International Federation of Training and Development Organisations. She earned the International Society for Performance Improvement's three highest honors—Outstanding Member, Member for Life, and President. In 2002, she received the Certified Performance Technologist designation. Margo serves as mentor to many of its leaders. Her best-selling book, Beyond the Myths and Magic of Mentoring: How to Facilitate an Effective Mentoring Process, is considered the seminal work on facilitated mentoring. She may be reached at mmha@mentors-mmha.com.Search for more papers by this author Margo Murray CPT, Margo Murray CPT Margo Murray, MBA, CPT, is the preeminent researcher, designer, and evaluator of facilitated mentoring. She has collaborated with clients on mentoring processes in more than 100 organizations in 23 countries. Margo is a Director on the Board of the International Mentoring Association and former Chair of the Board of the International Federation of Training and Development Organisations. She earned the International Society for Performance Improvement's three highest honors—Outstanding Member, Member for Life, and President. In 2002, she received the Certified Performance Technologist designation. Margo serves as mentor to many of its leaders. Her best-selling book, Beyond the Myths and Magic of Mentoring: How to Facilitate an Effective Mentoring Process, is considered the seminal work on facilitated mentoring. She may be reached at mmha@mentors-mmha.com.Search for more papers by this author First published: 08 February 2007 https://doi.org/10.1002/pfi.4930420804Citations: 1 AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article.Citing Literature Volume42, Issue8September 2003Pages 8-8 RelatedInformation

Mentoring for WebCT and Interactive Television Instructional Delivery

While mentoring may be considered part of an instructional dynamic, the ease of mentoring diminishes as the distance between the learner and provider increases. The increasing application of distance learning technologies has resulted in a potential worldwide separation of mentor and protege, the impact of which is virtually limitless. Despite its potential, technology is not a cornucopia of solutions to educational problems and issues. If we view the application of technology within the teaching-mentoring process, we find both restraints to be considered and virtues to be refined and continued. Our intent is to focus on the limitations and strengths of mentoring within a distance learning setting. Specifically, we address mentoring in two distance venues: Web-based and interactive television (ITV). Mentoring can be defined as the process that is used to guide and facilitate a learner's educational growth. Although related, providing instruction is not the same as mentoring, as instruction and mentoring entail two distinct sets of responsibilities and roles. Using the appropriate role requires smiled judgment and is dependent on accurately addressing the learner's needs. Mentors assist learners with developing their identity whereas instructors are predominately concerned with developing content knowledge and skills. Traditional mentoring suggests an experienced person working with a novice. Further mentoring adaptations have consisted of an apprenticeship, where proteges observe and learn from a mentor; competency-building, where consistent skill reinforcement feedback is provided to the protege; and reflective dialogue, which provides a mechanism for proteges to reflect on mental assumptions and decision-making logic (Guy, 2002). Distance mentoring, particularly that found in the WebCT/ITV format, also has the implied experienced person/novice component due to the formal classroom nature of the relationship. Some mentoring relationships begin with the formal assignment of mentor and protege; however, in the distance environment, the relationship typically begins as instructor/learner evolving into the mentor/protege relationship. The instructor begins by providing subject matter and social support that relates to the primary reason for connecting electronically: the class itself. As the instructor and learner discover more about each other, the deeper mentoring relationship begins to emerge. This relationship may last only as long as the class or it may extend long after the class is over. Role of Distance Mentor Fostering effective mentoring relationships in adult learning environments is a complex process demanding flexibility and an understanding of human inter-relations (Golian, 1995, p. 79). The first step in distance mentoring is to learn as much about it as possible. Professional mentoring organizations may be helpful to both the novice and experienced mentor. While most mentoring organizations focus on children or early adults, there are more than a sufficient number of organizations and resources to assist in effective mentorship. Typically, organizations, such as the International Mentoring Association, and other similar organizations afford easy access to mentoring resources. Regardless of skill, experience, and previous mentoring success, mentoring via a distance format presents both similar and previously unencountered challenges. It is incumbent upon the distance mentor to recognize that distance mentoring is a human interaction, heavily reflective of both mentor and protege values, and often restrained by the very technology that makes distance learning possible. The prospective distance mentor should be able to recognize the variance of need among students. Most students do quite well with no overt mentoring at all. The degree to which a student is offered mentoring practices should be directly related to the student's need for being mentored. Therefore, recognizing that not all students need to be mentored, let us consider those who do. …

African Journal of Reproductive Health: Forging a New Path of Development / La Revue Africaine de la Santé Reproductive: La Creation d'une Nouvelle Voie de Développement

When the African Journal of Reproductive Health ( AJRH ) was established in 1997 (exactly five years ago), we promised to provide a forum for the voice of Africans to be heard on issues relating to reproductive health, population and development. This was particularly necessary because hitherto all that was known about Africa's reproductive health were ideas generated predominantly from western countries, which were not necessarily reflective of those in Africa. Additionally, we reasoned that an “indigenous publication” on reproductive health would remove the veil of secrecy that previously surrounded the subject in Africa, and permit an in depth exposition of the socio cultural factors that influence reproductive health in the continent. At the time of the inauguration of the journal, we sought collaboration with Dr Rachel Snow, then based at the Harvard School of Public Health, essentially to learn the fundamental elements of publishing a high quality journal, and secondly to ensure that the journal meets the high standards that would justify it as a truly international journal. Later, she moved to the Department of Public Health at the Heidelberg University in Germany and continued to work with the journal. We printed the first three editions from Boston in order to provide a template on which future editions of the journal would be based. Subsequently, the printing has been done in Nigeria with considerable success. From the onset, Dr Rachel Snow has been a dependable co editor of the journal. She worked hard to establish the principles on which the journal was founded. As the international co editor of the journal, Dr Snow was instrumental to providing international visibility and recognition for the journal and to linking us with credible reviewers, authors and a good reading audience. When funding for the international office of the journal ended two years after its establishment, Dr Snow maintained the editorial office in Heidelberg, Germany, with her own research funds. Her unwavering support has been critical to many of the successes the journal has recorded, for which the whole of Africa is eternally grateful. Now that Dr Snow has “stepped aside” as a co editor, AJRH has moved into the final phase of its development — that of complete editing and production from Africa. Journals from Africa have often been criticised for not being sustainable and lacking in continuity and timeliness, for being poorly edited and for not having wide coverage. From the onset, the founders of AJRH were aware of these criticisms, hence the choice of a systematic and progressive approach to its development. Five years after concentrated support and advice from a western colleague, we are confident that the future of the journal is as bright as a rose. Clearly, AJRH will maintain its links and relationships with the western world. We are happy that Dr Rachel Snow will continue to function as a member of the international advisory board of the journal. In addition, her role as our main international mentor is gradually being taken over by the International Agency for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP). INASP recently sponsored our managing editor, James Falaiye, to undertake a study tour of scientific journals and publishing houses in the UK and is currently working hard to create a formal working relationship between AJRH and the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology ( BJOG ). In addition, we are also working on publishing the journal electronically through technical, and hopefully financial, support from INASP. We are of course grateful to the Ford Foundation who offered the initial funding support that enabled us to establish the journal and has continued to provide unbroken financial support to the journal till this day. We thank Dr Rachel Snow for her great contributions to the growth of AJRH , and as she leaves the main boardroom of the journal, we wish her every success in her future work.

The role of mentoring professional accountants: a global perspective

Summarizes the literature on mentoring and its effects, pointing out that little research has been done on international mentoring despite globalization. Considers how mentoring could be used to help accountants make international assignments into successful learning experiences and to cope with the culture shock they often report. Discusses the possible role of the mentor before, during and after the assignment, highlighting the critical factors during the process; and compares horizontal and vertical approaches. Urges accounting firms to use mentoring to improve international performance and as a basis for organizational learning in a global environment.