Peer mentoring is a form of mentorship that usually takes place between a person who has lived through a specific experience (Peer Mentor) and a person who is new to that experience (the Peer Mentee). An example would be an experienced student being a Peer Mentor to a new student, the Peer Mentee, in a particular subject, or in a new school. Peer Mentors are also used for health and lifestyle changes. For example, clients, or patients, with support from peers, may have one-on-one sessions that meet regularly to help them recover or rehabilitate. Peer Mentoring provides individuals who have suffered from a specific life experience the chance to learn from those who have recovered, or rehabilitated, following such an experience. Peer Mentors provide education, recreation and support opportunities to individuals. The Peer Mentor may challenge the Mentee with new ideas, and encourage the Mentee to move beyond the things that are most comfortable. Most peer mentors are picked for their sensibility, confidence, social skills and reliability.
Critics of peer mentoring insist that little is known of the nature of peer mentoring relationships and that there are few consistent studies indicating the outcomes of peer mentoring beyond good feelings among peers and the development of friendships. Peer mentoring led by senior students may discourage diversity and prevent critical analysis of the higher education system.
Read more about Peer Mentoring: Program Design Characteristics, In Education, In The Workplace, In Health Care, Other Applications, See Also
Famous quotes containing the words peer and/or mentoring:
“All nature is a temple where the alive
Pillars breathe often a tremor of mixed words;
Man wanders in a forest of accords
That peer familiarly from each ogive.”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)
“Never be intimidated when you deal with men. Curse, don’t cry.”
—Anonymous, U.S. professional woman. As quoted in Aspirations and Mentoring in an Academic Environment, ch. 4, by Mary Niles Maack and Joanne Passet (1994)