In his address to the Forum's Mentoring Workshop held in June, our Head of Lower School Colin Gleason helpfully reframed just what mentoring is—and what it can't be. Though images of the sculptor, the director, and the master often accompany this rough term of "formation," Mr. Gleason reminds us that we are really more akin to gardeners, who attend to a living creation with its own freedom and will. So, how can we appreciate this situation and best work with it for the good of our mentees?

Chapters:

1:29 Neither the model nor the molder
3:39 We cannot 'do' the formation
5:56 Freedom to choose the good
10:19 "Thou mayest" (not thou shalt) "triumph over sin"
15:54 Exercising freedom requires formation
16:49 Manners: what the act looks like
18:57 Reasons: the intention behind the act
21:38 Images: how a person chooses the act
23:36 A mentor as such an image
25:49 Loving the good
29:51 Loving the person

References:

He Knows Not How: Growing in Freedom by Julio Diéguez
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
Ben Hogan's Five Lessons: The Modern Fundamentals of Golf by Ben Hogan
InSideOut Coaching: How Sports Can Transform Lives by Joe Ehrmann

Also on the Forum:

Seeing Our Boys with Loving Eyes: Not Projects but Persons featuring Tom Royals
Why Boys Need Mentors featuring Joe Cardenas and Alex Berthé

Forming Others: What Mentoring Can and Can't Be