Mentor was a figure of the Odyssey, friend of Odysseus, supporter and advisor of Telemachus. The goddess Athena also took the form of Mentor on many occasions. In this way, the word "mentor" also generally means the adviser and friend, who acts as a spiritual guide and guide.
Mentoring is not widely known as a concept, although many of us university teachers experience it with our students especially after our retirement, as our free time increases.
Mentor was a figure of the Odyssey, friend of Odysseus, supporter and advisor of Telemachus. The goddess Athena also took the form of Mentor on many occasions. In this way, the word "mentor" also generally means the adviser and friend, who acts as a spiritual guide and guide.
On the initiative of Professor Emeritus D. Kokkinos, acting president of the Body of Professors Emeritus of EKPA, a scientific conference entitled "The Society of Knowledge" was organized at the College of Athens. This conference, under the auspices of the Ministry of Education and the University of Athens, was held in collaboration with the College of Athens with the President Sp. Pollali, o.m. professor of Harvard, of the Ministry of Education with the participation of G. Secretary o.m. Professor Od. Zora, of the University of Athens in the presence of the Rector Professor Ger. Siasos and the Body of Emeritus Professors EKPA.
This conference gave the opportunity to esteemed university professors to bring together and exchange views with the young men and women who, as graduates of the College of Athens, are currently students of Greek universities. It is important that the students of the College, who previously preferred studying abroad, have been choosing Greek universities for several years now. Students today, did not forget their school and willingly participated in
meeting with the old graduates of the same school, who today are university professors and personalities who have excelled in Greece and abroad.
Let us not forget that Eleftherios Venizelos, who sought a liberal education independent of the church, supported the operation of American schools in Greece, and this proved decisive for the modernization of Greek education.
As teachers, we had the opportunity to observe examples of students engaging with their chosen science, and to offer them our knowledge and advice, as mentors. This, moreover, is also the goal of the institution of mentoring, which the Corps of Peer Professors of EKPA tries to implement with its educational programs. Moreover, among the suggestions of the students there was one related to mentoring. Student of the School of Medicine of EKPA, in the third year of studies, mentored by Om. professor D. Kokkino, presented the topic "Mentoring as an institution for the development and promotion of young competent scientists".
Old age deprives a man of the spirit only of those faculties which are not useful to his spirit, wrote the 18th century French moralist and essayist Joseph Zubert. Thus, we are given the opportunity to pass on our knowledge to the younger generation and facilitate their concerns.
Worthy of attention was the fact that the presentations were focused on the Positive Sciences, Technology and Information Technology and only a few of the students had chosen Humanities and none the Classical Studies. This is also the prevailing situation today. Humanities studies are in crisis, as everyone's interest, including in the EU, is turning towards matter and the market, away from the human being. Classical studies, moreover, is a very marginal subject in the educational, economic and cultural landscape of our time. The wise thinker, the unforgettable Papanoutsos, years ago persistently sought the humanization of Technology, while today we tend to impose Technocracy at the expense of humanitarian values.
Perhaps the current, problematic international conditions. and the dubious mutations of society, lead us back to humanitarian values and an essentially human-centered policy.
The value of mentorship, as demonstrated by this conference, is undeniable. Since 2011, there has been an attempt to institutionalize it
mentorship from the College of Athens, and in 2016 an International Symposium followed in collaboration with the Department of Social and Educational Policy of the University of the Peloponnese.
The idea is slowly but surely maturing, the belief that mentoring is an important contribution to education is expanding, and it is hoped that its institutionalization will soon become a reality.
article source https://tovima.gr
Mrs. Stella Priovolou is an emeritus professor, president of the Body of Emeritus Professors of EKPA, dean of the Municipal People's University of Agia Parakevi.
photo Mohamed_hassan / https://pixabay.com
