ABSTRACT
Mentoring is an idea and a practice that has evolved over time in different cultures and contexts. This book is concerned with ‘planned’ or ‘structured’ mentoring, as contrasted to ‘natural mentoring’. Natural mentoring occurs incidentally in a variety of life settings through friendship, teaching, coaching and counselling. ‘Planned’ mentoring involves structured programmes with clear objectives, where mentors and mentees are matched using formal processes. It is unsurprising, therefore, that today there is considerable confusion over its meaning.
