Abstract
Aristotle serves as a valuable, and practical, model for mentors of adult learners. His writings give insight into mentoring even as we practice it today. Although he lived in ancient Greece (c. 384 BCE to 322 BCE) and his audience was aristocratic males, the tenets of his philosophy for adult learning hold true in the present age for learners of any race, class, or gender because they are built on human attributes common to us all. Written from the author’s perspective of more than 15 years of mentoring diverse adult learners, this article distills some principles for mentoring from Aristotle’s work that resonate with current practice: (a) mentor the soul, (b) understand the student’s “puzzle,” (c) trust our senses, and (d) develop excellence. Aristotle ideas give “form” to the task of mentoring, honoring excellence as a virtue to be sought—and achieved—in everyday actions. It is heartening to view the mentoring that we do today as part of a very long and very rich tradition, foundational to Western Civilization.
“Aristotle begins with the conviction that our perceptual and cognitive faculties are basically dependable, that they for the most part put us into direct contact with the features and divisions of our world.”
Mentoring adults in educational settings in these times of change has never been more critical. The challenges of adult students have intensified, requiring them to seek new directions in their lives: In addition, communities have even greater need for effective civic contributions. To meet these challenges, mentors of adult learners benefit from fresh sources for guidance. This is certainly true for academics such as myself for whom mentoring of adult learners has been a critical faculty role for more than 15 years.
In adult education, mentoring evokes many associations. Merriam and colleagues (2007) state that a “teacher/mentor challenges students to examine their conceptions of self and the world and to formulate new, more developed perspectives” (p. 138), then more strongly that mentors are “life guides” (p. 169), and stronger still that mentoring “is about relationship, support, and increasing the human spirit” (p. 205, quoting English et al., 2003).
The term mentor itself, derived from the ancient Greek, refers to an advisor or guide with rich experience in his or her field of expertise (Levy-Feldman, 2018), so I should not have been surprised at new personal insights on adult mentoring that I discovered while recently reading Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. Although Aristotle lived more than 2,000 years ago (c. 384–322 BCE) and mentored only privileged members of society (elite males), his teachings, when applied to us all, are still profoundly relevant.
For example, I recognize resonance between Mezirow’s “disorienting dilemma” and Aristotle’s “personal puzzle.” Like Aristotle, Mezirow (2000) and Brookfield (2005) found that self-directed adult learners seek endoxa (wise council) to address compelling personal questions. For Aristotle, learning is holistic, as one seeks to transform one’s “soul” (Taylor, 2001). Learning is “situated” to an individual’s unique time, place, and circumstance (Fenwick, 2003; Hansman, 2001). Because personal excellence scaffolds good citizenship, personal virtue is practiced within a “community of practice” (Boud & Walker, 1991; Dirkx, 1998; Jarvis, 2004; Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1999). That individual excellence is integral to social justice is foundational to social reformers such as Dewey (1938/1997) and Freire (1998). The maturation of perspective-taking through life experience invokes Erikson’s (1980) psychosocial development of wisdom, Basseches’s (1984) integration of thesis and antithesis toward synthesis, and Kegan’s (1982) evolved perspective-taking. Aristotle’s teachings connect soul to heart, a compelling perspective for adult learners today.
Aristotle’s life work was to mentor. After studying in Plato’s Academy, Aristotle created the Lyceum, a school for “adult learners.” Aristotle’s pupils studied the sciences, the arts, mathematics, logic, philosophy, psychology, politics, and theology. His known works were divided into the Organon (discussions about argumentation created by scholars in the Middle Ages), the theoretical sciences, practical sciences, and productive sciences (Zalta, 2016). Centuries later, Byzantine scholars revered Aristotle as the “First Teacher.”
My interest in Aristotle is as a mentor of adult learners, not as a philosopher. His ideas illuminate foundations and methods of mentoring, resonating with my mentoring and teaching experiences, and of adult learning experts such as those mentioned. No one perspective guides mentoring, but Aristotle’s teachings augment other sources. Given the depth and sensibility of his ideas, and the clarity and relevance of his contributions to education, Aristotle could be a reference in every text on adult learning.
In my reading of Aristotle, I extracted four principles for practice: (a) mentor the soul, (b) understand the student’s “puzzle,” (c) trust our senses, and (d) develop excellence. Each principle arose from my extended mentoring experience reflected through Aristotle’s writings. Examples from practice are presented with each principle, providing suggestive directions for thought. Readers are invited to reflect on these principles in ways that benefit their practice in both formal roles in adult education and opportunities that arise in informal settings.
Mentoring That Matters: Principles for Practice
Mentor the Soul
The soul is at the heart of Aristotle’s philosophy. But what is the soul? “We must no more ask whether the soul and body are one than ask whether the wax and the figure on it are one” (Aristotle, De Amina). Humans seek happiness by creating the best “form” of ourselves.
Why do we, and our students, seek to change the form of our souls? Because, according to Aristotle, we seek happiness, and “happiness is a virtuous activity of the soul” (Aristotle, 340 BC/2004, 1097b). The modern concept of “transformation” of a student’s life through education (Brookfield, 2005; Mezirow, 2000) has ancient roots.
We sense “soul” when students share their life goals, exhilarations, and frustrations. Yes, we talk about class schedules, but behind those discussions lies exploration of the singular human life whose path we influence. Central to mentoring is that students experience the best form of themselves within the learning environments we provide. Learning is a desire, impelled by soul within the body. For Aristotle, the soul is the center of excellence developed through the moral and intellectual virtues. The moral virtues rely on the intellect to guide behavior when the body is challenged.
For Aristotle, a virtue is a character trait that helps us achieve a good life. A good life is happy because it is in accordance with reason. Reason separates humans from beasts: Now the soul of man is divided into two parts, one of which has a rational principle in itself, and the other, not having a rational principle in itself, is able to obey such a principle. And we call a man in any way good because he has the virtues of these two parts. (Politics, VII, 1333a16–19, in Aristotle, 1941).
Reason directs our behavior toward “the Doctrine of the Mean.” The mean is a level of emotion befitting the situation—either strong or mild. Excellent behavior (a virtue) is the right balance between too much (vice of excess) and too little (vice of deficiency) at a particular time and place. As Aristotle writes, Anybody can become angry—that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way—that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy. (Aristotle, 340 BC/2004, 1097b)
Using the doctrine of the mean, passions of pleasure/pain balance with temperance, fear with courage, and shame with modesty. When we assist a student, we hope to exhibit the virtue of wisdom—neither short-sighted nor overly expansive. Ideally, we provide the right amount of guidance to the right student at the right time for the right reasons.
Aristotle in practice: Mentor the soul
Christie, from an elite, White, Protestant family, fortified her position as a world citizen through deep study of human ecology. As her underlying intent for the studies became clearer over time, she articulated her desire, both to herself and to me, that her education was helping her balance fear of making a rash decision with fear of avoiding a desired life choice: adopting a mixed-race child. Her education helped her achieve this balance, and at graduation, Christie delightedly shared news that she and her husband had adopted an African baby.
Understand the Student’s “Puzzle”
Students come to us with a particular life “puzzle”—Aristotle’s word for a personal question so penetrating that we are compelled to move, test, challenge, reflect, discuss, and act in ways that transform the soul. Aristotle uses “actuality” in his definition of soul, affirming that the soul manifests itself in action. Hope becomes a waking dream when it is investigated, tried, tested, and found to fit. Soul is embodied. More recently, Dewey (1938/1997) recognizes this reality in presenting experiential learning as “the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience. Knowledge results from the combination of grasping and transforming experience” (p. 7). Do Dewey’s teachings not resonate well with Aristotle’s?
As mentors, we help our students achieve their goals because “happiness is the settling of the soul into its most appropriate spot” (Aristotle, n.d.-a). “Where your talents and the needs of the world cross, therein lies your vocation” (Aristotle, n.d.-b). Recently, theologian Frederick Buechner (1992) said, “Vocation is the place where our deep gladness meets the world’s deep need” (p. 189). Does this not sound Aristotelian?
Aristotle in practice: Understand the student’s “puzzle.”
Jackie, activities director at a nursing home, was puzzled as to why her StoryTime program was so successful with residents. In telling their life stories, elders transformed them from sad to satisfying. In our study, I asked her if her passion for this project addressed a personal puzzle. Jackie experienced an “aha” moment when she discovered that her story work with seniors did address a personal need—her sadness that her mother, hiding untold stories, had died with remorse. As Jackie’s seniors “grasped and transformed” knowledge of their own lives from regret into acceptance, she transformed her mother’s story from regret into acceptance as well.
Trust Our Senses
In contrast to the skepticism of Descartes (1980), Aristotle begins with the conviction that our perceptual and cognitive faculties are basically dependable, that they for the most part put us into direct contact with the features and divisions of our world, and that we need not dally with skeptical postures before engaging in substantive philosophy. (Zalta, 2016)
This grounding enables us to trust ourselves as mentors, trust our diverse students, and trust that our student–mentor relationship has a substantive experiential foundation.
Self-knowledge is a holistic endeavor. As mentors, we are privileged to engage learners as whole persons who seek to flourish as individuals within communities. Students bring their life experiences to our discussions, as well as current questions, abilities, habits, and motivation. In so doing, they may build trusting relationships with students of other cultures as well as with their mentors. Trust is soul work. We frequently learn where students work, names of their children, challenges of health issues, or deaths of loved ones—and receive photos of marriages, births, and even favorite pets. Significant life changes impact learning to enrich it, delay it, or redirect it.
Plutarch (1992) states, “The mind is not a vessel that needs filling, but wood that needs igniting.” What fuels a particular learner at a particular time? Some adult learners seek credentials for a promotion and others to set an example for their children. As they prioritize schooling into their busy lives, they demonstrate qualities that lead to successful lifelong learning, better personal and familial situations, and improved current circumstances. These goals are the right focus at this right time. We understand with Aristotle that our students need a stable launching point. Returning to school productively engages their critical thinking skills in application to critical aspects of their lives. Students learn “practical wisdom”—available only through life experience—which, for Aristotle, distinguishes the seasoned adult from even the brightest youth. Achievement of present educational goals may lead to an equilibrium that is foundational for future growth (Piaget, 1970).
Other students come to adult education to stabilize an unfocused identity (understanding themselves) or to find fixed external points of reference (understanding how they fit in). Schooling provides a moratorium for sustenance, new outlooks, and possibly reorganizing one’s gifts for a better purpose (Marcia, 1987). Learning leads students to ponder new puzzles, but the puzzle most motivating is the puzzle of the self.
Aristotle in practice: Trust our senses
Susan’s fundamentalist Christian background both nurtured and challenged her. Strong bonding among the women and focus on family life had blessed her to believe in herself. The patriarchal structure of her community, however, held many women back. She resolved her puzzle by working within her community to strengthen choices for its women. Trusting herself, she undergirded her pursuit of a PhD with her nurturing skills and compassion, advocating for religious studies to be included in psychotherapeutic training. She elicited her holistic personal experience to enact culture change in professional education for therapists.
Develop Excellence
Central to Aristotle’s work is the pursuit of excellence (virtue). Moral virtues require the right action at the right time with the right person to the right degree. Sometimes the educated mind must accept an idea that is initially repugnant but has truth in it. Erikson (1980) notes the counterpoint to wisdom is dismissal and denial. Will a decision at a particular time have the right balance of accepting and rejecting? Many students, while they “transform” through education, must confront what to keep and what to let go of from their past (Mezirow, 1991, 2000). Balance toward personal excellence requires these challenging decisions.
Excellence is actuality in a given interaction at a given time. Part of excellence is in accepting, and part is in rejecting ideas and actions: It is the mark of an educated mind to look for precision in each class of things just as far as the nature of the subject admits; it is . . . foolish to accept probable reasoning from a mathematician. (Aristotle, 340 BC/2004, 1109a).
Aristotle in practice: Develop excellence
David’s initial goal was to become a licensed clinical psychologist. As a 52 year old Black male with a high school education, this was a challenging goal—exacerbated by inconsistent academic skills and inadequate social preparation. As David achieved his associate’s degree, he adjusted his professional goal from a PhD in psychology to certification as a life coach. In this, David was developing excellence. By releasing his initial academic goal while still focusing on helping people, he balanced his priorities and moved from being anxious and focused on the opinion of others toward being calm and self-directed.
The Mentoring of the Mentor
Reading Aristotle yielded precious nuggets of thought—phrases that are succinct, perceptive, and immediately useful. Like catchy tunes, they are impactful and correct in their assessment of human nature. Aristotle described what I intuitively recognize as “best practices” that resonate with my personal experience and ground research in adult learning. Indeed, when inculcating new skills one may follow an Aristotelian path: Practice until habit develops, perhaps one principle at a time until it feels comfortable and familiar. There is a reason, after all, for calling excellent skills “best practices.”
I find my exposure to Aristotle to be
Comforting—through my increased knowledge of Aristotle, I have a stronger appreciation for the deep roots of the mentoring tradition;
Invigorating—Aristotle offers me a “form” to my work as a mentor and connects the visceral with the sublime in a way that makes the actions of the body more understandable and the actions of the mind more meaningful;
Challenging—Aristotle reaffirms that excellence is an attribute of action, not of intention or abstraction. The role of mentoring adult learners tests our excellence within real-world settings where the lives of others are influenced by our successes in mastering ourselves;
Community-affirming—after reading about the moral virtues in the Nicomachean Ethics (most discussed here), one can read Politics, where the intellectual virtues are presented as virtues of personal excellence applied to the community through active citizenship. Aristotle affirms the importance of education as the basis for both personal and communal excellence.
The Value of Mentoring
Aristotle resonated with my own perspective that civilization relies on citizens of a society to (a) learn sound ways of thinking (b) about substantive topics of knowledge (b) and to apply that learning to personal and societal advancement. Aristotle contributes to these critical areas of civilized discourse. My reading of Aristotle uncovered four principles for best practices in mentoring: (a) mentor the soul, (b) seek to understand the student’s “puzzle,” (c) trust our senses, and (d) develop excellence. Some of these start from the student (mentor the soul), and some start from our practice (develop excellence), but all apply to each interaction between student and mentor. Ideally, these principles become so much a part of us that we automatically apply them in our mentoring practice. As a mentor of adult learners, I believe excellence in education is foundational to a healthy society, and excellence in mentoring contributes to that end. Through Aristotle, the master mentor, I better understand why my role as a mentor to adult learners is so challenging and also so rewarding.
Footnotes
Conflict of Interest
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
