In a specific history class, we focus more on biography. The students take one individual, say Napoleon, or Genghis Khan, or Thomas Jefferson, or Abigail Adams and everyone studies the same person. They read different biographies, letters, journals, etc. The mentor is simply one who is taking part, involved in the discussion, involved in the class interchange. It s something like sitting around a table with a group of 5-15 people and the mentor is working in a tutorship role at that point.
Mentors can be counselors, tutors, teachers.
Yes, it really is. But more, it s taking a certain individual under your wing and taking a holistic approach to his or her overall education to help him accomplish what he wants to. A good parent is automatically a mentor in most things in a child s life. That is the relationship that the parent has. For them to add academics to it is a natural.