Mentoring and Constructivism: Preparing Students with Disabilities for Careers in Science

There are no throw away children. Each child is an individual who deserves to experience personal achievement. History has demonstrated the dangers of a survival of the fittest philosophy. A civilized society is one that includes all its citizens, the weak as well as the strong. Students are placed at-risk when their silent cries for help are ignored. Teachers must go the extra mile and beyond the normal boundaries to maximize the potential of their students. Mentoring students involves building nurturing relationships as well as guiding students toward self-sufficiency and self-management. The goal of mentoring is to eventually produce responsible and independent individuals who are able to advocate for them. Education systems must go beyond the products or outcomes of schooling and include knowledge and skills essential for socialization, citizenship, and human development. Mentoring realizes this obligation by involving the whole child in the search of islands of competence. It involves all the essential dimensions of the human condition: the intellectual, the physical, the aesthetic, the spiritual, the emotional, and the social. (Contains 25 references.) (MVL)