This paper reports on research into the concept of mentoring from many educational perspectives, based on six papers presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association in April 1994. The paper notes that mentoring is a slippery concept, without a precise operational definition; definitions used in the six papers are discussed. The paper also discusses the absence of general agreement on concept paradigms; the exploration of expanded concepts associated with mentoring, including nurturing relationships and clinical education; problems with normative surveys as vehicles for understanding the benefits of applying the concept of mentoring in administrator or leader preparation; alternative lines of inquiry, such as carefully recorded case studies; and the role of the institution as mentor. The paper concludes that the use of classic novels and stories of mentors and their proteges would provide greater benefit over additional normative studies. (JDD)