Mentoring and the Emergent Educational Leader

Introduction

The principal is the de facto leader of the public school. With this role comes no small degree of pressure and responsibility, and as the nature of education changes and evolves, so too does the role and all that it implies. In many ways, however, there remains a great philosophical divide over how principal leadership is to be pursued. To the perspective of this research endeavor, this divide is based on varying conceptions of how leadership and education might best be integrated within the office. The research therefore seeks to appeal to the conceptions of those most directly affected.

This discussion is intended to promote conversation concerning administrative development, ascendance to the office of principal, and the value of mentoring in this equation. The literature review conducted hereafter is intended to confirm the value of mentorship and the need for greater support of mentor/mentee relationships during the professional development of the academic principal or administrator. Considering such matters as the political pressures of the job, the practical challenges of the role, and the relevance of demographic factors such as race, ethnicity, and gender, the discussion here supports the argument that mentorship can be crucial to increasing and diversifying the pool of qualified and willing candidates for administration or principalship.

Rationale for Mentoring in Educational Leadership

This study is designed to explore the various career development aspects of becoming and serving as a public school principal that contribute to the effective ability to lead. The principal has a unique role in the lives of both teachers and students, serving as a figure of authority and as an advocate in the face of administrative and political demands. This makes the principalship a deeply complex position, shaped by the challenges of organizational stewardship, economic constraint, and political imposition.

The experience of developing into and serving in the position of principal is of great importance to those aspiring to the role. For individuals who view the principalship as a career path, firsthand accounts of the obstacles, opportunities, demands, and distinctions associated with the role can be an invaluable source of guidance. This serves as the rationale for endorsing mentoring programs as a path to meeting the career development needs of those working to become principals, or those working to deepen their grasp of the position.

As the review will illustrate, research generally supports the claim that education as a whole is a discipline in which mentoring programs can have a substantially positive impact. Accordingly, Klausmeier (1994) offers the claim that "the need for mentoring is clear. New teachers often emerge fresh from their university coursework believing that they are armed with all of the information and skills necessary for dealing with discipline, the curriculum, and student issues. After a short exposure to the realities of teaching, many of these beginning teachers become frustrated, stressed to the point of ill health, and often choose to leave the profession rather than seek help in learning the additional skills they need" (Klausmeier, 27). This underscores the primary impetus for this research, which considers shortcomings in the field relating to the need for more viable candidates and the problems of retention. The discussion also touches upon the importance of mentor programs for the continuing development of those who serve as mentors, underscored by a mutually beneficial scenario in which the exchange of knowledge and ingenuity can be instrumental in improving a school or district's general orientation.

An Overview of the Value of Mentoring in Education

That schools in the United States have generally experienced a decline in standards, performance, and personnel commitment is evidenced throughout the field. To many theorists, this is indicative of a core problem relating to the orientation and distribution of leadership. This is especially a challenge for the principal, whose leadership responsibilities are inherent but who faces myriad obstacles to their effectiveness. Overly centralized ways of designing curriculum, engaging students, and evaluating performance have, some argue, disassociated school leadership from the environment it is meant to serve. This is why "in the view of many analysts, the task of transforming a school is too complex for one person to accomplish alone. Consequently, a new model of leadership is developing" (Lashway, 6).

This new model of leadership is something that both developing and serving principals must prepare for. The leadership of the principal is often regarded as the sole determining factor in the curricular standardization and approach that pervades a learning institution. However, this view is increasingly being challenged by the demand for a greater support system for those in educational leadership. As Kinsella and Richards (2004) reveal, the perceived singularity of this leadership is both a product of a fundamental misapprehension of the opportunities for in-school leadership and a potential contributor to a negative educational experience. At the heart of this conception is the notion that too much vested authority in this position creates a "wall," reinforcing an improper notion that administration and principalship are isolated from one another and from the goals of the school itself. Such an attitude, shared by both parties, is likely to produce an aloof administrative approach more dominated by bureaucracy than by a genuine interest in educational improvement. Equally destructive, this dynamic imperils the security of the teaching faculty, which tends to respond to feeling undervalued with resentment, occupational antipathy, and diminished morale.

To the perspective of Kinsella and Richards, this is a valid cause for instituting stronger mentoring programs for principals and administrators. "Recruiting, hiring, and — most important — retaining the best leaders seem to be constant tasks for school boards. Providing mentoring for new administrators can make the difference. Mentoring helps individuals learn the skills needed for immediate survival in the position and become more thoughtful administrators and instructional leaders" (Kinsella & Richards, 32).

Mentorship should be seen as a valuable way to approach this model of administrative leadership, as it can be central in helping those who would occupy the role prepare for the political vagaries of the field. The challenges inherent in the No Child Left Behind legislation, according to the findings of most survey studies considered here, have compromised the ability of principals to lead effectively. The implications of externally shaped standards and performance consequences undermine the capacity of the principal and faculty to shape curriculum, philosophy, and evaluation. According to Daresh (2001), "mentoring is an ongoing process in which individuals in an organization provide support and guidance to others who can become effective contributors to the goals of the organization. Unlike many other views of mentoring, a mentor does not necessarily have to be an older person who is ready, willing, and able to provide all of the answers to those who are newcomers. Usually, mentors have a lot of experience and craft knowledge to share with others. But the notion that good mentoring consists of a sage who directs the experienced to the point that no one will make any mistakes is not reasonable" (Daresh, 3).

In this way, the mentor can be an important source of practical, social, and emotional support as one faces intractable challenges such as those imposed by current legislative realities in education. While there may be no internal way for educators, principals, and administrators to remove the pressures provoked by external political controls, the presence of a qualified mentor can ease the mentee into these challenges with the assurance that there is room for error, growth, and improvement. The occupational characteristics of the role suggest that while challenges are likely to be unpredictable and emotionally draining, a good mentor can help the subject develop the fortitude and understanding to face them boldly and decisively.

As Lave and Wenger (2005) contend, there is a distinctly beneficial impact for the developing educational leader in exposure to a well-suited mentor. This is true at every level of education. "As new educators acquire the ways of being a teacher, they are learning the ways to enter a distinctive community of practitioners. As newcomers learn and come to see themselves as teachers, their 'changing knowledge, skill, and discourse are part of a developing identity. Without this changing identity, teachers may lack a firm sense of themselves as members of a distinct community of practice'" (Lave & Wenger, 152).

This identifies another important dimension of the appeal to mentoring as a vehicle for professional development. Each school contains its own cultural tendencies, normative practices, political identity, and distinct set of challenges and opportunities. In spite of training and education, a new principal or administrator is unlikely to be familiar with or accustomed to these distinct cultural conditions. Contact with a mentor can therefore be central in helping one develop this familiarity and comfort. The importance of the principal as a member of a functional community — as opposed to an aloof political figure — can best be realized through this measured process of personal induction through mentoring.

Not just in the concrete lessons and knowledge imparted by the mentor, but also in the very experience of working with a mentor, the mentee will likely begin to develop a sense of collaboration and community that is essential to the position. The Ontario Principals Council (OPC) (2007) indicates that "mentoring is a reciprocal learning relationship in which mentors and mentees agree to a partnership where they will work collaboratively toward the achievement of mutually defined goals that will develop a mentee's skills, abilities, knowledge and/or thinking" (OPC, 2). Within this partnership, assumption of the values and priorities of the school and its culture will be paramount.

Researchers are generally agreed on the crucial importance of using one's leadership to invoke initiative and shared responsibility among those who are theoretically subordinate. The mentor will be essential in helping the developing principal find a balance between authority and community. This means developing, maintaining, and nurturing healthy relationships between the principal and the teaching faculty. The principal must cultivate an atmosphere of trust and shared purpose that allows teachers to carry out the mission and standards of the principalship effectively. As research contacted by Mullen and Lick (2004) argues, "by taking the time to construct a mutually beneficial learning community of mentors, all participants felt that a synergistic culture of co-mentoring through action research had been created where participants felt safe enough to risk sharing their reflections and innermost thoughts" (Mullen & Lick, 279).

This sense of safety denotes the evolving potential for personal comfort and confidence in a role that characteristically challenges these sensibilities. For one entering a district that is unfamiliar, a school with already established cultural conditions, or a staff that is tightly knit and socially exclusive, the presence of a mentor can be an extremely powerful resource. In addition to lengthening one's tenure by preparing one for the inherent rigors of a specific school and the political and social parameters of the field, access to a mentor is seen as instrumental to one's growth as a professional. As Mertz (2004) notes, "definitions of mentoring come in all sizes, foci, and levels of inclusiveness. Among the most popular definitions are those that focus on the career advancement or professional development of a protégé by someone in a position of authority within the professional context" (Mertz, 541).

The imparting of knowledge, experience, and insight from one who has already faced many of the challenges which lie ahead for the evolving principal or administrator transcends even the individual priorities discussed throughout this review. For the district, school, educators, and students, this reflects a continuity in which the perspective of an outgoing leader can be manifested and refined in the hands of a new or emergent leader. Wilmore and Bratlien (2005) find that "the mentoring and tutoring that occurs within the administrative internship is universally regarded as critical to the experience, growth, and development of future administrators" (Wilmore & Bratlien, 23–24). The universality of this perspective is one of the primary motivations for this study, elevating mentoring from a perceived luxury to a central avenue through which essential traits can be developed. These include refined leadership capacity, the ability to absorb responsibility whether outcomes are good or bad, and the dexterity to balance the often conflicting priorities and interests of many interacting parties.

Conclusion

The sentiment expressed above underscores the dynamic implications of the mentor/mentee relationship. This removes discussions on educational leadership from the purely academic or theoretical frameworks which generally contain them during the schooling process. Instead, it places these discussions in the context of a fluid, active, and evolving environment where the shared knowledge and ingenuity between mentor and mentee benefit not just individual career development but also the general quality and continuity of the knowledge available to a district, a school, a faculty of educators, and a body of students.