The different faces of principal mentorship

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine principal mentoring, a process that is significant in principal identification, socialization, development, and retention.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was framed within the social constructivism paradigm and thematically examined individual perspectives to develop the thematic constructs relevant to the participants’ experiences of and perceptions about principal mentoring.

Findings

Thematic analysis of the interview data from 16 principals from the state of Georgia, USA, revealed five major themes related to leaders’ experiences of and perceptions about principal mentoring: mentoring as recruitment; mentoring as socialization; mentoring as support; mentoring as professional development; and mentoring as reciprocal learning.

Research limitations/implications

These findings were limited to the sample of principals used for this analysis. Researchers are encouraged to examine principal mentoring in other contexts.

Practical implications

The results of this inquiry suggest the need for formal and informal mentoring opportunities for new and experienced principals and call for further research on comparing mentoring practices between the large and small schools systems.

Originality/value

The paper identifies mentoring as an important path to principal effectiveness and contributes to the corpus of literature on educational mentoring by examining the perceptions and experiences of new and experienced principals about the mentoring they received and provided.

Citation

Parylo, O., Zepeda, S.J. and Bengtson, E. (2012), "The different faces of principal mentorship", International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 120-135. https://doi.org/10.1108/20466851211262860