Principal Mentoring as a Leader Preparation, Socialization, Support, and Professional Development Strategy

• In Event: Roundtable Session 73
  In Roundtable Session: Mentoring School Principals

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine principal mentoring, a process that is significant in principal preparation, socialization, development, and retention. Thematic analysis of the interview data from 16 principals from a southeastern state revealed five major themes related to leaders’ experiences of and perceptions about principal mentoring: (a) mentoring as recruitment; (b) mentoring as socialization; (c) mentoring as support; (d) mentoring as professional development; and, (e) mentoring as reciprocal learning. This study positions 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.

Authors

• Oksana Parylo, University of Georgia - Athens

• Sally J. Zepeda, University of Georgia

• Ed Bengtson, University of Arkansas