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Support New School Administrators by Blending Mentoring with Social Capital

September 14, 2018 - 4 minute read


Teacher standing in front of his class

A 2017 report from the National Council for Education Statistics (NCES) found one in nine schools has a new school administrator each year.  With the rash of so many newly certificated school administrators being placed in a position of responsibility it is apparent that there need to be pillars of support to guide these fledgling administrators during their formative years of growth and development.  Professional study and degrees are vital; however, once the structured classroom experience ceases, new administrators need continual guidance and support from respected and seasoned peers. Though there is no single model to support the needs of all, one innovative option, which can provide nurture, assistance, and practical insight, is applying the principles of social capital to a mentoring program.

When the concept of social capital-tangible resources embedded within interpersonal relationships, social institutions, and/or cultural mores John Coleman (1988) is aligned with mentoring guidelines, a sound protocol is in place to address the struggles first-year administrators encounter.  By creating a mentoring mindset based on relationship principles and networking, new administrators can work collaboratively with a mentor to gain deeper insights, a broader perspective, as well as a greater sense of confidence to tackle, rather than avoid, difficult situations.

The Protégé-Mentor Relationship

More often than not, a strong relationship develops between a protégé and a mentor when the mentor seeds authentic interactions allowing the protégé to learn through observation, in-the-moment explanations, informal conversations and strategizing how to handle unexpected situations.  Through open dialogue and asking critical questions, the protégé and mentor can pinpoint what action needs to be implemented and how to analyze its effectiveness. By taking into consideration what the community’s expectations are, a more reasoned and appropriate solution will surface.

Mentoring is an effective learning strategy for adult learners since it has a holistic, yet individual, approach to experiential learning.  Its forte emanates from the personal guidance and instructional focus by understanding one’s new role, is not dependent on emulating a mentor, instead it highlights developing one’s own style.  As the relationship grows over time, there is an underlying understanding that its closure will occur as the mentee gains confidence and experience in one’s personal decision-making abilities.

Keep It Real To Build Trust

The function of a mentor is to guide the protégé to greater professional insights, deeper knowledge, as well as introducing an array of new values, customs and personalities, which are encountered in the performance of any position.  Since the mentor/mentee relationship becomes a mutual learning partnership contingent on the protégé taking the initiative to ask for guidance, the mentor needs to be skilled in having the mentee articulate specific needs based on individual strengths or areas of growth.  It is not the mentor’s place to instruct, instead it is to listen and guide based on experience, embedded values, and knowledge of community norms. This level of trust will only arise if a sound relationship has been built.

The mentoring protocol needs to be a risk-free environment where the mentor and the protégé are encouraged to express real concerns, perplexing questions, and uncertain resolutions while considering collaborative solutions and creative responses.  By fashioning a shared learning experience where each individual grows and benefits from collaborative dialogue, the greatest and most lasting impact is gained.

Benefits to the Protégé

  • cultivates a mindset to embrace a mentor’s expertise to sustain continued growth;
  • objectively looks at strengths and areas of growth in personal leadership style;
  • uses reflection to consciously examine how to sustain growth;
  • realizes the model, which is working to assist them, can be shared with others; and
  • gains a level of confidence, which otherwise would not be learned working in isolation.

Benefits to the Mentor

  • opportunity to give back to up and coming administrators knowledge and expertise gained over a productive career;
  • serves as a role model demonstrating how seeking a variety of resources/opinions to solve a problem is an area of strength, not a shortcoming;
  • allows the mentor to reflect and hone on personal best practices; and
  • demonstrates the value of being the ‘guide on the side’ rather than the ‘sage on the stage’ to effectively support sustained personal growth.

By valuing the expertise of seasoned professionals to guide the early careers of novice administrators, social capital and mentoring principles are useful tools to assist their understanding of the subtle nuances of building deeper trust and meaningful relationships.  First-year administrators are more often judged by their professional interactions in social settings, thus it is imperative a protocol is in place to help them navigate through the turbulent waters of earning acceptance.

Thomas Cooper has been a lifelong educator for nearly 50 years and over his career he has gained a wealth of insights and innovations that he wants to pass on. Currently, he is the Director of the Professional Resource Center at Concordia University Irvine.

Further Research

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.495.927&rep=rep1&type=pdf

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