By Monica Janas

Journal of Staff Development, Fall 1996 (Vol. 17, No. 4)

Scarcely a school district, business, institution, or social service agency exists that lacks a mentorship component. Nonetheless, in spite of a long tradition in education, there is still a lack of information about what defines a successful mentoring program and how staff development contributes to the process.

Staff development plays a pivotal role in mentoring programs (Ganser, Freiberg, & Zbikowski, 1994). When establishing a program for mentors, staff developers usually deal with four major tasks: (a) selecting and training individuals to serve as mentors; (b) matching mentors with proteges; (c) setting goals and expectations; and (d) establishing the mentor program. Within these four tasks is the opportunity for staff developers to guide the mentorship of others by becoming mentors themselves. These four tasks are examined in this article.

There is no fixed rule about what traits or circumstances surrounding a given mentoring situation are the most critical (Gray & Gray, 1985). The most frequently mentioned characteristic of effective mentors is a willingness to nurture another person (Freedman, 1993). As one principal observed, "If there is not an openness, a willing spirit, or a desire to help another on the part of the mentor, then the process will never get off the ground."

It is also beneficial to seek individuals as mentors who are people-orientated, open-minded, flexible, and empathetic. Collaborative and cooperative skills are particularly crucial social skills as are qualities of receptiveness, responsiveness, openness, and dependability (Freedman & Jaffe, 1993; Shaughnessy & Neely, 1991).

Determining an educator's readiness to embark on the mentoring process is a judgement call at best (Reilly, 1992). With a little practice by the staff developer, the decision gets easier. Questionnaires are useful, efficient, and inexpensive ways to collect profile information. Other methods include personality inventories such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator; effective teaching instruments to assess knowledge and skill levels; an inventory to assess duties and responsibilities; an inventory of counseling skills (Stupiansky & Wolfe, 1992); and a professional development plan.

Successful mentoring behavior can be taught (Gray & Gray, 1985). Orientation sessions are commonly held to familiarize prospective mentors with facets of the program. Mentors should take part in an ongoing program on effective mentoring (Wolfe, 1992). Training in communication and active listening techniques, relationship skills, effective teaching, models of supervision and coaching, conflict resolution, and problem solving are areas that are often included in workshops for mentors (Thies-Sprinthall, 1986).

During the training phase, staff developers can use their own professional development plans to decide on the level and types of mentoring involvement they want for themselves. When working with a large mentoring program, it is useful to remember that mentoring activities fall along a continuum–roles range from minimum involvement such as coaching to sustained contact such as that found when working with professionals during induction years (Anderson & Shannon, 1988). For most mentors, staff developers will serve as role models or coaches, while for a few they may make greater commitments over longer periods of time.

Asking for volunteer mentors is a step in the right direction. Studies suggest, however, that a successful mentor/protege relationship requires desire by both parties (Gehrke, 1988). To avoid pure convenience, it is wise to ask: "Are these two professionals suited to work together within such a specialized and demanding relationship?"

Beyond personal and professional traits, there are several other issues that can be used in selecting an appropriate mentor. For instance, a gender match may be more important to some educators than to others (Collins, 1983; Speizer, 1981). Moreover, in certain instances, a common ethnic, racial, cultural, or class background may alleviate certain barriers to developing trust and increasing identification (Freedman, 1993).

In reviewing the literature, Anderson and Shannon (1988) concluded that the term mentor has a variety of meanings. A mentor serves as a role model, sponsor, encourager, counselor, and friend to a less skilled or less experienced person for the purposes of promoting the latter's professional and/or personal development. It is assumed to involve an ongoing, caring relationship. A mentor's role can be synonymous with teacher, coach, trainer, role model, nurturer, leader, talent-developer, and opener-of-doors (Sullivan, 1992).

Specific functions the mentor will serve must be clearly stated and plans must be established for reaching the stated goals. Because mentors may assist in the development of professional and/or personal goals (Anderson & Shannon, 1988), it is important that staff developers work with mentors and proteges early in the process to help them set goals. Since they will also be serving as mentors, staff developers should model the process by deciding on their own goals and having their proteges–the mentors–share expectations.

One typical scenario involves the pairing of first-year teachers with master teachers. This induction model of mentoring often continues until novice teachers complete a probationary period in the district (Mager, 1992). Another common scenario occurs when teachers requiring assistance to improve instruction or acquire new skills are matched with educators having the necessary expertise. Both of these situations require systematic, intensive supervision (Thies-Sprinthall, 1986). All types of protege/mentor pairs must have specific goals. Without careful planning, support, and goal setting, formal mentoring programs are destined to fail (Haensly, 1990).

The importance of setting goals cannot be overemphasized. One master teacher serving as an induction mentor observed, "If you don't know your destination, how will you know when you have arrived?"

It is helpful to look at the typical process followed by the mentor and protege as they develop their relationship. Staff developers may expect their own involvement in this process to ebb, flow, and undergo change in tandem to the movement of the other mentor/protege relationships. According to Mendler (1994), there are 10 distinct stages in mentoring. During the first seven stages, the staff developer can expect to be actively involved in the mentoring process. In the first five stages–attraction, cliche exchange, recounting, personal disclosure, and bonding–the staff developer monitors and assists mentors as they, in turn, undertake relationship-building with their proteges.

During phase six–fear of infringement–the staff developer remains alert to signs of emerging problems in the relationship because this is when they are most likely to happen. During this phase, the staff developer may be called upon to use conflict resolution and negotiation strategies to pave the way for the arrival of the next phase in the relationship.

In the seventh stage–revisiting framework–the mentoring process approaches a firmer foundation and readies itself for its final and most productive stages–peak mentoring, reciprocity, and closure. Even though the guidance of the staff developer may be necessary during the last three stages, it is usually less demanding because a shared history now exists for all the relationships.

Physical arrangements and logistics are vital support structures for the implementation of successful mentoring programs. Creating an environment to support mentorships and to reduce isolation is a critical initial concern (Freedman & Jaffe, 1993). In addition, opportunities for formal and informal one-on-one meetings as well as group interaction are vital to the process (Sparks, 1991). Finding the right task to share and scheduling enough time are key elements that also need to be addressed as early as possible when setting up the support structure for a mentorship (Freedman, 1993).

A system of monitoring and supervising mentors must be built into the program to provide opportunities for support, guidance, and program assessment. For example, staff developers need to establish and schedule checkpoints along the way in the form of meetings, phone calls, or e-mail to keep the lines of communication open.

One of the most compelling dynamics of establishing effective mentoring programs is related to the emotional and social aspects of the process. Staff developers must know themselves in order to be able to help other educators. Sensitivity is a necessary component of sharing professional expertise, personal knowledge, and creativity. Therefore, staff developers must master counseling, mediation and negotiation, intervention, and supervisory skills.

First, staff developers must consider a variety of physical, cognitive, emotional, and social factors when identifying, training, and matching mentors in the formal program they are establishing. Second, since mentorship is a mixture of formal and informal learning, training and experiential opportunities should reflect the same mix. Third, recognize that mentoring mentors is both a product and a process. Although goal setting helps in recognizing markers and destinations, the most important part of the undertaking is the journey itself and how it fits within the whole of a staff developer's life.

In successful mentoring, both mentor and protege are likely to be winners if care and planning have been incorporated into the process. It is quite possible that mentors who are mentored by staff developers may reach even higher levels of development than they otherwise would have reached. Direct and indirect benefits of a successful mentoring program include the development of a personal work ethic and standard (Kaufmann, 1986), increased career aspirations (Beck, 1989), greater personal interest and expression of talents (Bloom, 1985; Gray, 1984), enhanced ability to work toward a vision (Sullivan, 1992), and increased creativity (Milam & Schwartz, 1992; Torrance, 1984). Mentoring can go beyond the classroom, school, or district to encourage social change and quality education for all (White-Hood, 1993).

As they assist their schools and districts in reaching institutional goals, staff developers extend their repertoire of professional skills and abilities. Perhaps the greatest benefits to staff developers who mentor others are the intangible ones–satisfaction of a job well done and the addition of another dimension of meaning and value to their work.

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Monica Janas is an assistant professor, University of Charleston, School of Education, 66 George St., Charleston, South Carolina 29424-0001. (803) 953-5554, janasm@cofc.edu.