The Socialization of Beginning Teachers Through Mentor-Protege Relationships

Abstract

With all the current talk of mentors and proteges in the business world, we thought it strange that no one had explored in the professional literature whether teachers ever have mentors. Although few beginning teachers have been given much guidance by anyone during their first three years of teaching, we assumed that there must be a fortunate few who had established a close relationship during the induction period with a person who could be called a mentor. We also agreed that an exploration of this ideal student-teacher relationship might provide some direction to the development of teacher education programs that would, by their example, lead aspiring teachers toward a teaching personality that emphasized warmth, personal commitment, and professional excellence. So we set out to find, first of all, whether teachers believed themselves to have had mentors. They did. Then we examined what those relationships were like. Finally we looked for insights that might be useful for encouraging the positive aspects of mentoring in teacher socialization.What follows is a result of those efforts. Socialization and MentorsZeichner (1979) and others have presented convincing arguments about the need to allow aspiring teachers to assume an equal role in determining their own professional identities. Thus, teacher preparation programs must be bilateral, with trainer and trainee working together to make decisions about the types of experiences needed. Their relationship must further be informal and open.These trainer-trainee relationship characteristics are highly similar to those described by Clawson (1980), who examined mentoring in managerial careers. He found that mentor-protege relationships are mutual in that both parties had made a commitment to common goals, and comprehensive in their breadth of influence. In other words, mentors and proteges are very much involved in working together in a wide variety of professional or career concerns. The relationships are open, informal, and have a high frequency of interaction. Clawson found mentors, in dealing with their proteges, to be consistent, informal, willing to share information, and demanding. They also desired to function as mentors. He found proteges to be people-oriented, enthusiastic, flexible, willing to work, independent, and desirous of being a protege.' To find out whether teachers had experienced relationships like those described by Clawson and, if so, to discover the nature of the relationships and the situations in which they occurred, the following study was initiated.The Mentor Study A sample of 300 teachers from 12 schools (three high schools, three middle schools, and six elementary schools) was drawn from a large Western suburban school district. The teachers were asked to complete a short questionnaire concerning their careers in teaching. One part of the questionnaire asked if at any stage in their career or career preparation there had been anyone outside the family who had taken a personal interest in their careers and had helped, guided, or sponsored ...

The Induction of New Teachers: A Review of Literature

“…A recent study by Gehrke and Kay (1984) confirmed that both mentor and protege share in the rewards of mentoring. Although such relationships cannot be forced, they can be fostered through awareness on the part of experienced and new teachers.…”

Reflections of a protégé

“…We have, for example, studies that report the percentages of those who feel their accomplishments in business and academe have been enhanced by the mentoring process (Anderson & Devanna, 1981;Gehrke & Kay, 1984;Hennig & Jardim, 1977;Levinson, 1978;Vaillant, 1977); conceptual inquiries that postulate various stages in the mentor-protégé relationship (Davis & Garrison, 1979;Moore, 1982;O'Neil, 1981), and papers that discuss the importance of mentoring for the career development of minorities such as women (Bolton, 1980;Phillips, 1977;Thompson, 1976). Missing, however, are inquiries into the experiences of mentors and protégés, what Iverson and Waxman (1981) term the "inner aspects of mentorship" (p. 200).…”

Mentors and the entry year program

“…an understanding of learning theories, child growth and development, principles of learning, and student evaluation (Varah, Theune, & Parker, 1986); 2. a concern for entry year teachers and a willingness to expend time and energy in supporting their entry into the profession (Schmidt & Wolfe, 1980); 3. a personal and professional respect for those they are assisting (Little, Galagaran, & O'Neal, 1984); 4. a willingness to share information; consistency; informality (Clawson, 1980); 5. a genuine interest in the advisee evidenced through helpfulness, willingness to take time, and other positive traits such as dedication, professionalism, friendliness, outgoing nature, patience, and influence (Gehrke & Kay, 1984); 6. an ability to evaluate situations from many points of view and examine multiple options for dealing with the problems (Bova & Phillips, 1984); and 7. a high level of professional achievement and diversified interests and activities (Schmidt & Wolfe, 1980).…”