Dynamics shaping collaborative peer group mentoring among educational leaders

Abstract

Group mentoring, an alternative to traditional mentoring, is dynamic, collaborative, and inclusive, yet it is underexplored in the literature. The peer mentoring group (PMG) phenomenon was researched through three educational leadership and administration polyads: (1) the Spirals, consisting of award-winning faculty mentors and novice scholars; (2) the Researcher Development Program, uniting faculty mentors and doctoral students in mentoring; and (3) a doctoral cohort at a Virginia-based research university. The first two yearlong mentoring initiatives are held at the University Council for Educational Administration's convention. A qualitative selfstudy approach was used to narratively investigate the four authors' intersubjective PMG experiences. Document analysis of a literature review; transcribed conversation, researcher field notes, and first-person accounts yielded four themes: justice expressed, change enacted, power distributed, and hierarchy undone. Anyone in search of ideas or strategies favoring effective PMGs should find value in this article that looks to peer group mentorship as offering renewal.

Using multilevel mentoring as a situated learning approach to enhance the professional development of teachers in higher education

“…Participants in the current study foregrounded the usefulness of different approaches to mentoring as important to their professional development. These different approaches which include peer mentoring, individual mentoring, group mentoring, career advising and the engaged leadership program in the university also serve as a departure from the traditional mentoring activities which has some limitations (Aarnikoivu et al, 2020;Mullen et al, 2020). Hence, by participating in different mentoring activities, mentees develop diverse learning experiences that enable them to shape their career trajectory and promotion.…”

“…Consistent with the normative approach, mentoring could be defined as a relationship between an experienced academic (mentor) and a less experienced academic (mentee) that is motivated by trust and benevolence with the aim of supporting the professional development and retention of the mentee (Zentgraf, 2020). The evolving models of mentoring include multidisciplinary peer mentoring (Aarnikoivu et al, 2020); flexible and reflective mentoring (K apl ar-Kod acsy and Dorner, 2022); group mentoring (Mullen et al, 2020); structured peer mentoring (Simmonds and Dicks, 2018); electronic mentoring and cultural mentoring (Mullen and Klimaitis, 2021); and multilevel mentoring (Brinia and Psoni, 2018).…”

“…Even in educational settings where there are institutionalized mentoring systems with clear policies and structures, issues such as limited time for mentors to engage with mentees, insufficient institutional support to implement mentoring activities (Mena et al, 2020) and limited support for academics in minority groups (Bhopal, 2020) have been reported. At the same time, there is a growing body of literature that have proposed that educational institutions should explore and develop effective approaches to mentoring (Aarnikoivu et al, 2020;K apl ar-Kod acsy and Dorner, 2022;Mullen et al, 2020). One of such growing mentoring systems is multilevel mentoring (Brinia and Psoni, 2018;Mullen and Klimaitis, 2021) that include diverse professional development activities that are designed to support institutional missions and policies concerning the retention and promotion of academics.…”

“…At the same time, there is a growing body of literature that have proposed that educational institutions should explore and develop effective approaches to mentoring (Aarnikoivu et al. , 2020; Káplár-Kodácsy and Dorner, 2022; Mullen et al. , 2020).…”

Guiding Online Students in a Crisis: An Intervention for Mentoring Educational Leadership Doctoral Candidates

“…Like other pandemic-induced EDLE initiatives (e.g., Lasater et al, 2020), the C-19 DOMI reveals complexity and renewal. In one EDLE doctoral setting, the rethinking of mentoring conditions enacted change, redistributed power, and unraveled hierarchy (Mullen et al, 2020b).…”