Formal or Informal
Mentoring?
By Barry Sweeny, copyright 1993
"Why do we need a formal mentoring program? We are professionals
and we always help each other. That's a part of our job!" Perhaps
you have heard similar comments from colleagues when discussing
new teacher mentoring. Perhaps you have wondered about the need
for a formal mentoring program yourself. Is establishing a formal
mentoring program really a better way to support new staff? Take
a few minutes to review what we have learned after 10 years of mentoring
experiences. I think you will agree that a formal approach to mentoring
often makes good sense.
PURPOSES GUIDE APPROACHES
Decisions about the degree of formality in mentoring should not
be based on personal opinion alone. Such a decision is very important
and, like every program decision, needs to be based on the purpose
that your mentor program targets. That is because every program
component must integrate with and be complementary to every other
part of the program if the program is to effectively accomplish
its purpose. Some purposes will require a very formal set of mentor
roles, training and expectations if the purpose is to be accomplished.
Other purposes can be achieved without formal structures.
NEW, BUT EXPERIENCED STAFF
If your basic purpose is to help new staff become acclimated to
their new roles and work setting then an informal approach to mentoring
may be sufficient. You can usually rely on the good judgement of
the faculty to provide needed orientation to new employees on:
- Access to resources
- Making social connections with the staff
- Orientation to the building and community, and,
- School proceedures.
This type of help is most likely to be available in schools where
there is a team structure or where the principal has clear expectations
for a supportive response from staff. Such an informal approach
to mentoring is often most appropriate for new staff hired with
experience from other school districts.
BEGINNING EDUCATORS
My experience and research have convinced me that beginning staff
(with no previous experience) will not find the level of assistance
that they need for success in an informal mentoring atmosphere.
Beginning educators have far too much to learn in a very short time
period. They go in to the new job expecting that they have a lot
to learn, but are suddenly overwhelmed with the sheer volume of
tasks and responsibilities they must carry and with the necessity
to learn it fast and demonstrate mastery now.
Beginning teachers, as a result, often internalize their struggles
and begin to feel that they may never master the job or last through
a career with such levels of stress. Like a child who blames himself
for a divorce, unsupported beginning teachers begin to question
their own adequacy and choice of career. The assurances that "It
will get better." are not assuring.
If your purpose for mentoring is to provide beginning staff with
the support they need until they gain self confidence, to provide
models of effective practice, or to provide in-depth assistance
in curriculum, then a more formal approach to mentoring will become
a necessity. There is a mountain of evidence that beginning teacher
needs are not met through "traditional" informal mentoring.
INTENTIONAL OR ACCIDENTAL?
Whether it is formally planned or the informal response of helpful
professionals, a major result of mentoring is the passing of values
and beliefs, the organizational culture, from one "generation"
of teachers to the next. Typically, informal mentoring does not
establish collaboration as the norm, but merely transmits the current
culture of the school, the status quo. If this were not true then
schools would have changed to more collaborative, supportive cultures
long ago. Developing organizations must find ways to be intentional
about what values and cultural norms are passed to new staff. Carrying
out such intentions will require a formal approach to mentoring.
If you have decided that a purpose for your mentoring program is
to cause changes in the culture of your system, you are probably
looking to transform teacher roles, to create more collaborative
relationships, or to establish new norms for continual professional
learning. Such organizational norms and relationships will only
evolve in schools when teachers get extended opportunities to practice
and refine the skills of collaboration. Formal mentoring is the
natural tool to accomplish this purpose.
OTHER PROBLEMS
Relying on the veterans within a faculty to provide informal mentoring
sets you up for a series of problems which cannot be solved except
through more formal mentoring. Consider these as additional reasons
to establish a formal approach in mentoring for new staff:
1. If you don't know who is mentoring whom how can you provide on-going
support or training for the mentors? How would you know what kinds
of support are needed and when offering such support is appropriate?
2. If you don't know the extent to which a person is being mentored
how will you know which new staff members may need additional assistance?
How will you know the appropriate kinds of assistance to provide?
Research suggests that new staff members may not ask administrators
for help.
3. If you do not know who is fulfilling a mentor role, how can you
provide recognition to the mentor?
Each organization that conducts mentoring places itself somewhere
along a continuum from informal to formal in approach. The decision
is usually based on the level of commitment the organization is
willing to bring to the program and on the benefits that the organization
expects to capture through the program. If you are clear about your
mentoring program's purpose you should be able to weigh the degree
of commitment and formality required to gain the benefits expected.
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