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 self-study 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.

KEYWORDS:

• Educational leader/ship
• group mentorship
• inclusion
• peer mentoring group
• social justice
• the Spirals

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Fran Kochan for her helpful comments on an earlier version.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Carol A. Mullen

Carol A. Mullen, PhD, is Professor of Educational Leadership at Virginia Tech, Virginia, USA, and a J. William Fulbright Senior Scholar alumnus. Her work in mentoring and educational leadership utilizes social justice perspectives. Books of hers include Revealing Creativity (2020, Springer); Canadian Indigenous Literature and Art (2020, Brill); and Creativity Under Duress in Education? (2019, Springer, edited). She was awarded the 2020 Excellence Award from the University of Toronto; the 2016 Jay D. Scribner Mentoring Award from the University Council for Educational Administration; and the 2017 Living Legend Award from the International Council of Professors of Educational Leadership. Her PhD is from the University of Toronto.

Emily T. Boyles

Emily T. Boyles, EdD, is a graduate of the Educational Leadership program at Virginia Tech. She is Coordinator of English Learner Professional Development for Grayson County Public Schools in Virginia. Her dissertation focused on principals’ support of student achievement in Title I schools within rural Appalachia.

Angelica W. Witcher

Angelica W. Stovall, MBA, is a PhD candidate in the Educational Leadership program at Virginia Tech (VT). Her dissertation addresses college access for historically underrepresented populations. She is the Director of Student Affairs at the VT Carilion School of Medicine.

Cindy C. Klimaitis

Cindy C. Klimaitis, EdS, is a PhD candidate in the Educational Leadership program at Virginia Tech. Her dissertation in STEM education examines issues of inclusivity. She has worked in public schools for over 25 years and is elementary school principal and reading specialist who taught students with disabilities.