The mentoring relationship

This issue of the Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning Journal includes research from scholars representing Turkey and the United States (California, Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Oregon, Texas, and Utah). The authors of each manuscript present unique research focused on mentorship with principals, doctoral and undergraduate students, K-12 students, professional scientists, and novice teachers.

In this editorial, we focus on the benefits and characteristics of successful mentoring relationships. Mentorship can be an invaluable component of training programs as mentorship allows students and new professionals the space to grow both personally and professionally. The mentoring relationship is at the core of a successful mentoring experience. This relationship helps cultivate more effective communication skills, movement toward application of theoretical concepts and knowledge, healthy relationships with peers, critical thinking skills, self-sufficiency, and a deep understanding of professional identity and role (Ngara & Ngwarai, 2012; Taylor & Neimeyer, 2009; Vespia, 2006). A successful mentor is someone who is (a) available to the mentee for guidance and advice, (b) consistent, (c) consistent in his or her feedback, (d) professional both within and outside the mentoring relationship, and (e) resourceful and reliable (Price, 2004).

In 2002, Dedrick and Watson explored the current body of mentoring literature through the use of content analysis. In their examination of the research at that time, Dedrick and Watson, found that many researchers in the mentoring field spent a significant amount of time on issues related to mentoring, how to conduct and develop a mentoring relationship, and access and barriers to mentoring (2002). Since the Dedrick and Watson study was published there has been an increase in the number of publications where researchers have moved their focus to more specifically address strategies and information related to successful mentoring relationships between students and their respective mentors. The articles within this issue of Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning continue this trend by exploring the dynamic relationship between mentors and mentees.

In their article, Designing an E-mentoring Program for Novice Teachers in Turkey and Investigating Online Interactions and Program Outcomes, Alemadag and Erdem developed an innovative e-mentoring program for new teachers and their mentors. The authors sought to explore the different types and depth of interactions along with identified mentoring benefits from both the mentor and mentee perspective. Alemadag and Erdem’s findings suggest that mentors engaged in e-mentoring relationships dedicate a significant amount of time and energy to their online interactions with their mentees as a means to provide support, guidance, and solutions for mentee concerns. Additionally, perceived satisfaction of e-mentoring was increased when the goals and expectations of the relationship were clarified from the beginning. The authors identify a number of suggestions that can help increase the satisfaction of e-mentoring relationships.

In the next article, Developing Scientists in Hispanic Substance Use and Health Disparities Research through the Creation of National Mentoring Network, Bazzi and her colleagues describe the development of a national mentoring network, the National Hispanic Science Network, for an interdisciplinary network of scientists focused on Hispanic substance use and health concerns. The authors explored the creation of the mentoring network and subsequent mentoring relationships initiated at a national conference and then continued through the use of formal training programs and various informal mentoring networks. Mentoring activities focused on a variety of career-based skills and issues, such as work responsibilities and expectations within institutions with low minority representation, gender issues, and work-life balance. The authors note that the national mentoring network holds great promise in improving minority career development and representation.

In their article, Stories of Transformation: Using Personal Narrative to Explore Transformative Experience among Undergraduate Peer Mentors, Bunting and Williams qualitatively explore the use of personal narratives to better understand the perceived benefits of mentorship from the perspective of the undergraduate peer mentor. Much work has been done exploring the satisfaction and benefits of mentorship from the mentee’s perspective whereas these authors explore the dynamic from the mentor’s side of the relationship. The authors suggested that peer mentors who were actively engaged in their learning and mentee growth reported positive outcomes stemming from the mentoring relationship. Bunting and Williams identified components of peer mentor selection and training that may help mentors have a successful and productive mentoring experience.

Jones and Procopio advance the use of mentoring as a means to reduce communication anxiety in at-risk middle school students. In their paper, Mentoring At-Risk Middle School Students to Reduce Communication Apprehension, the authors developed a 10-week mentoring program where 16 college level communications students were connected with 47 at-risk students. Each mentor was tasked with developing activities and curriculum to help the students’ mange his or her communication anxiety. At the completion of the program, the at-risk students showed lower levels of communication apprehension.

In the next article, Mentoring Doctoral Students Online: Mentor Strategies and Challenges, Kumar and Johnson explored the mentoring challenges and strategies of online doctoral student mentoring. In this article, the authors review the faculty and student experience of online doctoral student mentoring during the dissertation phase of a doctoral program. Kumar and Johnson noted the benefit of developing structure of the online mentoring relationship, the use of small groups and peer support, and also the challenges of online mentoring such as consistent communication. The authors indicate several strategies institutions and programs may consider when developing an online mentoring program for graduate students.

In the final article of this issue, Leadership Coaching for Principals: A National Study, Wise and Cavazos review their findings from a national study of the leadership coaching for public school principals. In their study, Wise and Cavazos found only 50% of principals reported current or prior leadership coaching for their position. Principal respondents who had received coaching reported it to be beneficial for their professional growth and aided in increasing student advancement and success at their school. Wise and Cavazos go on to suggest methods for increasing leadership coaching programs across the United States.

Publishing in Mentoring & Tutoring

Authors are reminded as they submit their work to the journal to ensure all manuscripts follow the American Psychological Association’s Publication Manual (6th edition) format. We receive quite a number with APA formatting errors. In Volume 20, Issue 1, we outlined several common concerns with submissions. When writing your manuscript, please remember to check your headings, spacing, table formats, and references for correct 6th edition usage. Because the journal is very popular and competitive, and we are receiving on average three to five manuscripts every 2 weeks. Please prepare works that are extremely attentive to detail (e.g. current and relevant citations, high-quality writing, careful proofreading, proper formatting style) and that are making specific contributions to the field of Mentoring & Tutoring. For further information, consult the Taylor & Francis posting of the M&T author guidelines for article manuscripts and book reviews: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/ authors/cmetauth.asp (ISSN 1361-1267).

We do not conduct pre-reviews; rather, we will be mentoring authors in the publication process within the FastTrack system review process. That said, the editor reserves the right to conduct desk rejections at the outset if manuscripts to not follow the prescribed guidelines. Please go to the NCPEA Manuscript FastTrack system to register as a user and then upload your manuscript and any additional information through the system. The FastTrack system helps with the ease of communication between authors, reviewers, and the editor and resolves issues of overloaded email inboxes.

The current requirements for M&T are that the paper, not including references and abstract, should be a maximum of 30 pages, including references, tables, and figures. Depending on the manuscript, we may consider manuscripts that are longer than 30 pages, and certainly we will accept manuscripts shorter than the prescribed 30 pages. If you have any questions about how to submit your manuscript to M&T, please go to National Council of Professors of Educational Administration (NCPEA) Publications at http://www. ncpeapublications.org. Click on M&T from the Menu of Buttons on the top of that screen. The submission link appears there on the M&T home page. You may, of course, access the journal page from the Taylor & Francis Publisher page at http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/ titles/13611267.asp.

Qualified individuals who serve on the Review Board, along with select Editorial Board members provide commentaries. We would also like for you to register in the same location as you submit to be considered to be a member of the M&T Journal Review Board. We will be acknowledging the Review Board at the end of the year and a top reviewer will be honored. The acceptance rate of the journal is currently 10%. Mentoring & Tutoring is abstracted in Academic Search; Australian Education Index (AEI); Australian Research Council (ARC) Ranked Journal List; Cabells; National Database for Research into International Education (NDRI); British Education Index; Contents Pages in Education; Educational Research Abstracts online (ERA); EBSCOhost EJS; Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI); Education Resources Information Center (ERIC); PsycINFO and SCOPUS®, and Cabell’s Directory of Publishing Opportunities in Educational Curriculum and Methods.

Many authors have been turning to the M&T journal as the venue-of-choice for publishing high-quality works for over 20 years. M&T is the longest-running mentoring journal in the field. This refereed, peer-reviewed journal is known worldwide. Authors, readers, and subscribers are from different countries and various types of institutions and professional environments. The editorial team is committed to producing timely, thorough reviews, modeling conscientious guidance and support, and being open to a wide scope of topics and methods related to Mentoring & Tutoring, collaboration, and learning.

Books to be reviewed must be about Mentoring & Tutoring. Visit this journal’s website, http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/carfax/13611267.html, for more information about M&T, as well as special rates and discounts.

Contact Information for the M&T Editors
Beverly J. Irby, Ed.D
Professor and Chair, Educational Administration Programs Associate Department Head
Department of Educational Administration and Human Resource Development Director
Educational Leadership Research Center College of Education and Human Development
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX 77843-4226
Office: 979-862-2092
Cell: 936-870-5536
Email: [email protected] or [email protected] Associate Editors
Dr. Jennifer Boswell, University of Houston-Victoria ([email protected])
Dr. Kimberly Kappler Hewitt, University of North Carolina Greensboro ([email protected])Assistant Editors
Julia Lynch, Ph.D., Post-Doc Fellow, College of Education and Human Development ([email protected])
Nahed Abdelrahman, Graduate Student, Department of Educational Administration and Human Resource Development, Educational Leadership Research Center ([email protected])
Shin-hee Jeong, Graduate Student, Department of Educational Administration and Human Resource Development, Educational Leadership Research Center ([email protected])