Investigation of Mentorship Process and Programs for Professional Development of School Principals in the U.S.A.: The Case of Georgia

Abstract

The aim of this research is to investigate mentorship process and programs which are designed for professional development of primary and middle school principals in the State of Georgia, U.S.A. With this aim, a qualitative research model and a semi-structured interview technique was used in order to gather in-depth knowledge The study group consisted of 7 experienced school principals who have served or are serving as mentors of novice and experienced principals, 7 new school principals who are being served or were served by experienced mentor principals in Georgia. In this study, face-to-face interviews with principals as both mentors and mentees were conducted by the researcher. From the views of the mentor principals, the mentorship process was described as following: The mentorship contracts generally last one year based on building trust between mentors and mentees. During this year, school visits of mentors are planned throughout the year. It is also found that both mentors and mentees indicated that mentorship was really important for improvement and professional development of new school principals. The results showed that mentors were thought as crucial support partners for new principals who helped them accustom to their jobs and provided them with valuable guidance.