The Protégé Mentoring Mindset: A Framework for Consideration
Source: International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education, Vol. 3 Iss: 3, p.255 – 276, 2014
The purpose of this article is to define and describe the mentoring mindset in a protégé.
A phenomenological approach was used to conduct this study.
Interviews were conducted with veteran school principals who were trained mentors, assigned and paired with newly appointed principals for a year of mentoring.
The identification of the phenomenon of the mentoring mindset of the protégé was derived from the mentors’ perspectives of their protégés’ behaviors, dispositions, attitudes, and competencies, as they were conveyed in the research interviews.
A definition of the protégé's mentoring mindset was created after analysis of the interview data, and indicators of the presence and absence of the mindset were formulated into a Protégé Mentoring Mindset Framework that provides information on protégé competencies.
The protégé with a mentoring mindset takes initiative, possesses a learning orientation, has a goal orientation, is relational and reflective.
Conversely, the protégé who does not have a mentoring mindset lacks initiative, lacks a learning orientation, a goal orientation, and is not relational or reflective.
Replication of this research in other settings is suggested, so that the Framework can be further affirmed, disconfirmed, or augmented. Implications of this research could be that the Mentoring Mindset Framework can be used for considering the varied competencies of the protégé, and can be used in both mentor and protégé training.