Leadership through Mentoring: The Key to Improving the Confidence and Skill of Principals

by Phyllis A. Gimbel, Peter Gow, Samson Goldstein (With)

Overview

Leadership Through Mentoring: The Key to Improving the Principals Confidence and Skill lays out the case for the development of robust mentorship programs to support new school leaders. With principal turnover at an all-time high, it is urgent that schools and districts find ways to help newly appointed leaders grow into effective supervisors, managers, and strategic thinkers who can also find personal and professional satisfaction in their careers. Using examples from several established and successful state programs, Leadership Through Mentoring shows how new school leaders’ effectiveness, vision, and engagement can be grown through intentionally designed and executed programs that offer supportive guidance and wise counsel from experienced leaders. Thoughtfully created and appropriately resourced, such programs can pave the way to longer and more successful principal tenures, which research shows lead directly to significant improvements in schools’ cultures, educational efficacy, and teacher and student performance. This is a book for leaders and governing bodies in all kinds of schools.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781475853452
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	07/10/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	108
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Phyllis A. Gimbel, EdD, is professor of educational leadership at Bridgewater State University, where she has published and presented on mentoring new school leaders, faculty development, and school leadership. Her books focus on establishing principal-teacher trust, building a positive school culture, and the importance of mentoring new school administrators.

Peter Gow, a past blogger for Education Week, is a long-time teacher and administrator and author of numerous books and articles on schools and teaching. He is currently the independent curriculum resource director at One Schoolhouse, a provider of online precollege courses and professional development programs.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Why Mentoring?

Chapter One: Definition of Mentoring

Chapter Two: Trust, Communication, and Relationship Building

Chapter Three: The Job is Overwhelming

Chapter Four: The Mentor Pathway

Chapter Five: The Vermont Principals’ Association Initiative

Chapter Six: The Massachusetts School Administrators Association Initiative

Chapter Seven: Lessons from the 2020 Massachusetts Mentor Survey

Chapter Eight: Making Sense of Mentor Voices from Vermont and Massachusetts

Chapter Nine: Common Challenges of First Year Principals

Chapter Ten: First Year Challenges and the Mentoring Process

Chapter Eleven: The Importance of Trust in Principals

Chapter Twelve: About the NASSP and the Learning Policy Institute Research

Editorial Reviews

Based on their decades of commitment to schools, students, teachers, and leadership in academic communities, Phyllis Gimbel and Peter Gow have produced a book will be a valuable support to veteran, beginning, and aspiring school leaders.

John C. Gulla

During my first of 40 years of heading private schools, another head of school who served on my board offered me perspective-saving mentoring that played a key role in my staying at that school for eight years, helping the community find its own song. Years later I paid it forward, mentoring his son as he started his own career heading schools. Today, as schools and their leaders face an unprecedented set of challenges, they need the support of mentors, and this book offers a roadmap for shaping the process from one generation of school leaders to another.

Don Grace

An empowering resource for educational leaders is in vital need at this point in history. Leadership Through Mentoring: The Key to Improving the Principal’s Confidence and Skill offers relatable examples to assist in the development of effective supervisory and managerial strategies. Impactful leaders emerge as a result of purposeful analysis of problem-solving methodologies, global perspectives, and successful examples of effectiveness. This text will help principals and administrators strengthen their leadership skills and formulate progressive visions for their schools.

Lisa Battaglino