weekly assignment(4)：Principal Mentoring

Principal Mentoring.師傅校長制度

WHAT IS MENTORING?

甚麼是導師(良師)制度？

Mentoring takes its name from Homer's Odyssey. Ulysseus, before departing for Troy, entrusts his son to a wise friend, Mentor. Mentor serves not only as a counselor to the prince during Ulysseus' twenty-year absence, but also as guardian and guide. Most important, Mentor does not replace Ulysseus in the parental role; rather, Mentor, with the help of the goddess Athena, helps the young prince to understand and embrace the difficulties that lie before him.

導師制度的名稱起源於荷馬史詩奧德賽。尤里西斯(奧德賽)，在前往特洛伊之前，將他的兒子託付給一位睿智的朋友照料，這位朋友就叫做曼托(Mentor)。當尤里西斯不在的這二十年裡，曼托不僅擔任王子的顧問，同時也是他的監護人和指導者。最重要的是，曼托並非取代尤里西斯的父親角色，而是曼托在女神雅典娜的協助之下，幫助年輕的王子認識和欣然接受他眼前的困難。

The task of the mentor, then, is to define a unique relationship with his or her protege and fulfill a need unmet by any other relationship (Samier 2000). The best mentors are teacher/sages who act to the best of their ability within plain sight of the protege and who engage in a compassionate and mutual search for wisdom (Bell 1996).

當時，導師的任務是確立他或她的弟子一個獨特的關係的分界，並透過任何其他的關係去實現未滿足的需求。(Samier 2000).最棒的導師是能夠讓見識平凡的弟子能夠使他們的能力發揮到極致，並且致力於慈悲和對追求智慧的老師/聖賢。

Although mentoring has existed for thousands of years, it is only in the last thirty years that mentor-protege relationships have received increasing academic and professional interest. Much of this research initially focused on "classical mentoring," in which a protege, more by chance than by merit, found a mentor willing to serve as guide and counselor. Although valuable in the relationships that it fostered and the leaders that it produced, such mentoring tended toward "like producing like," which meant that women and minorities frequently fell to the wayside. Formalized mentoring programs helped correct these inequities, but these artificial unions usually lacked organizational support and even engendered resentment among mentors who had little or no say in choosing their proteges (Samier 2000).

雖然導師制度業已存在千年之久，也只是在最近30年因為師徒制逐漸引起不少學術和專業的青睞。大部分對這項研究最初都集中在”典型的導師制度”，也就是說某門徒並非有過人之處而是因為因緣際會，巧遇了一位願意當他的指引者和諮詢者的導師。雖然這種導師制度的重要之處在於促進了相互關係和製造了領導人，但這種導師制度容易變成”複製”就是說女人和弱勢族群容易被棄在一旁。正式化的導師制度方案幫助矯正這些不平等，但是這些非自然的結合方案通常缺乏組織的支持，而且會在那些僅有少數或甚至沒有機會選擇他們徒弟的導師之間引起公憤。(Samier 2000).

Increasing evidence suggests that matching an intern to the appropriate school and to the right mentor are critical components of the intern's education. Districts must therefore be ready to work closely with these programs to ensure that their schools benefit from an appropriate match (Cordeiro and Smith-Sloan 1995).

越來越多的證據顯示將一位實習者分配到適當學校和導師那兒去是實習教育的關鍵因素。因此學區必須準備好和這些方案密切地合作以確保他們的學校會從適當的分配中獲益。(Cordeiro and Smith-Sloan 1995).

Although advanced university education will continue to dominate preparatory requirements, such training must be combined with in situ practice-of the right length, at the right place, with the right mentor-to help new principals acquire the practical knowledge and characteristic behaviors that typify successful principals.

雖然高等大學教育將持續控制著大學入學前階段的資格需求，這種訓練必須結合在有-適當的時間長度、適當的地方、和適當的導師-的原地實習，以幫助新校長習得那些典型成功校長應有的實用知識和行為特質。

WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF PRINCIPAL-MENTORING PROGRAMS?

師傅校長方案的一些範例？

Numerous school systems have begun principal-preparation programs that produce effective leaders. For example, Albuquerque Public Schools' Extra Support for Principals (ESP) program originated in 1994 when a group of elementary, middle, and high school principals examined how best to develop a support system for new principals. The resulting program features a coordinator who examines beginning principals' backgrounds, asks them to supply a list of experienced principals with whom they would like to work, and then matches them with veteran leaders. Results indicate that new principals, as well as their mentors, benefit significantly from ESP (Weingartner 2001).

許多學校系統已經開始校長育成方案去培育有效能的領導者。舉例來說，新墨西哥州的阿布奎基公立學校從1994年以來，就提供校長額外支援方案（ESP），當地小學和中學的校長發現為新校長發展一套支持系統是非常棒的。方案檢視結果描述先由一位協調者檢視新校長們的背景、詢問他們最想要一起合作的有經驗校長的名單，然後將他們分派給領導老手。結果指出新校長和他們的師傅校長們都能從ESP方案中獲益。(Weingartner 2001).

Another program, established by the Southern Regional Education Board's Leadership Academy, focuses on developing effective leadership styles that will have a direct impact on schools. An important component of the academy is the mentoring program, which assigns an external peer coach to each district team. The coach, who is a skilled leader in education, provides technical assistance and collects information from participants to help them develop as leaders (Crews and Weakley 1996).

另一個由南區教育領導委員協會成立的方案，把焦點集中在發展有效能的領導風格將對學校有直接的影響。協會的一個重要的成分是師傅校長方案，方案內容是指派一個外部同儕教練到每一個學區的團體中。這位教練，是嫻熟教育技巧的領導者，提供技術支援以及從參與者身上搜集相關資料，以幫助他們發展成為領導者。(Crews and Weakley 1996).

Many school systems such as Albuquerque's have looked within to establish mentoring programs. The key to any approach is for educational leaders to recognize the uniqueness of their circumstances and to establish a program that reflects their community's needs.

許多像阿布奎基這類的學校系統已經透過自我檢視來建立師傅校長指導方案。任何一個步驟的關鍵之處在於使教育領導者認清他們環境的獨特性，並且建立一個反映他們社區需求的方案。

For example, the shortage of qualified candidates for school-leadership positions led Santa Cruz County to gather local experts to come up with a solution to this problem. These gatherings, entitled "Growing Our Own," arose in part from dissatisfaction over the traditional role played by assistant principals, who were usually assigned a narrow range of responsibilities. Santa Cruz educators decided to reinvent the principal/assistant-principal relationship by establishing a mentor-apprentice agreement that committed the parties to shared outcomes. This program emphasizes teamwork while pursuing the stated goal of producing future school leaders who have the skills, attitudes, behaviors, and courage to lead public schools (Bloom and Krovetz 2001).

例如，加州的聖克魯茲郡聚集了一群當地的專家針對具有校長資格的候選人短缺這個問題想出了的解決辦法。這些個集思廣益，稱作”讓我們自己成長”，部分是透過副校長對於自己所被賦予無足輕重的傳統角色的不滿而興起。聖克魯茲的教育者們決定透過共同為團體承擔後果的師徒契約的建立，重新塑造校長/副校長關係。為了達成使未來領導者能擁有能力、態度、行為和勇氣去領導公立學校的這個指定目標，這個方案強調團隊合作。(Bloom and Krovetz 2001).

資料來源：http://www.ericdigests.org/2002-2/mentoring.htm

本譯文僅做課堂上學術交流討論使用，特此聲明。