The Wiley International Handbook of Mentoring

30Realizing the Power of Mentoring

Jane Kirkby and Lucas Walsh

Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia

Mentoring has a variety of benefits; for example, it can foster positive relationships that increase and deepen organizational learning. Positive relationships forged through mentoring can also ease the transition into the workforce and help retain and develop staff. In this chapter, we suggest that mentoring cannot be considered as a benign relationship and, in order to be effective, two key factors need to be understood within each field of operation. Firstly, the mechanisms of inherent power to influence a neophyte's way of being in an organization need to be understood by those who mentor. Secondly, the organizational culture that reinforces the symbolic capital of mentors must be recognized as a key contextual factor in which the relationship between mentors and mentees is developed. This more nuanced understanding of mentoring may increase the awareness and sensitivity of mentors as to the power dynamics inherent in their relationship with mentees. Our discussion of these factors, and how they are enacted in this power relationship, is situated within the education sector. This chapter is framed by the overarching question: How does the principle of reciprocity in a mentor relationship influence early career teachers' personal professional knowledge? The discussion draws on data collected from secondary school teachers in the state of Victoria, Australia. The ...