ABSTRACT Informal mentoring had been previously identified as a vital component to leadership development and succession planning. Through a phenomenological approach, we sought to capture the lived experiences of aspiring school leaders pertaining to informal mentoring. Using open-ended questions and reflective activities, eight aspiring school leaders provided information about their experiences and characteristics of informal mentoring. Through a human science research perspective, four themes emerged from the data analysis: (a) defining informal mentoring, (b) characteristics of effective informal mentors, (c) constructive relationship, and (d) mentoring recommendations. Participants found their experiences with informal mentoring beneficial. There was a reported high level of trust between mentor and protégé and the process was flexible. Because the aspiring leaders sought to become school leaders in the near future, most were cognizant of the fact they needed to have quality mentors, but also be a mentor to new educators.

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有抱负的学校领导者的非正式指导：现象学研究

摘要非正式指导以前被确定为领导力发展和继任计划的重要组成部分。通过现象学的方法，我们试图捕捉有抱负的学校领导者有关非正式指导的生活经验。八名有抱负的学校领导者使用开放式问题和反思性活动，提供了有关他们的经验和非正式指导的特征的信息。从人类科学研究的角度来看，数据分析提出了四个主题：（a）定义非正式指导，（b）有效的非正式指导者的特征，（c）建设性关系和（d）指导建议。参加者发现他们的非正式指导经验是有益的。据报道，导师和门生之间的信任度很高，而且流程很灵活。