Troubling the Ideal Mentor With Indigenous and Heritage Knowledges

• In Event: Pursuing Equitable Educational Systems: Experiences and Insights of Women Navigating

Abstract

Aims
Conceptions of a mentor are typically traced back to Greek culture and the development of EuroWestern MANkind (an exception is Mullings & Mukherjee, 2018). This study confronts the nature of mentoring as a humanistic practice and aligns with the trend toward studying international views on mentoring (Irby et al, 2020), and Indigenous mentoring with decolonial interests (Cram et al., 2013; Morrison & Kim, 2020). The ideal mentor is often characterized by integrity, guidance, and relationship (Rose, 2003). Like Bailey et al (2016), we sought to identify ideal mentor prototypes.

Theoretical Position(ality) and Thrust
As a subgroup of the broader mentoring network (CurveYFriends), we have collaborated for a decade. We are now mid-career (tenured) faculty (Curran et al., 2019), and have experienced mentoring in various parts of the world (i.e., Montenegro, Trinidad, United States). We draw on feminist ideas and indigenous philosophies and practices associated with mentoring (Cram et al., 2013), which allows us to examine ancestral connections and how indigenous people in different geopolitical spaces translate their relational ontologies into cultural practices. The geographic lens helps with understanding what it means to create or be/come in an equitable space (Hanrahan et al., 2020; Oberhauser & Caretta, 2019), how to respond when that space is fragile (Adams-Hutchinson & Johnston, 2019), and how to mentor transnationally (Mullins & Murkherjee, 2018).

Methodology
Pre-qualitative research draws on the arts and humanities to engage concepts and philosophical orientations that orient a study and inform how meaning is co-constructed (Rocha, 2017). In this case, we take a reflexive approach by examining how we as researchers imagine mentors. Data: One of the authors conducted 1.5-hour virtual chats (summer of 2021), acting as the comadre (midwife) to generate and curate the scenarios (Santamaría & Jaramillo, 2014). The prompts generated a scenario where mentoring is needed and elicited detailed descriptions about who would be involved in providing support to realize an ambitious goal.

Findings
The virtual chat generated episodes and ideas about the qualities and characteristics of someone who would be most helpful in academic journeys. For these authors, the ideal mentor is one who 1) models reliance on ancestral or elder heritage knowledge, such as stories of struggles against racism, sexism, and colonialism; 2) approaches the mentoring relationship as a mutual investment involving risk and benefit (i.e., fulfillment from realizing commitments similar to those of the mentee; 3) are direct in their communication about a situation even if what they are communicating is a shortcoming in the mentee’s attitude, skillset, or performance, and 4) are connected to those from who they draw support to support themselves and others (i.e., mentees).

Significance
Methodologically, the protocol can be refined and used to expand existing examinations of mentoring. Outcomes for attendees include knowledge of creating and working within communities of support and strategies for mentoring across borders while resisting the tyranny of an expert mentor (Morrison & Kim, 2020). This paper echoes the conference theme on cultivating equitable education systems, with mentoring to organize energies and operationalize care equitably.

Authors

• Vonzell Agosto, University of South Florida

• Talia Randa Esnard, The University of the West Indies - St. Augustine

• Deirdre Cobb-Roberts, University of South Florida

• Zorka Karanxha, University of South Florida