Exploring co-mentorship as a promising practice for weaving Indigenous and western pedagogy

Canadian provinces have recently started incorporating Indigenous perspectives and content into their official provincial curriculum, and while school districts often provide K-12 curricular resources and one-time professional development sessions, many educators continue to struggle with implementing Indigenous worldviews and pedagogies into their daily classroom practice. Some literature has explored the role of mentorship in supporting teachers in this implementation, but no research relates directly to British Columbia’s context. This study examined co-mentorship as a promising practice for increasing both Indigenous and non-Indigenous teacher efficacy with integrating Indigenous knowledge and worldviews into classroom practice. This qualitative research was shaped by Tribal Methodology and uses storytelling to interpret the findings. The results from this study showed that co-mentorship effectively promoted holistic connection and reciprocal relationship; the removal of power hierarchy; respect and openness; recognition and encouragement of strengths and good practice; and taking the time needed for learning. These results could be used to inform the building of Indigenous/non-Indigenous mentorship relationships between teachers for the purposes of effectively integrating Indigenous ways of knowing and learning into classroom practice.