A memoir of co-mentoring: The “we” that is “me”

Abstract

The author's academic journey in learning to mentor and be co-mentored involved three rites of passage. In this reflective essay (invited paper), the author acknowledges his most influential co-mentors-former dissertation supervisees and long since colleagues-who helped form the "we" that is him. The first phase coincided with a constraining time in research and supervision. The author copublished only a few journal articles and mainly with one mentee. During his second stage in Toronto, Canada, he experienced an exponential increase in copublication. This was a natural extension of mutually beneficial working relationships and successful doctoral defenses. Like a trusted friend, a mentor can guide his or her charges as they set out to discover and realize the potential within. The responsive form of learning in partnership enacted a version of collective action among equals. The author became a collaborative arts-based-educational researcher-mentor: a hyphenated collection of selves. Since having returned to Australia, he co-mentors early career academics seeking to publish and use writing as and for their professional development.