Inspired by collaborating on a shared vision of reconciliation, three authors explore ethical relationality and the practical ways in which their heterarchical ensemble mentorship serves to decolonise and advance a shared vision of reconciliation for university teaching and learning. As Indigenous and non-Indigenous educators, we are buoyed by those developing decolonising and Indigenising strategies in formerly colonised regions. Seen as a promising interruption to a neoliberal approach to education, the authors embrace the possibilities of imagining and creating an ethical space in universities where relationality is prioritised in service of social justice. While the complex nature of reconciliation within a Canadian context begets tension and highlights what are often conflicting value systems within academe, we maintain that innovations in teaching and learning are possible in what is now a globally disrupted terrain as students, faculty, administrators, and university leadership contend with the unknown, encounter collectivist Indigenous traditions, and tentatively explore decolonisation as an ethical avenue towards inclusive and empowering education. In imagining what is possible, we build upon Indigenous knowledge traditions and the work of leadership studies scholars to propose 'ensemble mentorship' between students and faculty as a collaborative and decolonising teaching and learning practice.

As more alarming truths are being revealed around the horrors of the residential schooling system in Canada, educators are being called to decolonize and Indigenize their teaching practices. As post-secondary teacher educators working in Indigenous education who have gained valuable insights around this difficult teaching, the authors offer readers a conceptual model of reconciliatory education. The model invites educators to move beyond colonial schooling practices to embrace decolonizing and Indigenizing approaches and the powerful potential of relational teaching and learning. Envisioned as an ethical space residing between Indigenizing and decolonizing practices and animated by truth-telling and critical thinking, the extended infinity model, presented in this article, shows the dynamic nature of teaching and learning that occurs when relating together through commitments to decolonizing and Indigenizing. While purposefully engaging in an ethos of ethical relationality, the model carries transformative potential for teaching and learning.

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