Transcultural mentoring: an experience in perspective transformation

This article describes the phases of a transcultural mentoring relationship between Chinese nurses and Canadian nursing professors. Mezirow's adult learning theory of perspective transformation was used to guide this educational experience. An understanding of this learning process sensitized the mentors to the disorienting dilemma and culturally induced behaviors of their protégés. The aims of this article are to provide a description of the mentoring process using Mezirow's framework, describe how this process differed from the traditional mentoring relationship, identify the major factors that influenced the relationship, describe what was learned from the experience and to make recommendations based on the authors' experiences.