Building a Critical Pinay Islander Framework of Myntoring: A Scholar Warrior’s Navigational Guide

Abstract

The navigation of higher education by Filipina women/Pinay islanders can bring intense feelings of isolation and an emotional toll, especially in predominantly white spaces of learning. Yet, myntors can serve a vital role in navigating coloniality. The pathways of schooling and professionalisation come with constant negotiation and reconciliation of contradictions. In this article, I propose a conceptual framework, Critical Pinay Islander Framework of Myntoring (CPIMF). Based on my reflection of my academic trajectory as an islander and a Pinay ‘scholar warrior’, I argue how this framework can promote a sense of empowerment, liberation, and healing through a critical understanding of the Pinay diaspora, transnational wayfinding, and solidarity. I suggest that CPIFM can be an effective process and method to interrupt and disrupt the settler colonial mentality in academia.