Native American education AWARENESS teacher workshopFor my project, I focused on the Native American Students at Animas High School and at non-reservation public schools here in Durango, Co. During the project I collected data from the 9R schools here in Durango about Native American Academics such as, performance rates, graduation rates, surveys, documents, and interviews. After gathering all this information I conducted it into a presentation that would be presented to the Animas High School staff about Native American education awareness and academic success. This issue has impacted many Native American students throughout many years and with this workshop it will give the teachers and school community the knowledge to recognize this issue and have the tools and strategies to help make a change to the normal school system.
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I choose this project because I am a minority student in a public school and it is a topic that is not discussed among public schools that often. My favorite portion of the Senior Project was the TED talk. This was my favorite portion of the Senior Project because I was able to present information to students and staff about past Native American education and how we as a school community can take action. I would say my biggest takeaway from this project was getting involved with the community and providing my support. The most difficult aspect of my project was finding relevant Native American education information in the Durango area.
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TED TalkMy TED talk was to bring awareness to the public about this issue because it is an issue that doesn't get discussed a whole lot. The TED talked had information about my research that I had found during the project about my topic and it included stories, facts, data, historical events, and, teaching strategies.
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Senior thesis paper
Why do native american students EXPERIENCE less academic SUCCESS than other MINORITY groups? What needs to be INSURED they feel supported in non-reservation public schools?
Avory France
Senior Project Advisor: Libby Cowles
Abstract
Academic success is often defined by the individual student’s accomplishments and personal achievements. For a Native American student individuality is not always encouraged by the Native American community. As Native Americans grow into young adults it is just as important to be respectful to elders, to live in harmony with the environment you are surrounded by and to honor traditions of the past. Living with respect and honor has a lasting effect on the individual that can provide an overall healthy community. In the American educational system individual success is measured by the competitive accomplishments. This individual concept and other academic pressures can often place a Native American student in conflict with themselves, leading to lower academic success. It is this presentation I would like to provide information and strategies to how Native American students and their school can help increase Native American academic success. For many years Native Americans have had one of the lowest academic success rates out of all minority groups. With the research that I have found I was able to pick out pieces to suggest ways we can help students and teachers become aware of this cause. It is important to recognize this issue because Native Americans have been through tough times within the American educational system and still struggle with the academic success rate. We will look at the past attempts and look at current attempts to help Native American students to be successful. We also hope that the student is not only successful but teachers and the educational community will learn from the information for future models to support all minority students
12th Grade Humanities
Animas High School
5 March 2018
Senior Project Advisor: Libby Cowles
Abstract
Academic success is often defined by the individual student’s accomplishments and personal achievements. For a Native American student individuality is not always encouraged by the Native American community. As Native Americans grow into young adults it is just as important to be respectful to elders, to live in harmony with the environment you are surrounded by and to honor traditions of the past. Living with respect and honor has a lasting effect on the individual that can provide an overall healthy community. In the American educational system individual success is measured by the competitive accomplishments. This individual concept and other academic pressures can often place a Native American student in conflict with themselves, leading to lower academic success. It is this presentation I would like to provide information and strategies to how Native American students and their school can help increase Native American academic success. For many years Native Americans have had one of the lowest academic success rates out of all minority groups. With the research that I have found I was able to pick out pieces to suggest ways we can help students and teachers become aware of this cause. It is important to recognize this issue because Native Americans have been through tough times within the American educational system and still struggle with the academic success rate. We will look at the past attempts and look at current attempts to help Native American students to be successful. We also hope that the student is not only successful but teachers and the educational community will learn from the information for future models to support all minority students
12th Grade Humanities
Animas High School
5 March 2018
Part I: Introduction
We are sculpting young adults and future leaders. The American educational system measures the success of a student through self-motivation, personal achievement and academic success. Among many Native American communities harmony, honor and respect of each other and of mother earth are just as important as academic achievement. When educating Native American students one has to consider the conflict that a young adult is facing. Is one to embrace the Individual successes and boast of those achievements or is one to honor their past and traditions, and measure success by their place in society?
Stereotyping has been such a destructive force in the historic relationship between American Indian and non-Indian people, and stereotyping is destructive even if we perceive the labels as positive rather then negative. Being labeled a “noble savage” has been just as destructive as being pegged as drunken, lazy “alcoholics”. Labeling whole tribes of individuals as creative, holistic learners is equally as destructive as being stereotyped as a people who are good with their hands. If we are able to acknowledge minority groups for the positive things that they do instead of stereotyping and inputting assumptions after a while it'll become a common thing that we do for each other no matter the minority group. We need to provide people of minority groups opportunities to be recognized in positive ways. The way to insure that Native American students gain academic success is building a positive interpersonal student body and cultural background knowledge for both teachers and students. While it is important to have these positive interpersonal student body and cultural background knowledge, diversity is another key factor because it can form a solid base for cultural background knowledge in public schools.
We are sculpting young adults and future leaders. The American educational system measures the success of a student through self-motivation, personal achievement and academic success. Among many Native American communities harmony, honor and respect of each other and of mother earth are just as important as academic achievement. When educating Native American students one has to consider the conflict that a young adult is facing. Is one to embrace the Individual successes and boast of those achievements or is one to honor their past and traditions, and measure success by their place in society?
Stereotyping has been such a destructive force in the historic relationship between American Indian and non-Indian people, and stereotyping is destructive even if we perceive the labels as positive rather then negative. Being labeled a “noble savage” has been just as destructive as being pegged as drunken, lazy “alcoholics”. Labeling whole tribes of individuals as creative, holistic learners is equally as destructive as being stereotyped as a people who are good with their hands. If we are able to acknowledge minority groups for the positive things that they do instead of stereotyping and inputting assumptions after a while it'll become a common thing that we do for each other no matter the minority group. We need to provide people of minority groups opportunities to be recognized in positive ways. The way to insure that Native American students gain academic success is building a positive interpersonal student body and cultural background knowledge for both teachers and students. While it is important to have these positive interpersonal student body and cultural background knowledge, diversity is another key factor because it can form a solid base for cultural background knowledge in public schools.
Part II: Historical Content/Background Knowledge
The Indian reservation system established tracts of clearly defined zones for Native Americans to live on as white settlers took over their land. The main goals of Indian reservations were to bring Native Americans under U.S. government control, minimize conflict between Indians and settlers, and forcefully encourage Native Americans to take on the ways of the white man. “Kill the Indian in order to save the Man.” Many Native Americans were forced onto reservations with catastrophic results and devastating long-lasting effects, as a result children routinely died in mass numbers of starvation and disease in addition to sexual, physical, and emotional violence was rampant.
In 1860 the United States of America sought to forcefully assimilate the Native American populations they had recently conquered by forcing and consigning them to unwanted bits of real estate. They did so by gathering generations of young children into large, inhuman, institutions known as boarding schools. It is often a subject quickly passed over in U.S. history, I assume, due to the shame and embarrassment that exists because the government promulgated this policy. It was cultural genocide, and that is the boarding school experience described at its best.
While it is hard to image. Many of the boarding schools survived to become residential high schools and even colleges today. Somewhere along the line, these schools were embraced by the very people that they were invented to destroy. The people have since turned this traumatizing experience into something that works for them, something that symbolizes Native Americans as a sort of amazing human alchemy. The stories of the students that attended boarding schools were not uniform experiences; it was multidimensional. The students who lived through boarding schools tell astonishing stories of courage, resistance, and adaptation. In the article “Boarding School Abuses, Human Rights, and Reparations” states that through 1909 - 1925 there were 307 reservation day schools and reservation boarding schools for over 100,000 Native American children. The regular schedule for the reservation boarding school would be to teach english for half of the day and the other half teaching industrial training. Girls learned to cook, clean, sew, care for poultry and do laundry for the entire institution. Boys learned industrial skills such as blacksmithing, shoemaking or performed manual labor such as farming. Throughout the years the students lived on campus and followed the rules, and if they were to break those rules they would be punished emotionally and physically. In research paper “Assimilation Through Education: Indian Boarding Schools in the Pacific Northwest” they mention that around 1923 a majority of the Native American students attended public schools while the rest of the students were still at one of the boarding schools. Up till 1932 most of the boarding schools were closed by this time. After some of these boarding schools were closed kids went home or public schools. Since then there have been multiple movements up till the present. These movements were from march's to acknowledgement and recognition of Native American individuals and community.
The Indian reservation system established tracts of clearly defined zones for Native Americans to live on as white settlers took over their land. The main goals of Indian reservations were to bring Native Americans under U.S. government control, minimize conflict between Indians and settlers, and forcefully encourage Native Americans to take on the ways of the white man. “Kill the Indian in order to save the Man.” Many Native Americans were forced onto reservations with catastrophic results and devastating long-lasting effects, as a result children routinely died in mass numbers of starvation and disease in addition to sexual, physical, and emotional violence was rampant.
In 1860 the United States of America sought to forcefully assimilate the Native American populations they had recently conquered by forcing and consigning them to unwanted bits of real estate. They did so by gathering generations of young children into large, inhuman, institutions known as boarding schools. It is often a subject quickly passed over in U.S. history, I assume, due to the shame and embarrassment that exists because the government promulgated this policy. It was cultural genocide, and that is the boarding school experience described at its best.
While it is hard to image. Many of the boarding schools survived to become residential high schools and even colleges today. Somewhere along the line, these schools were embraced by the very people that they were invented to destroy. The people have since turned this traumatizing experience into something that works for them, something that symbolizes Native Americans as a sort of amazing human alchemy. The stories of the students that attended boarding schools were not uniform experiences; it was multidimensional. The students who lived through boarding schools tell astonishing stories of courage, resistance, and adaptation. In the article “Boarding School Abuses, Human Rights, and Reparations” states that through 1909 - 1925 there were 307 reservation day schools and reservation boarding schools for over 100,000 Native American children. The regular schedule for the reservation boarding school would be to teach english for half of the day and the other half teaching industrial training. Girls learned to cook, clean, sew, care for poultry and do laundry for the entire institution. Boys learned industrial skills such as blacksmithing, shoemaking or performed manual labor such as farming. Throughout the years the students lived on campus and followed the rules, and if they were to break those rules they would be punished emotionally and physically. In research paper “Assimilation Through Education: Indian Boarding Schools in the Pacific Northwest” they mention that around 1923 a majority of the Native American students attended public schools while the rest of the students were still at one of the boarding schools. Up till 1932 most of the boarding schools were closed by this time. After some of these boarding schools were closed kids went home or public schools. Since then there have been multiple movements up till the present. These movements were from march's to acknowledgement and recognition of Native American individuals and community.
Part III: Research and Analysis
Native American students face many at-risk factors in education. These risk factors can be barriers to a student’s success in school and their future success after high school; in college, careers, and other life activities. Native American students have one of the lowest high school academic success rates compared to other minority groups in the United States. In the research paper “Center for Native American Youth at Aspen Institute” they state that the national graduation rate for Native American high school students was at 65% compared to the national graduation rate of 76.2%. For the college graduation rate; Native American college students are at a 9.30% vs. 20.30% of the national graduation rate of college students.(Bailer, 2).
In the article, “Preventing School Failure: The Native American Child”, we see that Native American Students have one of the highest dropout rates. There are some key factors to why Native American students are having trouble in school and are experiencing less academic success. “Reasons for minority student academic failure are complex. Ethnographic studies that focus on the ways that cultural differences contribute to ethnic conflict provide ample documentation of how different communication styles and underlying values and assumptions add to minority failure” (Johanna, 2.). While some of these reasons are about cultural differences which play a huge part in a students success, the relationship between teachers and students, schools and minority communities, and intergroup power structures are just as important. “Teachers are aware that students with different cultural backgrounds enter mainstream classrooms with a great deal of anxiety, a situation that often affects their academic achievement” (Johanna, 2.).
Teachers play a huge role in any student's life because they are the people that students see each day and students are learning more than just educational topics but also will take life advice from these adults they interact with daily. Students are not the only ones who should be fighting for their academic success on their own, there needs to be an effort put in by the counselors and teachers who are hired to support and lessen the anxiety for ALL students. It is stated that “Teachers need to make a deliberate effort to familiarize minority students with mainstream culture and school practices.” (Johanna, 2.).
A significant factor for academic underachievement appears when a Native American student is experiencing isolation, anxiety, and rejection because they are confronting the incompatibility of their cultural values with that of mainstream classrooms. Native American children are often forced to tell their own culture to non-natives and expect them to understand, its like being torn between two worlds. Too many Native American students enter a school system that is designed for White middle-class students which can be a traumatic experience, especially if they have no idea as to what the dominant society expects of them. These types of feelings cause many Native American children to withdraw from school. In many attempts to outline some counseling strategies to empower Native American students the minority group whose cultural values probably differ the most from mainstream school practices. “Teachers can play an important role in reducing the sense of alienation that so many culturally different students suffer. Counseling minority students on how “mainstream” Americans, as a people, view the world may become crucial in the successful implementation of multicultural education and the reduction in minority underachievement.” (Johanna, 3.). This isn't just suggetstions for teachers, but students have to put in the effort as well.
Native American students should be on the lookout to the fact that they may be labeled as unmotivated by teachers and students if they are unwilling to cooperate and put in the effort. Native American students should acknowledge the fact that many white students and students from other ethnic groups also face cultural problems and student empathy is an important ingredient of successful coping strategies. For teachers learning and teaching ethnic groups can be challenging because each ethnic group has their own beliefs and cultural differences. But teachers should be continually on the alert for signs of confusion and discomfort. “In the process of empowering Native American students, it should be remembered that the objective is not to have students change their cultural beliefs and behavior but to help them adapt to specific situations.” (Johanna, 3.)
Over the years, little has been said about the role of student empathy in the empowerment of Native American students, there has been promising results on the college level, but attention needs to focus more on public schools where Native American student failure has reached critical proportions. In a section of “Preventing School Failure: The Native American Child” “If teachers are lacking in cultural knowledge and sensitivity, administrators may want to consider providing some inservice training to the faculty...”(Johanna, 4.)
There is no exact way of teaching minority students but there are suggestions from studies that have tested and observed from personal experiences. In the research paper “Educating the Educators: Outreach to the College of Education Distance Faculty and Native American Students” by Tina M. Adams and R. Sean Evans they focus on examining and exploring the relationship between the library and college teachers to Native American students. In this section of the paper they provide a couple suggestions to teaching Native American students such as “We have found that in person instructions is by far the most effective and culturally respectful form of instruction for this population. Native American students, in general, have expressed a preference for face to face instructions. We have found that Native American students often have fear of asking questions… In general, Native American students also prefer observational and collaborative activities to lecture and textual learning.” (Adams, 12).
Teaching with Native American students studies have shown that when instructing students from different cultures, they try to take in account both cultural considerations and learning style performances. For example, “We don't want to imply that all Native American students or even all Navajo students are alike, but though our own experiences we have found that these performances for learning generally hold true for the students we have interacted with”. (Tina, 13.)
Also, when non-Native American teachers are able to connect with their students on a personal level they are more likely to participate and succeed in class. In the article “American Indian educators help drive graduation gain” they mention that they have had one of the largest reported graduation rate gain between 2010 - 2013, rising from 65% to nearly 70% in two years. “The jump is perhaps due in part to greater numbers of native teachers and administrators returning to reservation districts, some experts say.” (Roessel, 1.) Studies have shown that when there are Native American teachers at public and reservation public schools they see more growth in Native American students because the students are able to connect and see them as one of them much easier because they are from the same culture and see them as a role model to look up to. “The opportunity to have these role models at our schools is something you can't put a dollar figure or test score on. The value added is really important for Indian Country” (Roessel, 1.) When non native teachers model certain aspects of Native American culture it can sometimes be offensive and misunderstood. But if a teacher is willing to put in the extra work and go that extra mile to learn and educate themselves about Native American culture they will be not only gaining knowledge for themselves but knowledge about culture and how Native American students can function and what works best for them so that both teachers and students are both gaining from this experience. In the book “Collected Wisdom: American Indian Education” the authors Linda Miller, Cleary and Thomas D. Peacock does a good job of explaining how to become more aware of the things that Native American students like and dislike in education and how teachers can apply themselves to help Native American teachers. For examples "As a good teacher, I would want that teacher to be sensitive, know something about your student." (Linda Miller, 155.) Earlier on in the book she builds off with statement that “When non-native teachers model the language they do more than set an example of how important the native language and culture is. "They learn about the American Indian students they are teaching, about their cultural backgrounds and the deeper meaning of culture". (Linda Miller, 144.)
The research demonstrates that there are several ways that schools can internationally support Native American students success, including a workshop for teachers….
Native American students face many at-risk factors in education. These risk factors can be barriers to a student’s success in school and their future success after high school; in college, careers, and other life activities. Native American students have one of the lowest high school academic success rates compared to other minority groups in the United States. In the research paper “Center for Native American Youth at Aspen Institute” they state that the national graduation rate for Native American high school students was at 65% compared to the national graduation rate of 76.2%. For the college graduation rate; Native American college students are at a 9.30% vs. 20.30% of the national graduation rate of college students.(Bailer, 2).
In the article, “Preventing School Failure: The Native American Child”, we see that Native American Students have one of the highest dropout rates. There are some key factors to why Native American students are having trouble in school and are experiencing less academic success. “Reasons for minority student academic failure are complex. Ethnographic studies that focus on the ways that cultural differences contribute to ethnic conflict provide ample documentation of how different communication styles and underlying values and assumptions add to minority failure” (Johanna, 2.). While some of these reasons are about cultural differences which play a huge part in a students success, the relationship between teachers and students, schools and minority communities, and intergroup power structures are just as important. “Teachers are aware that students with different cultural backgrounds enter mainstream classrooms with a great deal of anxiety, a situation that often affects their academic achievement” (Johanna, 2.).
Teachers play a huge role in any student's life because they are the people that students see each day and students are learning more than just educational topics but also will take life advice from these adults they interact with daily. Students are not the only ones who should be fighting for their academic success on their own, there needs to be an effort put in by the counselors and teachers who are hired to support and lessen the anxiety for ALL students. It is stated that “Teachers need to make a deliberate effort to familiarize minority students with mainstream culture and school practices.” (Johanna, 2.).
A significant factor for academic underachievement appears when a Native American student is experiencing isolation, anxiety, and rejection because they are confronting the incompatibility of their cultural values with that of mainstream classrooms. Native American children are often forced to tell their own culture to non-natives and expect them to understand, its like being torn between two worlds. Too many Native American students enter a school system that is designed for White middle-class students which can be a traumatic experience, especially if they have no idea as to what the dominant society expects of them. These types of feelings cause many Native American children to withdraw from school. In many attempts to outline some counseling strategies to empower Native American students the minority group whose cultural values probably differ the most from mainstream school practices. “Teachers can play an important role in reducing the sense of alienation that so many culturally different students suffer. Counseling minority students on how “mainstream” Americans, as a people, view the world may become crucial in the successful implementation of multicultural education and the reduction in minority underachievement.” (Johanna, 3.). This isn't just suggetstions for teachers, but students have to put in the effort as well.
Native American students should be on the lookout to the fact that they may be labeled as unmotivated by teachers and students if they are unwilling to cooperate and put in the effort. Native American students should acknowledge the fact that many white students and students from other ethnic groups also face cultural problems and student empathy is an important ingredient of successful coping strategies. For teachers learning and teaching ethnic groups can be challenging because each ethnic group has their own beliefs and cultural differences. But teachers should be continually on the alert for signs of confusion and discomfort. “In the process of empowering Native American students, it should be remembered that the objective is not to have students change their cultural beliefs and behavior but to help them adapt to specific situations.” (Johanna, 3.)
Over the years, little has been said about the role of student empathy in the empowerment of Native American students, there has been promising results on the college level, but attention needs to focus more on public schools where Native American student failure has reached critical proportions. In a section of “Preventing School Failure: The Native American Child” “If teachers are lacking in cultural knowledge and sensitivity, administrators may want to consider providing some inservice training to the faculty...”(Johanna, 4.)
There is no exact way of teaching minority students but there are suggestions from studies that have tested and observed from personal experiences. In the research paper “Educating the Educators: Outreach to the College of Education Distance Faculty and Native American Students” by Tina M. Adams and R. Sean Evans they focus on examining and exploring the relationship between the library and college teachers to Native American students. In this section of the paper they provide a couple suggestions to teaching Native American students such as “We have found that in person instructions is by far the most effective and culturally respectful form of instruction for this population. Native American students, in general, have expressed a preference for face to face instructions. We have found that Native American students often have fear of asking questions… In general, Native American students also prefer observational and collaborative activities to lecture and textual learning.” (Adams, 12).
Teaching with Native American students studies have shown that when instructing students from different cultures, they try to take in account both cultural considerations and learning style performances. For example, “We don't want to imply that all Native American students or even all Navajo students are alike, but though our own experiences we have found that these performances for learning generally hold true for the students we have interacted with”. (Tina, 13.)
Also, when non-Native American teachers are able to connect with their students on a personal level they are more likely to participate and succeed in class. In the article “American Indian educators help drive graduation gain” they mention that they have had one of the largest reported graduation rate gain between 2010 - 2013, rising from 65% to nearly 70% in two years. “The jump is perhaps due in part to greater numbers of native teachers and administrators returning to reservation districts, some experts say.” (Roessel, 1.) Studies have shown that when there are Native American teachers at public and reservation public schools they see more growth in Native American students because the students are able to connect and see them as one of them much easier because they are from the same culture and see them as a role model to look up to. “The opportunity to have these role models at our schools is something you can't put a dollar figure or test score on. The value added is really important for Indian Country” (Roessel, 1.) When non native teachers model certain aspects of Native American culture it can sometimes be offensive and misunderstood. But if a teacher is willing to put in the extra work and go that extra mile to learn and educate themselves about Native American culture they will be not only gaining knowledge for themselves but knowledge about culture and how Native American students can function and what works best for them so that both teachers and students are both gaining from this experience. In the book “Collected Wisdom: American Indian Education” the authors Linda Miller, Cleary and Thomas D. Peacock does a good job of explaining how to become more aware of the things that Native American students like and dislike in education and how teachers can apply themselves to help Native American teachers. For examples "As a good teacher, I would want that teacher to be sensitive, know something about your student." (Linda Miller, 155.) Earlier on in the book she builds off with statement that “When non-native teachers model the language they do more than set an example of how important the native language and culture is. "They learn about the American Indian students they are teaching, about their cultural backgrounds and the deeper meaning of culture". (Linda Miller, 144.)
The research demonstrates that there are several ways that schools can internationally support Native American students success, including a workshop for teachers….
Part IV: Discussion and Conclusion
The way to insure that Native American students gain academic success is building a positive interpersonal student body and cultural background knowledge for both teachers and students. There are many issues surrounding Native American education. It is a complex issue that demands a thoughtful perspective on the many difficulties that native children are born into. These difficulties can compound when these children are faced with a world that seems to neither understand them nor want to understand them. Their culture is often very different than the culture of their classmates, so they can find themselves feeling isolated. It is highly recommended that more research be conducted on reservations to investigate the effects of the new form of education on Native Americans. All teachers must acknowledge the cultural variations in the lives and learning styles of Native American students and restructure the educational system to accommodate them. Native Americans traditionally teach students by oral directions and by expecting them to observe and learn. As a result, written instructions alone may not be adequate for some students who may require oral directions as well. Working with and incorporating the traditional values of Native American students into the curriculum will be enriching to both educators and students. Finally, a celebratory attitude of and respect for Native American history, experience, culture, and contributions are highly recommended for addressing Native American educational issues. Inclusion if the school provides educational cultural background knowledge to to students and teachers then as a school they should see results in teacher and student relationships and increase in academic success for Native American students.
Bibliography
Clarren, Rebecca. "Left behind." Nation,vol. 305, no. 4, 14, Aug. 2017, pp. 12-25. Web.
11 February 2018.
Cleary, Linda Miller., and Thomas D. Peacock. Collected Wisdom: American Indian
Education. Allyn & Bacon, 1998.
Cook, Robert. "Working with Tribal Colleges to Strengthen the Native Teaching
Workforce." Tribal College Journal, vol. 27, no. 3, Spring 2016, p. 54. 11 February 2018.
DeNisco, Alison. "American Indian Educators Help Drive Graduation Gains." District
Administration, vol. 51, no. 6, June 2015, pp. 24-25. Web. 11 February 2018.
Ellwood, Lisa J. “Native American Students Face Ongoing Crises in Education.” Indian
Country Media Network, 3 Sept. 2017. Web. 11 February 2018.
Marr , Carolyn J. “Assimilation Through Education: Indian Boarding Schools in the
Pacific Northwest.” University Libraries University of Washington , 23 Feb. 2015.
Web. 11 February 2018.
Nel, Johanna. “Preventing School Failure: The Native American Child.” Preventing
School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth, vol. 37, no. 3,
1993, pp. 19–24. Web. 11 February 2018.
Randall, Monte. "American Indian Stories of Success: New Visions of Leadership in
Indian Country." Tribal College Journal, vol. 28, no. 4, Summer 2017, pp. 46-47.
Web. 11 February 2018
“Reporters' Notebook: Native Americans Struggle, Build Pride.” Native Americans
Struggle, Build Pride | Education World, Education World Inc., 16 June 2016. 11
February 2018.
Smith, Andrea. "Boarding School Abuses, Human Rights, and Reparations." Social
Justice, vol. 31, no. 4, Dec. 2004, pp. 89-102. Web. 11 February 2018.
The way to insure that Native American students gain academic success is building a positive interpersonal student body and cultural background knowledge for both teachers and students. There are many issues surrounding Native American education. It is a complex issue that demands a thoughtful perspective on the many difficulties that native children are born into. These difficulties can compound when these children are faced with a world that seems to neither understand them nor want to understand them. Their culture is often very different than the culture of their classmates, so they can find themselves feeling isolated. It is highly recommended that more research be conducted on reservations to investigate the effects of the new form of education on Native Americans. All teachers must acknowledge the cultural variations in the lives and learning styles of Native American students and restructure the educational system to accommodate them. Native Americans traditionally teach students by oral directions and by expecting them to observe and learn. As a result, written instructions alone may not be adequate for some students who may require oral directions as well. Working with and incorporating the traditional values of Native American students into the curriculum will be enriching to both educators and students. Finally, a celebratory attitude of and respect for Native American history, experience, culture, and contributions are highly recommended for addressing Native American educational issues. Inclusion if the school provides educational cultural background knowledge to to students and teachers then as a school they should see results in teacher and student relationships and increase in academic success for Native American students.
Bibliography
Clarren, Rebecca. "Left behind." Nation,vol. 305, no. 4, 14, Aug. 2017, pp. 12-25. Web.
11 February 2018.
Cleary, Linda Miller., and Thomas D. Peacock. Collected Wisdom: American Indian
Education. Allyn & Bacon, 1998.
Cook, Robert. "Working with Tribal Colleges to Strengthen the Native Teaching
Workforce." Tribal College Journal, vol. 27, no. 3, Spring 2016, p. 54. 11 February 2018.
DeNisco, Alison. "American Indian Educators Help Drive Graduation Gains." District
Administration, vol. 51, no. 6, June 2015, pp. 24-25. Web. 11 February 2018.
Ellwood, Lisa J. “Native American Students Face Ongoing Crises in Education.” Indian
Country Media Network, 3 Sept. 2017. Web. 11 February 2018.
Marr , Carolyn J. “Assimilation Through Education: Indian Boarding Schools in the
Pacific Northwest.” University Libraries University of Washington , 23 Feb. 2015.
Web. 11 February 2018.
Nel, Johanna. “Preventing School Failure: The Native American Child.” Preventing
School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth, vol. 37, no. 3,
1993, pp. 19–24. Web. 11 February 2018.
Randall, Monte. "American Indian Stories of Success: New Visions of Leadership in
Indian Country." Tribal College Journal, vol. 28, no. 4, Summer 2017, pp. 46-47.
Web. 11 February 2018
“Reporters' Notebook: Native Americans Struggle, Build Pride.” Native Americans
Struggle, Build Pride | Education World, Education World Inc., 16 June 2016. 11
February 2018.
Smith, Andrea. "Boarding School Abuses, Human Rights, and Reparations." Social
Justice, vol. 31, no. 4, Dec. 2004, pp. 89-102. Web. 11 February 2018.