knowing differently - vance web viewknowing differently: toward a culturally responsive . american...

Running head: KNOWING DIFFERENTLY 1

Knowing Differently:

Toward a Culturally Responsive

American Indian Urban Learner Framework

Vance Holmes

Metropolitan State University

Urban Teacher Program

EDU 630

Paul Spies, Ph. D.

February 9, 2011

Contact: Vance Holmes, 1500 LaSalle Avenue #320 Minneapolis, MN 55403

Email: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

KNOWING DIFFERENTLY 2

Knowing Differently

This digest details inquiry into the American Indian experience as related to the

historical, cultural and philosophical foundations of public education policy and pedagogic

practice. As a pre-service urban educator seeking strategies to maximize the learning

opportunities of diverse students, this document and its title should first and foremost reflect my

intention to respect and dignify a culture other than my own. To be clear: it is strictly in an

educational context that I use the words, urban learner. My use of the term, American Indian, is

based on personal research and guidance from various sources, including this section of Allen

Aslan Heart’s website, which aptly serves as introduction to this investigative report:

The most common terms used today are American Indian, Alaskan Native, Native

Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander. Although it is a matter of individual preference, the

Minnesota Chippewa Tribe prefers the term American Indian. More than 560 tribes

remain in the United States and many have different words in their own languages for the

original inhabitants of this land which they called "Turtle Island." However, the Ojibwe

call all Indians "Anishinabeg" which means "original man" or "first peoples" (Heart,

2007).

Toward a Culturally Responsive American Indian Urban Learner Framework

Without question, it is a good teaching practice to recognize the cultural diversity in a

classroom and read up on the basic customs, beliefs, contributions and core concerns of

represented communities. However, familiarity with facts and historic figures is not sufficient


preparation for commanding a multicultural classroom. Culturally responsive teaching requires

a reflective educator with a solid knowledge base regarding the historical, political and

socioeconomic factors impacting schools as institutions.

To be truly effective, an urban teacher must also become a culturally reflective practitioner –

on the professional path toward cultural competence. Cultural competence means different things

to different people, but is here defined as the ability to connect and respect values, attitudes and

beliefs that differ across cultures, and the skill to respond appropriately to those diversities

(National Center for Cultural Competence, 2011). Key to moving toward becoming a culturally

competent educator is comprehending the historical and cultural perspectives of the American

Indian experience – in order to manifest those understandings into culturally responsive teaching

strategies for the classroom.

This report has been divided into sections on American Indian culture and history, Indian

education history, and practical implications for the classroom -- directed by three focus

questions: What are the broad historical outlines of the American Indian experience? What has

been the general history of American Indian communities and the public schools? What teaching

accommodations have proven most effective in helping American Indian urban learners succeed?

In seeking to formulate my own framework, each section includes a related set of

strategies drawn from multicultural education components, the principles of culturally responsive

teaching, and educational research on American Indian learners. Together, the strategies become

the beginning of a framework for maximizing the individual learning opportunities of American

Indian students in the urban classroom.

What are the broad historical outlines of the American Indian experience?


Since the time when Europeans first established settlements on this continent they have

tended to view the original inhabitants of North America as enemies to be removed by force,

coercion, trickery and treaties. American Indian educator, Karen Gayton Swisher articulated the

American Indian community's current understanding of the U.S. government's responsibility:

In exchange for nearly one billion acres of land certain services, protection against

invasion, and self- government were to be provided in perpetuity . . . More than 400

treaties solemnized the transactions -- land in exchange for promises -- between

sovereigns . . . thus creating a special relationship between Indian people and the federal

government (American Indian Education Foundation, 2011).

American Indian tribes were repeatedly forced to sign treaties and relinquish large

portions of their land in exchange for securing their right to continue living according to their

long-held customs. Throughout the succession of broken government treaties and brazen land

grabs, tribes retained their sovereignty. Sovereignty refers to the right of American Indian tribes

to operate as self-governing nations. The treaties also included guarantees of the right to gather

resources and rights to government services in areas such as health and education. The U.S.

government acquired most of the land in Minnesota through treaty agreements with American

Indian nations which included the Dakota (Sioux) and Anishinabe (Chippewa, Ojibwe). Where

land could not be taken from tribes by trading or trickery, American Indians were pushed off the

land and relocated through laws such as the Indian Removal Act of 1830.

Following these policies of extermination and removal came the policies of forced

cultural assimilation. The Minnesota Positive Indian Parenting program advises:


For over three hundred years since the massive appearance of the Europeans on the

American continent, Indian people have been struggling for their right to freedom, their

lands, their traditions and their way of life, in short, for their Indian values.

American Indians share a culture and set of values that are one of the most subtle and

indefinable of all the various ethnic groups likely to be represented in a metropolitan school

district (National Congress for American Indians, 2000).

While American Indian communities are by no means monolithic, a broad examination of

history reveals some consistent cultural elements. In very general terms, spiritual beliefs of the

American Indian -- as well as the values of reverence, harmony with nature, and deep concern

for extended family and tribe -- are distinct from the competitive individualism characterizing

much of the dominant American cultural orientation (Van Hamme, 1995).

Spiritual beliefs and values are embedded in all aspects of Indian life, although specific

beliefs vary widely among tribes (Benally, 1992). Dakota spirituality involves beliefs and

traditions such as the naming ceremony, the ceremonial pow wow, the medicine man or woman,

dream articles and traditional stories regarding the Great Spirit. The terms Dakota, Nakota, and

Lakota refer to dialects of the Siouxan language and also to groups of people. Dakota is

generally spoken in Minnesota -- the original homeland for the Dakota people (Callahan, 1998).

Ojibwe spirituality similarly encompasses of a set of beliefs, concepts and customs, such as

sweatlodges, the pipe, drums, vision questing and the Pow Wow (Callahan, 1998). The Ojibwe

language is part of a larger language group called the Algonquian Language Family. It is spoken

in the southern portions of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario, and northern areas of

Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin. The Ojibwe language is very descriptive and highly


complex. There are certain concepts in the Ojibwe language that do not directly translate into

English, so learning Ojibwe is critical to keeping Ojibwe history and traditions alive.

Cultural Diversity Components

1. Know there can be deep differences in the world views of European thinkers and the thought processes, mind sets, methods, concepts, values and experiences by which American Indian groups understand and view the world (Reyhner, Lee & Gabbard,1993)

2. Use explicit learning strategies that build on the cultural knowledge students bring to school, and tie the learning directly to the real lives of students (Ladson-Billings, 1994)

3. Share the value of the broad and varied sets of experiences that native students bring to class, not as liabilities, but rather as valued resources (Keller, 2005)

4. Consistently incorporate culturally relevant materials into the content learning

Be aware that “place” itself may present a difficult situation for learners from American Indian tribes. Knowing local history is important since certain places may hold significance (Keller, 2005)

5. Expand students' capacity to appreciate and deal with diversity and perceive self in a multicultural perspective

What has been the general history of American Indian communities and the public

schools?

Throughout the nation’s history, schooling has been used as a tool of acculturation to

force assimilation on American Indian children. Mission schools, government programs, and

industrial boarding schools were all used at various times to isolate children from their cultural

heritage and force them into America's mainstream (National Indian Education Association,

2009). Widespread attention was brought to the issue by a 1928 study from the Brookings

Institution and Bureau of Indian Affairs known as the Meriam Report. The report found that,

"Indians were receiving a poor quality of services (especially health and education) from public


officials who were supposed to be serving their needs." It flatly rejected the nation’s tradition of

coercive assimilation exemplified by the boarding schools: "The Indian family and social

structure must be strengthened, not destroyed" (National Indian Education Association, 2009).

The Meriam Report ushered in an era of improvements in American Indian education. Funding

was provided to community education programs and reservation day schools. This brief period

has been referred to as the “Indian New Deal.”

Twenty years after the short-lived “Indian New Deal” came the so-called period of

termination which resulted in a termination of the federal relationship with many tribes.

Termination legislation was enhanced by a program of physical relocation of Indian peoples

from reservations to urban areas (Shattuck, 1991). Efforts at improving American Indian

education opportunities stalled during this period. Termination was the nation’s official policy

from the mid-1940s to the mid-1960s. Then, prompted by reports from the 1961 and 1966

Presidential Task Force on Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Indian Affairs began to shift policy and

move toward programs of cultural preservation, economic support and community development.

Also propelling significant changes in policy was a series of high profile congressional hearings

on Indian education. The 1969 Kennedy Report called for Indian control over Indian schooling

affairs and the creation of a National Indian Board of Education (U.S. Senate Committee on

Labor and Public Welfare, 1969).

In 2000, the American Indian content standards were developed by the Bureau of Indian

Affairs. They were devised to “help schools in the development of local standards with an

emphasis on American Indian/Alaska Native learners” (CETIA, 2003). The standards are

periodically reviewed and revised, but are guided by central principles -- including the


philosophy that “language and culture are the central organizing themes of Indian Education and

must be the foundation of any school reform movement of Indian America” (CETIA, 2003).

Culturally Responsive Components

6. Avoid bias in curriculum, environment, instruction and assessment (Keller, 2005)

Do not assess capability by a student's proficiency with the cultural mainstream

7. Employ instructional strategies that account for and support linguistic diversity

8. Recognize and discuss with American-Indian students potential conflicts between school- based expectations and their cultural background

It is important to understand how the backgrounds of native students can affect their relationships with both teachers and their classmates (Hammond, Dupoux & Ingalls, 2004)

9. Help learners eliminate prejudice by discussing with them stereotypes of Native Americans, other minorities, and students with disabilities portrayed on TV and in books

10. Expect excellence (Hammond, Dupoux & Ingalls, 2004)

What teaching accommodations have proven most effective in helping American Indian

urban learners succeed?

An effective urban educator must be culturally competent to maintain a culturally

responsive classroom. Cultural competence has very little to do with information found in history

texts or articles on ethnic studies. It is skill in the art of reading people in their own context --

without translating their words and behaviors through a personal filter.

It has been said that many American Indian students avert their eyes (Keller, 2005). This

is useful information, not because it instructs teachers on how to interpret eye contact, but

because it prompts a consideration of the issue of eye contact in relationship to culture. American

Indians have a general, historical reliance on respect and dignity. It is a theme that runs through


their culture and is reflected in language and behavior. Averting the eyes then, is not about eye

contact – but rather, it has to do with respect. None of this information means teachers shouldn’t

look directly at American Indian students. It means when looking at any child of any cultural

background, teachers must remain aware that looking, in and of itself, holds significance. Eye

contact is one of the dynamics inherent when cultures interact (National Center for Cultural

Competence, 2011). With American Indian learners, eye contact may be especially significant in

the day to day delivery of culturally responsive instruction.

Teachers must get a grasp of how American Indian children "learn to learn" at home so

that school instruction, activities and social interactions are "made compatible with work

contexts and social relationships in the culture" (Reyhner, Lee & Gabbard, 1993). Culturally

responsive pedagogy is premised on the conception that culture is central to cognition. It is an

approach that, according to Gloria Ladson-Billings, "empowers students intellectually, socially,

emotionally, and politically by using cultural referents to impart knowledge, skills and attitudes"

(Ladson-Billings, 1994). For this reason, it is necessary to outline the cultural perspectives of the

American Indian experience as they are reflected in the broad curricular guidelines for American

Indian education.

The curriculum framework from the Minnesota Department of Education's Office of

Indian Education provides a thorough overview of Minnesota-based American Indian tribal

government, history, language, and culture (Minnesota Department of Education, 2010).

Learning objectives of the curriculum's ten main areas of concentration are here summarized.


Tribal Government

American Indians have systems of tribal government with powers, rights and

responsibilities based on tribal constitutions. Knowing this information is equally as important as

the study of federal, state and local governments, and will enable students to function as

responsible citizens of their communities. Therefore . . . learners will be able to identify the

complex structure and recognize the validity and authority of sovereign tribal government.

Sovereignty

American Indian nations possess an inherent and unique political status based on

sovereignty. This legal political status conveys dual citizenship, along with specific rights and

responsibilities. All students need knowledge of this concept in order to understand American

Indian cultures, so . . . learners will be able to define tribal sovereignty and document the

application of this concept in studying history and contemporary issues.

U.S. Policies

Many current issues important to American Indian communities are directly or indirectly

related to federal Indian policies. These issues include tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, native

language rights, repatriation of human remains and sacred religious objects, religious freedom,

education rights of American Indian children, and the right of American Indians to determine

their own future. All students must have knowledge of the impact of U.S. policies on American

Indians in order to understand American history and contemporary American Indian tribal issues,

so . . . learners will be able to assess the impact of ever-changing U.S. Policies on American

Indians.


Contributions

American Indian cultures have profoundly influenced cultures of all immigrants and

world civilization in general. When students know that all cultures contribute, they may be more

likely to respect members of each cultural group and learn from them. Therefore . . . learners will

discover and categorize the many contributions that American Indians have made to all aspects

of modern society.

Oral Traditions

It is largely through oral tradition, which includes storytelling, teaching, history and

contemporary Indian literature, that American Indian cultures have been preserved and

transmitted through the generations. This is the heart of tribal culture, therefore . . . learners will

be able to summarize and explain the significance of American Indian oral tradition in the

perpetuation of culture and history.

Harmony and Balance

Woven throughout American Indian oral tradition, ceremonies, and spiritual beliefs is the

theme of harmony and balance. It is necessary for students to study the practices of American

Indians who have traditionally understood the balance of nature and who believe all life must be

treated with reverence and respect. Therefore . . . learners will be able to illustrate how the

process to achieve harmony and balance plays a vital role in American Indian philosophy and in

daily lives of American Indians.

Family Life

The customs surrounding family life and the spiritual dimension of family are central to

American Indian culture. Being that increased understanding of these strong family traditions


will promote more effective cross-cultural communication . . . learners will be able to define the

unique features of American Indian family structures and relationships.

Art

Creating beauty and harmony through artistic expression is an integral part of daily life in

many American Indian cultures. There is no separate word for "artist" in Ojibwe and Dakota

languages, for example, because all tribal members were traditionally viewed as artists -- gifted

to one degree or another. Since it is vital for students to know American Indian art and its

history . . . learners should be able to demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of the

purposes, history and forms of American Indian art.

Music and Dance

Through music and dance, American Indians celebrate life, tribal identity, and the

survival of tribal culture. Students must know of these traditions that have existed through the

centuries and that are still practiced today, so . . . learners will be able to demonstrate an

understanding and appreciation of the purposes, history and features of American Indian music

and dance.

Values

American Indians had, and continue to have, a distinct value system. The center of this

system is respect for the Creator, elders, family, community and the land. Respect is manifested

through such behaviors as practicing traditions, learning language, listening, cooperating,

honoring elders, non-interference, showing patience and tolerance, acceptance, humor, humility,

gratitude and respect for all living things. Since study of the American Indian value system will

assist students in examining their own values and related behaviors . . . learners will be able to

demonstrate an understanding of the American Indian values system.


Along with focusing on the stated curriculum as it pertains to learners’ cultural

backgrounds, urban educators should remain equally aware of content in the hidden curriculum.

The hidden curriculum directs what students implicitly learn from the school’s culture – the

institution’s implied values as communicated by rules, rituals and routines. Since learning is our

goal, urban educators must create an environment of equity, caring and unconditional acceptance

in every aspect of schooling. If we are working to build a caring community of diverse learners,

then we are obligated to fully confront ethnocentrism, stereotyping and intolerance. Instructors in

the multicultural classroom must work diligently to eliminate prejudice and discrimination

because they are barriers that prevent learning.

Cultural Competence Components

11. In personal interactions, be very sensitive to non-verbal cues

Do not persistently look directly at Native American students when speaking to them, or expect them to look directly at you. This is seen as a sign of defiance and hostility in many native cultures (Keller, 2005)

12. Allow time for thought

Avoid tempo-centricity, and do not put too much pressure on time

13. Promote a relaxed environment of open communication

Some American Indian learners have been taught that they should not express an opinion or make a statement unless they are sure that they are correct (Keller, 2005)

14. Emphasize cooperation and sharing

Share social control and use group problem solving. In many American Indian cultures, status is gained by generosity and cooperation, not thrift and competition (Hammond, Dupoux & Ingalls, 2004)

15. Know that humor has great value in American Indian cultures (MN Dept. of ED, 2010)


American Indian Urban Learner Framework

Proposed areas of additional study include examination of the intracultural differences in

Minnesota’s American Indian communities, and identification of local resources for cultural

information specific to American Indian students in metropolitan area schools. Also, further

research is needed to discover how instructional techniques found to be beneficial for English

learners can be incorporated into effective lesson plan designs for American Indian urban

students.

As I continue on my journey toward cultural competence, I take along a set of principles

that form a frame for responding to American Indian learners in the urban classroom. This

investigation has ended with a fifteen-point model that is only the start of my exploration of the

American Indian experience and the historical, cultural and philosophical foundations of

education. Summarized for this report, the framework is reduced to a practical directive for

instruction in the diverse, urban classroom: identify positive American Indian values, traditions,

beliefs and concepts -- and emphasize that there are different ways of knowing, and ways of

knowing differently.


References

American Indian Education Foundation (2011). History of Indian education. Retrieved from

http://www.nrcprograms.org/site/PageServer?pagename=aief_hist_newmillenium

Benally, H.J. (1992). Spiritual knowledge for a secular society. Tribal College, 3, 19-22.

Callahan, K.L. (1998). An introduction to Ojibway culture and history. Retrieved from

http://www.tc.umn.edu/~call0031/ojibwa.html

Center for Educational Technology in Indian America (2003). American Indian Content

Standards. Retrieved from http://web.archive.org/web/20030404113353/ www.

ldoe.org/cetia/aics.htm

Hammond, H., Dupoux, E., Ingalls, L. (2004). Culturally relevant classroom management

strategies for American Indian students. Rural Special Education Quarterly. Retrieved

from http://www.racismagainstindians.org/AcademicPapers/

Heart, A. A. (2007). Dream Catchers. Retrieved from

http://www.real-dream-catchers.com/Ojibwe_culture_and_language/ojibwe_language.ht

m

Keller, E. (2005) Strategies for teaching science to Native Americans. Retrieved from

http://www.as.wvu.edu/~equity/native.html

Ladson-Billings, G. (1997). The Dreamkeepers: Successful teachers of African American

children. Atlanta, GA: Jossey-Bass Publishing.

Minnesota Department of Education (2010). Indian Education: K-12 Curriculum Frameworks.

Retrieved from http://education.state.mn.us/MDE/ Academic_Excellence/

Indian_Education/ K12_Curriculum/index.html

National Center for Cultural Competence (2011). Definitions of cultural competence. Retrieved


from http://www.nccccurricula.info/culturalcompetence.html

National Congress for American Indians (2000). American Indian and Alaska Native education,

Issue Memorandum, November 2000. Washington, DC.

National Indian Education Association (2009). History of Indian education. Retrieved from

http://www.niea.org/history/educationhistory.php

Reyhner, J., Lee, H., Gabbard, D. (1993). A Specialized Knowledge Base for Teaching

American Indian and Alaska Native Students. The Journal of American Indian Higher

Education, 4(4).

Shattuck, P.T., Norgren, J. (1991). Partial justice: Federal Indian law in a liberal constitutional

system. Providence, RI: Berg Publishers, Inc.

U.S. Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare (1969). Indian Education. Washington,

D.C.: Government Printing Office.

Van Hamme, L. (1995). American Indian cultures and the classroom. Journal of American

Indian Education, 35(2).

knowing differently - vance web viewknowing differently: toward a culturally responsive . american...

Documents