Collected wisdom : American Indian education
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Collected wisdom : American Indian education
Allyn & Bacon, c1998
- : pbk
Available at 2 libraries
Description and Table of Contents
Description
How do cultural differences and real world issues affect the education of students, in this case American Indian students? What approaches have real teachers found that work well with American Indian students? This text answers those questions through the "collected wisdom" of sixty actual teachers of American Indian students, teachers who were interviewed at length by the authors in a three-year long study. The authors avoid traditional theoretical jargon and go straight to the issues affecting the education of American Indian students. Reviewers hailed Collected Wisdom as a unique text that addresses many long-ignored aspects of American Indian education. For instance, the authors challenge the myth of an American Indian learning style and investigate cultural challenges in literacy learning. The effects of historic oppression on American Indian students are described, which must be understood before teaching can begin. Throughout the text, the authors raise questions that arise when students are asked to operate both in mainstream culture and their own culture, asking the reader to understand why that is a complex negotiation that is not asked of most children.
Table of Contents
Preface.
Acknowledgments.
1.Introduction: The Teacher as a Learner.
A Chapter Road Map.
Collected Stories: A Way to Make Sense of American Indian Education.
The Story of Our Research.
An Emerging Theme: Teacher as Learner.
Ketron's Stories Introduce the Emerging Themes in the Research.
Why We Collected These Stories.
An Only Partially Resolved Problem with Language.
How to Read this Book.
2.Cultural Difference: Recognizing the Gap into Which Students and Teachers Fall.
Finding the Subtlety of Cultural Differences.
Questions to Jump Start Your Reading.
A Chapter Road Map.
Difference in Beliefs.
Difference in Ways of Being.
A Non-Indian's View of American Indian Spirituality.
Challenges to Seeing Cultural Difference.
Case Study: Meg and the Hurricane.
Things to Remember.
3.What Has Gone Wrong: The Remnants of Oppression.
Questions to Jump Start Your Reading.
A Chapter Road Map.
An Introduction to Oppression.
A Profile of Odie: A Survivor of Oppression.
Present Day Manifestations of Oppression.
Case Study: They're Acting Really Squirrelly.
Full Circle.
Things to Remember.
4.Creating a Two-Way Bridge: Being Indian in a Non-Indian World.
Questions to Jump Start Your Reading.
A Chapter Road Map.
Making Connections with Other Sections of the Book.
A Profile.
Challenges Facing Students as They Seek a Comfort Level in Both Worlds.
Challenges to Teachers, Schools and Policy Makers.
Moving Beyond Metaphor.
Case Study: The Storyteller.
5.Issues of Native Language.
Questions to Jump Start Your Reading.
A Chapter Road Map.
Schools of Thought About Language Maintenance.
A Profile.
What Others Have to Say about Second Language Acquisition, Motivation for Learning a Language, and Language Loss Theory.
An Overview of Language Extinction Efforts.
Cultural and Religious Issues in Language Maintenance.
The Extent of Language Loss.
Orthography Wars.
Dialect Differences and Varying Levels of Proficiency.
Urban American Indian Language Issues.
Relationships Between English and Tribal Language Use.
American Indian Language Strategies and Related Issues.
If the Language is Deemed Important, Who Is Responsible for Maintaining It?
Case Study: Ruth and the Videotape.
Full Circle.
Things to Remember.
6.Ways of Learning.
Questions to Jump Start Your Reading.
A Chapter Road Map.
American Indian Learning Styles.
Case Study: The Great Circle of These Things.
Full Circle.
Things to Remember.
7.Literacy, Thought and Empowerment.
Questions to Jump Start Your Reading.
A Chapter Road Map.
What Teachers Reported About Literacy.
What Teachers Said About Cultural Differences in Thought.
What Researchers Say About Cultural Differences in Thought.
Reenter Amelia LeGarde, Storyteller: Abstract Lessons from Stories.
A Return to the Chapter Four Case: "The Storyteller."
Explicit Lessons Needed for the Articulation of Abstraction.
Issues of Decontextualized Thought.
Whole Language Is Not Enough in Empowering American Indians.
Empowerment of American Indians Through Literacy.
Case Study: A Short But Historical Case Study: Literacy for Real Purposes.
Things to Remember.
8.What Works: Student Motivation as a Guide to Practice.
Questions to Jump Start Your Reading.
A Chapter Road Map.
Why Mainstream Schools' Incentives Don't Work.
Instant Success May be Unlikely.
A Profile of Amy, A Teacher Who Builds Instruction on Intrinsic Motivation.
Need for Feelings of Self-Determination.
Students, Curiosity: Making It Relevant.
Responsiveness to Feedback.
Feelings of Competence.
Inclination Towards Self-Expression.
Role Models: The Inclination Towards Imitation.
Assessment.
Transition to Mainstream Situations.
Caring Is Absolutely Essential, But It Is Not Enough.
Full Circle: An Activity.
9.Epilogue: Full Circle.
Linda Miller Cleary, The "Nurture a Seed" Metaphor.
Thomas Peacock, The Strength and Tenacity of Culture.
A Shared Impression: An Integrative Approach to American Indian Education.
Appendices.
A: If You Are Interested in the Research.
B: If You Wish to Change Your Method of Assessment.
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