Graphics from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (2013) show that improvement in the content areas of mathematics and reading is moving slowly for those of American Indian/Alaska Natives. In both areas, they are performing right at or above the basic level.
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Today, the educational field, as well as society at large, is being made more aware of the disjunction between the one-size-fits-all curriculum and teaching styles being utilized in classroom and the students that this system is supposed to be educating. The current education system is letting down a huge portion of students it is responsible for by not taking into account cultural differences, and how this affects the way a student behaves in school, as well as the way they best learn. One group of students that is facing huge injustices is the population of Native American, or American Indian in today’s K-12 schooling system. Currently, the reality of Native American educational experiences is that it is leading these students to drop out at a rate that is double of the national average, with “approximately seven out of every ten native students both on the reservations and in cities graduate from high schools” (Hale, 2002, p. 95). Donna Deyhle (2010) called into question the reasons behind such high dropout rates amongst the Indian American student population in her study, “Constructing Failure and Maintaining Cultural Identity: Navajo and Ute School Leavers.” She conducted her research in public school districts close to a reservation border, where there was a large population of Native American students in attendance alongside ‘Anglo’ students (2010). Deyhle (2010) found that racism was still rampant in the schools, both in teachers and student peers, leaving the American Indian students to be educated in an uncaring manner, comparable to the boarding school days. Dropouts interviewed felt as if the education that they were receiving was in no way beneficial to their lives, as they are often placed on basic and remedial paths during their time in high school and teachers did not advocate for or encourage them to continue their education after high school (Deyhle, 2010). In general, it was found that the students held a general mistrust of teachers, even those who they believed genuinely cared for their learning outcomes and valued their success, because to them “the teacher represented a member of the outside Anglo community, a community that has actively controlled the economic, religious, and political lives of the Navajo community” (Deyhle, 2010, p. 103). The clash between the school’s mainstream culture and that of the students' can be seen as a direct causation for the large number of dropouts. |
Terry Huffman (2010), author of Theoretical Perspectives on American Indian Education, discusses four theories that have helped better understand the problems facing the Native American student today: the Cultural Discontinuity Theory, Structural Inequality Theory, Interactionalist Theory, and the Transculturation Theory. By using the Structural Inequality Theory to examine the present issues, it becomes obvious that the social structure of the United States plays a huge part in the failure of these students (Huffman, 2010). One aspect of this failure is linked to the unstable and inconsistent education establishments that are offered to the students. As Huffman (2010) states, “years of blatantly assimilationist educational policies resulted in a disjointed array of schools serving Native children” (p. 75). Furthermore, Huffman’s ideas align with the research completed by Deyhle (2010), that cultural rifts have created an educational atmosphere that is not supportive of Native American student success. He explains that “schools are designed to propagate mainstream culture on Native students” and “low teacher expectations for American Indian students harm the nature and quality of their education” (Huffman, 2010, p. 78). Native American students are presented with curriculum material that does not represent their cultural reality, therefore, have a difficult time connecting in the classroom, do not feel the need to learn the content being taught as it has little to no relevance to them (Huffman, 2010). As future educators, it is important that we are aware of the content and materials we are using to educate our students. If the work, values, and ideas of Native Americans are not represented in their educational experiences, they may not feel that it is important to their actual lives and that they are being forced to conform to the “white” way of thinking.
Photographer Felix von der Osten spent time immersed in Native American culture, aiming to '"show a slice of life (through) the beauty and richness of the culture," he said. "I didn't want to do reportage. I wanted to do slow and thoughtful photographs, like historical documents,'" according to an interview he completed with Emanuella Grinberg (2015).
Description of Image on the Left: "A young boy named Stephen is dressed up during the Veterans Powwow at Montana's Fort Belknap Indian Reservation." (Grinberg, 2015).
Description of Image on the Right: "Mia Jo Wing, a Gros Ventre tribe member, during the Veterans Powwow." (Grinberg, 2015).
Description of Image Below: "Young boys play together in Fort Belknap Agency, the reservation's capital." (Grinberg, 2015).
Description of Image on the Left: "A young boy named Stephen is dressed up during the Veterans Powwow at Montana's Fort Belknap Indian Reservation." (Grinberg, 2015).
Description of Image on the Right: "Mia Jo Wing, a Gros Ventre tribe member, during the Veterans Powwow." (Grinberg, 2015).
Description of Image Below: "Young boys play together in Fort Belknap Agency, the reservation's capital." (Grinberg, 2015).
Sherman Alexie (2005), a Native American poet and fiction writer, describes the realities of a Native American graduating class in his short story “Indian Education" found in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven, writing,
“[b]ack home on the reservation, my former classmates graduate: a few can’t read, one or two are just given attendance diplomas, most look forward to the parties. The bright students are shaken, frightened, because they don’t know what comes next. They smile for the photographer as they look back toward tradition”
(p. 110).
“[b]ack home on the reservation, my former classmates graduate: a few can’t read, one or two are just given attendance diplomas, most look forward to the parties. The bright students are shaken, frightened, because they don’t know what comes next. They smile for the photographer as they look back toward tradition”
(p. 110).