American Indian Education

General

Cleary, Linda Miller, & Peacock, Thomas D. (1998). Collected Wisdom: American Indian Education. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. 272 pp.

This is a different kind of book on American Indian Education. Rather than a study of a school or community or a synthesis of existing research on American Indian education, it is the result of a research project based on extensive interviews conducted by University of Minnesota professors Linda Miller Cleary, a non-Indian teacher educator, and Thomas D. Peacock, an Ojibwe former tribal school superintendent. They interviewed over 60 Indian and non-Indian teachers of Native American students working on or near nine reservations located across the U.S. and in two cities with high American Indian populations plus more than 50 other teachers in Australia and Costa Rica. The book has eight chapters: The Teacher as Learner; Cultural Difference; What Has Gone Wrong; Creating a Two-Way Bridge; Issues of Native Language; Ways of Learning; Literacy, Thought and Empowerment; What Works; and an Epilogue. Overall the book has a secondary/high school emphasis, but many of the ideas are applicable to elementary classrooms. Go to Book Review

Gilliland, Hap. (1999). Teaching the Native American (4th Ed.). Dubuque, IO: Kendall/Hunt. 288pp. + xviii.

Basic text on American Indian education that emphasizes culturally relevant education, building on students backgrounds, promoting self esteem and self control, and getting parents involved. Has chapters on using computers, developing reading skills, creative writing, whole language, and teaching the native language. A review of the 4th edition in the American Indian Culture and Research Journal concluded "a teacher using this book will find the approaches that integrate both culturally relevant activities and transformative curriculum most helpful" (Vol. 24, #3, p. 202).

May, Stephen. (Ed.). (1999). Indigenous Community-Based Education. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.

A collection of ten essays describing efforts by indigenous peoples in North and South America, Australian, New Zealand, and Europe to end assimilationist schooling that denies the value of indigenous languages and cultures. Go to Book Review

Reyhner, Jon. (2006). Education and Language Restoration. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House.

Briefly traces the history of education from American Indian boarding schools to the present day and includes information on language revitalization. It has chapters on assimilation and the Native American, community-controlled schools and tribal colleges, Native American identity, language and culture revitalization, language policies and education goals, language teaching, language and reading, and teaching and learning styles.

Reyhner, Jon. (Ed.). (1992). Teaching American Indian Students. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. 328 pp. + xiii.

Comprehensive resource book for educators of American Indians that maintains that Indian students can improve their academic performance through educational approaches that do not force students to choose between the culture of their home and the culture of their school. Summarizes research on Indian education, provides practical suggestions for teachers, and offers a large selection of resources available to teachers of Indian students. Included are chapters on bilingual and multicultural education; the history of U.S. Indian education; teacher-parent relationships; language and literacy development, with particular discussion of English as a second language and American Indian literature; and teaching in the content areas of social science, science, mathematics, and physical education. "Well-integrated chapters are organized around five main topics.... With substantial appendixes on Indian education statistics, literature and teaching resources, a comprehensive list of references, and a useful index, this new edition is an essential handbook for teaching American Indian students."--Choice. Described as "a must read!" in Tribal College : Journal of American Indian Higher Education, Fall 1988. Contains information on the historical suppression of American Indian languages in schools and modern efforts at using American Indian languages in bilingual education programs. The foreword is by Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell.

Reyhner, Jon, & Jeanne Eder. (2004). American Indian Education: A History. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. 370 pp. + x.

American Indian Education is a comprehensive history of Indian education from colonial times to the present. The authors draw on firsthand accounts from teachers and students to explore the broad spectrum of Native experiences in missionary, government, and tribal boarding and day schools; to reveal the effects of changes in government policies and educational philosophies; and to explore the current resurgence of American Indian nations. Special attention is paid to teaching materials and methods used with American Indian students in boarding and day schools. Michael C. Coleman in his review in the Autumn 2005 issue of the Western Historical Quarterly writes "I strongly recommend this book." He finds it "a valuable survey encompassing four centuries of educational confrontations" and concludes that "general readers will benefit from the deep historical perspective on the educational problems and opportunities facing today's Native Americans. Scholars will also appreciate the broad, yet richly-detailed, account presented." Michael W. Simpson writes in Tribal College, "history should be readable. This book is an easy read with a story that flows, but is not simplistic" and that it "should be part of the library and instruction at all tribal colleges."

Rhodes, Robert. (1994). Nurturing Learning in Native American Students. Hotevilla, AZ: Sonwai Books (P.O. Box 56, Hotevilla, AZ 86030). 217 pp. + vi.

Takes a holistic, student and community centered approach to learning that views students as active learners and teachers acting as facilitators/coaches. The most valuable aspect of this book lies in the philosophical stance the author takes towards schooling, which urges educators to take a bottom up approach to schools that begins with them studying their students and their students' community. It begins with a very brief history of Indian education. Chapters two through five examine traditional views on education and how they contrast with mainstream America views. Chapters six through 15 examine how, why, what, and from whom American Indian students learn. They examine research on brain dominance, learning styles, whole language, testing, motivation, discipline, and so forth. The last chapter on "What Works" is a list of 17 sensible recommendations for Indian educators. Go to Book Review

Lipka, Jerry; Mohatt, Gerald and the Ciulistet Group. (1998). Transforming the Culture of Schools: Yup'ik Eskimo Examples. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. 246. pp + xv.

Describes the problems faced by Yup'ik Eskimo teachers and the solutions they found through an indigenous support group called the Ciulistet. The Native village community expected that these teachers "should not act white," but if they acted Yup'ik, they are not considered a "real teacher." Yup'ik teachers "struggled with doubts about their effectiveness as teachers and about their ability to be of service to their communities." As a solution to the cultural differences between the village schools and the village community, the authors advocate a "culturally negotiated curriculum" that is more than simply a matter of "taking the best from both cultures." Rather, it is a complex process of decision making that must go on in every community to determine what is best for that community and its children. Go to Book Review

McLaughlin describes a community controlled Navajo school with a model K-12 Navajo-English bilingual program where he worked along with the community the school serves.  Go to Book Review

Peshkin tackles the question of why American Indian students' academic achievement is below average, even in Indian-controlled schools. He spent a year observing a boarding school serving New Mexico's Pueblo Indians. At this "Indian High School" low academic performance is not a case of Kozol's "savage inequalities" that prevent the school from hiring good teachers and having adequate facilities and instructional materials. This school receives a combination of Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) funding and various federal grants, and it is staffed with well educated teachers. The school had the highest percentage of Indian teachers of any high school in New Mexico. In addition, he found that the students' parents valued education. But academic success was limited. Students would participate with sustained effort and enthusiasm in basketball, but "regrettably, I saw no academic counterpart to this stellar athletic performance." Peshkin writes, "In class, students generally were well-behaved and respectful. They were not rude, loud, or disruptive. More often they were indifferent. . . . teachers could not get students to work hard consistently, to turn in assignments, to participate in class, or to take seriously . . . their classroom performance." To explain why these students did not enthusiastically embrace education, Peshkin enlarges on the cultural discontinuity (two worlds) theory of academic failure that has been written about by others and provides evidence from students, parents, and teachers to support that theory. He makes a good argument for the "student malaise" he describes and for its sources in the ambivalent attitude of the Pueblos towards schooling. Go to Book Review

Allen, T.D. (1982). Writing to Create Ourselves: New Approaches for Teachers, Students, and Writers. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. 253 pp. + xviii.

T.D. Allen began teaching writing at the Institute of American Indian Arts in 1963. Here she describes how she got her students to write and to rewrite during the five years she taught there. Her students published the Arrow series of anthologies of student writing and she co-authored with Emerson Blackhorse Mitchell, one of her Navajo students, the autobiography Miracle Hill.: The Story of a Navajo Boy (University of Oklahoma Press, 1967).

Linda Skinner (Choctaw) in her chapter "Teaching Through Traditions" in Swisher & Tippeconnic's Next Steps: Research and Practice to Advance Indian Education (1999) writes that this book gave her "valuable insights" based on Ashton-Warner's experiences "in recognizing and meeting the need for cultural relevance with her Maori students in New Zealand. I believe every educator and parent should read this book" (p. 110).

Fedullo, Mick. (1992). Light of the Feather: Pathways Through Contemporary Indian America. New York: William Morrow.

Mick Fedullo served as writer-in-residence at the Sacaton School District on the Gila River Indian Reservation from 1979 to 1984. Since then he has been a language-development consultant in American Indian education, working with state and federal agencies , as well as with local school districts. This book describes his experience in Indian schools in Montana, New Mexico, and Arizona getting Indian students to write poetry. Go to Book Review

Stott, Jon C. (1995). Native Americans in Children's Literature. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press. 239 pp. + xx.

Contains categorized lists of well over 100 books by and about Native Americans along with short synopses and critiques to help language arts teachers find stories to use in their classrooms. The appendix gives ideas for units to incorporate Native American children's literature into the classroom.  Go to Book Review

Describes the author's experience as a student in mission and Bureau of Indian Affairs schools as a child and as a teacher in Bureau schools in the 1930s. Gives examples of the "language experience" approach to teaching reading and "negotiating culture" within a school's curriculum long before anyone thought up those terms.

Canadian Journal of Native Education

Journal of American Indian Education Over 100 Full Text On-Line Articles from 1961-2002

Resource Guide: School Reform, Student Success for Educators Working With Native K-12 Students Tribal College 2006
Resources for Teachers to Indigenize Education Tribal College 2005
Resources for teachers on American Indian education Tribal College 1999

While I encourage people to patronize their local book stores, most, if not all, of these books can be bought on-line at either Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble.com.