Project Coordinator (10%)
The Project Coordinator will advise Bilingual Master's Fellows,
recruit participating faculty, revise course syllabi, participate in the Summer
Learn in Beauty Institute and disseminate information about the project.
Dr. Gina P. Cantoni, Regent's Professor of Bilingual Multicultural
Education, Ph.D. University of Rome, is the Area Coordinator of Bilingual Multicultural
Education at NAU where she coordinates graduate and undergraduate programs statewide
and advises a cohort of Title VII Doctoral Fellows. She is the author of Content
Area Language Instruction (1987) and Stabilizing Indigenous Languages
(1996).
Project Director (50%)
The Project Director will coordinate efforts of the University,
the consortium sites and the Division of Diné Education, meet with mentor
teachers three times a year, and meet with Mentor Teachers and Master's Fellows
at each site once each semester. The Project Director will advise Bilingual
Master's Fellows. The Project Director will assist the mentor teachers in a
Navajo language curriculum project during the Summer Institute and coordinate
the publication and implementation of culturally bound Navajo language thematic
units for each consortium site.
Dr. Louise Lockard, Assistant Professor of Bilingual Multicultural
Education, Ph.D University of Arizona, is the author of "New Paper Words; Historical
Images of Navajo Language Literacy" (1995). She teaches BME 534: Science and
Math for the LEP.
Project Faculty
The Project Faculty will teach graduate level courses in Bilingual
Multicultural Education at a site on the Navajo Nation or during Summer Sessions
at Northern Arizona University. The Project Faculty advises Bilingual Master's
Fellows.
Dr. Jon Reyhner, Associate Professor of Bilingual Multicultural
Education, Ed.D. Montana State U., teaches the capstone course in the Master's
program: BME 698. He is the author of Teaching American Indian Students
(1992) and Teaching Indigenous Languages (1997) He serves as editor of
the NABE News column "Issues in American Indian/ Alaskan Native Education."
Dr. Roberto Carrasco, Associate Professor of Bilingual Multicultural
Education, Ed. D. Harvard University is co-principal investigator of the National
Science Foundation funded project: "Native Science Connection". He teaches BME
637: The Cultural Component of Bilingual Multicultural Education.
Dr. Norbert Francis, Assistant Professor of Bilingual Multicultural
Education, Ph.D. Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico is Co-Principal Investigator
of the Ford Foundation sponsored" International Partnership for Study and Teaching
of Issues Related to Indigenous Cultures". He teaches BME 634: Testing Minority
Students.
Dr. W. Sakiestewa Gilbert, Associate Professor of Bilingual
Multicultural Education, Ed.D. University of New Mexico, is co-principal investigator
of the National Science Foundation funded project: "Native Science Connection.".
He teaches BME 480: Parent and Community Involvement.
Learn in Beauty Summer Institute Director
The Summer Institute Director will coordinate efforts of the
University, the consortium sites and the Diné Division of Education and
will assist the Mentor Teachers and the Bilingual Master's Fellows in a Navajo
language curriculum development project during the Summer Institute.
Marjorie Thomas holds a BA in Elementary Education from Northern
Arizona University and an MA in Educational Leadership from the University of
New Mexico. She has served as a teacher, bilingual coordinator and principal
in schools on the Navajo Nation and worked with curriculum and school reform
for over 30 years. She was a founding member of the Diné bi Ol
ta Association and President of the Diné Language Teachers' Association.
In 1997 she retired as Assistant Superintendent of the Chinle Unified Schools
to devote her efforts to the development of the Central Navajo Youth Recreation
Facility.
Mentor Teachers
Fourteen mentor teachers, two from each consortium target school,
will collaborate with the Bilingual Fellows in developing Navajo language curriculum
in their local communities. They will participate in the Summer Institute as
Site Leaders and they will meet with project staff three times a year.
Language Skills of Personnel
Northern Arizona University, as a part of its nondiscriminatory
employment practices, ensures that its personnel are selected for employment
without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, age or handicapping
condition. All of the project personnel are fluent and literate in English and
have extensive experience in Reservation schools and communities. The Summer
Institute Director and the mentor teachers are fluent and literate in Navajo.