Successful Cultural-Based Curriculum for Native American/Indian American Children - Research Paper Example

Successful Cultural-Based Curriculum for Native American/Indian American Children Introduction The cultural heritage of the American Indians is very rich and that tradition has been passed to each of the subsequent generations orally through stories, songs, history and legends in their native languages. This means that culture is acquired or inherited from the preceding generation and passed on to the subsequent generations. The cultural knowledge offers understanding and order to the person in the community and the natural environment. The rich cultural knowledge acquired is what is brought into the classroom by the students as noted by Gilbert, Lockard and Reyhner (2011). Natives of Alaska and American Indian children experience a number of risk factors in their psychopathological development. Academic failure and school dropout rates have been attributed to a number of problems that have necessitated the development of a better curriculum that is cultural based. The problems include large schools, uncaring teachers, passive teaching methods, irrelevant curriculum, inappropriate testing, tracked classes and the absence of parent involvement (Hale, 2002). In spite of the numerous studies that have been conducted with respect to education in America, very little study has been dedicated to the improvement of the education of Native Americans considering that that often feel less of Americans in comparison to their white counterparts. In seeking to fill this gap, this study is to identify the best set of components that make up successful education programs for Native American children. Historical and Theoretical Perspectives Historically, the Native American education has been characterized by policies that support assimilation and assimilation. Between 1778 and 1871, the US government engaged various Native American groups in signing over 370 pacts that would see them surrender their land in exchange for education services (Adams, 1995). The basis of these treaties was that white education, traditions and culture was better than Native American culture. However, due to failures with educational programs that would otherwise see the assimilation of the natives into mainstream societal practices, there was a major shift in policy. Instead of assimilation, the policy became biased toward self-determination. Native American education started in 1776 with the federal government’s initiative to fund of missionary schools (Adams, 1995). The government, in the 1850s, assumed the role of directly supervising the education of Native Americans and has continued in this endeavor to-date. A number of intervention and prevention practices have been instituted in an to attempt to address the students’ needs. There are a number of practices that are evidence-based and that assumed to be effective for the American Indian and native Alaska children. These practices are assumed to be effective because they have been used with other diverse ethnic groups with some level of success. The practices are then adopted for the American Indian and native Alaska children with superficial, minimal and frequent cultural adaptations. This may, for example, encompass substitution of themes and native names in the curriculum content (Heart and Horse, n.d.). Cultural-based education can be described as the educational approach that recognizes the native languages as either the first or the second language. Cultural-based education is also a profession of teaching that makes use of the traditional cultural characteristics and that entails the use of the curricula that is based on the native culture. The curricula makes use of legends, songs, oral history, values and fundamental beliefs of the community (Gilbert, Lockard and Reyhner, 2011). Available evidence indicates that cultural based curriculum is an important factor in the academic success of the Native Americans. Research conducted to determine the effectiveness of certain practices and education programs in the improvement of the Native American student in mathematics and English language arts revealed the following; there was a positive relationship between the certain programs characteristics, classroom practices and the improved student achievement (Apthorp, D’Amato and Richardson, 2003). Research has shown the effectiveness of two programs that have been created for the development of English literacy in the Native American Student. The first program teaches literacy in the community’s original language and then enhances bilingualism by sustaining that language while at the same time teaching literacy and English language. The second program develops cultural similarity for the Native American student in the school and it does not necessarily promote bilingualism. In mathematics, the effectiveness of the cultural-based curriculum has been proved by ethnomathematics which entails the study of everyday and traditional mathematics and the incorporation of the findings in the development of curricular methods and materials that are related to content standards (Apthorp, D’Amato and Richardson, 2003). The cultural-based education for the Native American students has six critical elements. The first element is the acknowledgment and the use of the Native American language. The second element is the educational practices that assert the use of the adult-child interactions and the traditional cultural characteristics as the starting point of individual education. The third element is the teaching strategy that is in harmony with the traditional culture as well as the modern ways of learning. These strategies include a number of opportunities for students to practice, observe and demonstrate their skills. The fourth element is the implementation of a curriculum that is based on the traditional culture. The curriculum is supposed to manifest the importance of native spirituality and position the education of the young children in the modern context. The appreciation and the use of legends, visual arts, fundamental beliefs and oral histories of the community are very vital in the development of the curriculum. The fifth element entails the promotion of strong native community involvement. The sixth element is the identification and use of political and social customs of the community in the operation of the school according to Amiotte (2008). A number of research studies have been conducted concerning educational failure and minority cultures. Theoretical perspective of educational failure and minority cultures stem from two major areas of educational research. The first area of research is the sociolinguistic research and offers a suggestion that minority of failure results from the absence of cultural discontinuity or cross-cultural communication. Some practitioners have interpreted this area of research to mean that success is promoted by the continuity between school and home (He, Connelly and Phillion, 2005). The cultural-based approach has become popular in the Native American society. Native American self-determination movements in the schools and civil rights have also become popular in supporting the application of cultural-based education. Their main aim has been to establish culture-based and culture-based schooling curriculum. These movements and civil rights authorities have also contributed to the improvement of self-esteem, attitude and identity (He, Connelly and Phillion, 2005). The second area of research has been done by critical theorists who suggest that the large society variables like institutional racism, power structures and opportunity structures play a critical role in the failure of the minority student (He, Connelly and Phillion, 2005). This is evident from the illustration provided above. The civil rights and the movements play a critical role in the enhancement of the minority student’s attitude, self-esteem and identity. If racism exists in those institutions, learning becomes unbearable. The culture-based curriculum movement should not be abandoned and the first theory on cultural discontinuity is not valid because it has been proven to be wrong. Community members have been attracted into schools that teach native cultures and have developed an interest in the formation of culturally based curriculum. The adoption of the cultural-based curriculum has had positive effect on the self-esteem of the individual (He, Connelly and Phillion, 2005). References Adams, D. (1995). Education for Extinction: American Indians and the Boarding School Experience, 1875–1928. University Press of Kansas. Amiotte, S. (2008). Bureau of Indian education and tribal school leaders’ perceptions of school-level factors leading to academic achievement for Native American students. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest. Apthorp, H. S., D’Amato, E. D. & Richardson, A. (2003). Effective standards-based practices for Native American students: A review of research literature, Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning, 1-21. Gilbert, W. S., Lockard, L. & Reyhner, W. S. (2011). Honoring our heritage: Culturally appropriate approaches to indigenous education. Flagstaff, AZ: Northern Arizona University. Hale, L. (2002). Native American education: A reference handbook. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. He, M. F., Connelly, F. M. & Phillion, J. (2005). Narrative & experience in multicultural education. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. Heart, M. Y. H. B. & Horse, S. Y. (n.d.). Native American children. Retrieved from http://www.dshs.wa.gov/pdf/dbhr/mh/resourceguide/nativebestpract.pdf Read More