Struggles And Challenges Native Americans Face In The Classroom

The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) was formed in 2006. This government agency, previously known as the Office of Indian Education Programs, controls the direction and curriculum for all Indian schools as well as managing the funding. Three legislative acts developed the roles of the BIE. The Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 and The Education Amendments Act of 1978. The only more recent legislation was The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. It is the mission of the BIE to provide quality education to all Native Americans by focusing on the spiritual, mental, physical, and cultural aspects of the individual within his or her family and tribal or village context (U.S. Dept.

We will begin by discussing the first article that was written in 1981 by Steve Murray and Luther Tweeten named, "Culture, Education, and Economic Progress and Federal Reservations" and was published in the Growth & Change academic journal. This article takes a look at the economic issues in Indian reservations across the country and explains them in a mathematical form to explain why they are generally poor and struggling communities. Two negative things about this article is one, it is not specifically written for the topic of Native American education, and two, the article is almost thirty years old now. Although this does not make the article irrelevant because it does provide factual information about the current times in which it was written, and it does extensively discuss problems and

There are 529 federally recognized Indian Nations in the United States (National Congress of American Indians, 2003). The United States Constitution currently recognizes these Indian Nations as sovereign nations; but this was not always the case, especially regarding education of Native American students. According to PBS, a program of assimilation education began on the reservations. This was in the hopes that the assimilation of the children would translate to assimilation of the parents. However, this didn’t work in the way that was hoped, so education reformers pushed for Native American boarding schools. Children were taken from their parents (with no legal backing other than assimilation) and sent to boarding schools, where they were

The start of the complications between white society and Native society began during the age of colonization when the English settlers viewed tribal people as uncivilized. They thought that hunting animals was barbaric and that the Natives should learn farming and Christianity. They misunderstood the Native Americans. Rather than pitiful, tribes viewed themselves as proud and strong communities with ancient roots and traditions. That wasn’t evident to Eleazar Wheelock, who had a grand vision for the Native Americans: educate them as he would English children, and train them to become missionaries who could spread the word of God to their Native brethren. Much like other colonists in his day, Wheelock thought the Natives would perish lest the

Why are Native Americans underrepresented in the various healthcare fields in the United States? Is it because they lack access to educational opportunities in that field? What are the challenges that face Native Americans when it comes to the education and curricula they need to forge ahead and become representative in the healthcare industry? These questions and other issues will be addressed in this paper.

This article talks about the treatment of Native Americans in the 21st century and how they were face with the characterization of the different wide ranges of culture. The persistent complexity of native distinctive tradition, religion, language, life-styles and political identities have lead the Native Americans to really realized what it felt to be Native Americans going through all these different changes while living in this dominant society.

Educators in today’s school systems are encouraged to incorporate various aspects of cultural diversity into daily classroom routines and lesson content in order to develop students respect for various cultures within their community. The article reviewed, Promoting Respect for Cultural Diversity in the Classroom, written by Matthew Lynch, discusses the need for educators to encourage as well as promote respect for various cultures within the classroom that students may encounter or associate with. Additionally, educators must educate students on the importance of their own culture or heritage, as well as on the importance of cultures their peers or individuals have within the community.

The world that we live in is a world represented through a variety of different cultures and languages that all come together in a common setting for children: the school. Through my scholarly involvement in my service learning experience for both my cultural and literacies courses, I was and am being exposed to a variety of different cultures and languages different from my own that have cultivated an appreciation for diversity within me. As a future educator, being aware and having knowledge of different cultures and literacies, while using culturally relevant pedagogy in the classroom will help to encourage academic success among all students and provide an equitable educational experience for everyone.

Every student has a different and unique background that educators should strive to pay attention to. If teachers were aware of the different cultures and all the diversity in the classroom they would be able to accommodate their curriculum accordingly. People from different cultures learn different ways and if a teacher is conscious of that it only sets them up for success. Educators should be aware of the diversity in their classroom for three reasons, to accommodate different cultures, to set themselves and the students up for success, and to broaden their

Every child as a unique background and story to tell. It is important that everyone in the class be able to express beliefs, ideas, traditions, and information from their culture. We will be learning to support and celebrate each student’s unique culture. When students are exposed to diverse cultures research says that they have a stronger understanding of appreciating the differences in others. They feel more connected to the peers by being able to discuss aspects from their culture, this promotes students to become stronger critical thinker’s school. (Berg, Blank,.2006).

Cultural diversity in our public schools is both exciting and challenging for most classroom teachers. Teachers have the opportunity to involve learners from diverse cultural backgrounds in the learning process thereby making their classrooms into arenas for culturally competent teaching and learning for all of their students. Culturally competent teachers are those who are educated to recognize the impact of culture on their student’s educational needs while implementing the necessary boundaries and rules utilized for teaching culturally diverse learners.

In these days, we are witnessing many of the ethnic diversity in all areas, including education. Ethnic diversity has become an important issue that must be considered carefully and find out its positive and negative aspects. Ethnic diversity is a wonderful thing because it allows people to get to know each other, and share cultural aspects. Additionally, it reduces the chances of developing bias, racism. As we know, many different cultures absolutely have positive and negative effects. Therefore, we must admit that learning to respect and appreciate each other 's cultural and stylistic differences and becoming aware of unconscious assumptions and behaviors that may influence our interactions will enable us to minimize the challenges and derive maximum benefits from diversity. Diversity experiences can promote students’ learning and affect on critical thinking skill that is one of the most important goals of education (McMillan, 1987). One of the richest things for enhancing student learning in the classroom is the diversity of students themselves (Lynn,1998). So how does diversity effect on students, teachers and parent?

“We need to help students and parents cherish and preserve the ethnic and cultural diversity that nourishes and strengthens this community and this nation” (Cesar Chavez). Students develop an image based on factors, such as parental teachings, influences by peers, education, and much more. As this world progresses into the future, we should make sure that our actions help with strengthening the diversity among us. How can people benefit from diversity? Diversity provides exposure to others’ cultures, which helps us grasp more knowledge about the world we all live in. Students would be able to befriend other students from diverse backgrounds. The vision for diversity in schools should include the reasoning for diversity, the purpose and benefits, and the understanding of several types of diversity.

Prior to taking this course I was unaware of all the different ways diversity and multicultural aspects could be used in the classroom. My eyes have been opened so many different ways in incorporate the community and many differences throughout it. I feel that through my lesson plans you are able to see the growth from the first assignment all the way through the last. Throughout this paper we will discuss how I used cultures within the community as a vehicle for learning, how I was able to bridge student’s learning in the community by acknowledging their cultures, how I was able to include parents, and family members within my activities, how the community’s cultures were acknowledged in my activities, my knowledge about the diversities within the school system and community, and how I will educate myself on developing a culturally competent perspective and instruction.

Educators face greater cultural diversity in American classrooms today than in any time in our nation’s history. Today’s classroom are made up of students from Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines, Mexico, Central and Latin America, China, the Caribbean, African and various others countries. Students and their parents enter our country seeking better education, and a stable economical rewards and political environment. Also, Latin American, African American and American Indians students born in the U S. also have cultural values that are also different cultural values. Coupled with the dynamics of the existing American culture, teachers are constantly seeking methods to understand these students and provide successful learning opportunities.