Programsa Discussion of Seifconcept and the Indian Student Urges Teachers to Ezpect Success, Respect Students and Their 1Culture, 1And Give Students Responsibility
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 283 628 RC 016 089 AUTHOR Reyhner, Jon, Ed. TITLE Teaching the Indian Child: A BiIingual/MuIticultural Approach. INSTITUTION Eastern Montana Coll., Billings. School of Education. SPONS AGENCY Department of Education, Washington, DC. PUB IDATE 86 GRANT G008300157 NOTE 2890. AVAILABLE FROMBilingual Education Program, Division of Elementary and Secondary Education, Eastern Montana College, 1500 North 30th Street, Billings, MT 59101-0298 t$5.00: $3.50 in quantity). PUB TYPE Guides - Non-Classroom Use (055) -- Collected Works - General (020) == BOOks (010) EDRS PRICE MF0I/PCI2 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS American Indian Culture; *American Indian Education; American Indian Literature; American Indians; *Biculturalism; Bilingual Education; Computer Uses in Education; Cultural Awareness; Cultural_Differences; *Cultural Education; Curriculum Development; Discipline; Educational History; Educational Testing; Elementary Secondary Education; *English iSecond Language); Language Arts; Mathematics Curriculum; Parent Role; Parent Teacher Cooperation; Physical Education; Readirg Instruction; Science Curriculum; *Second Language Instruction; Self Concept; Social Studies; Teacher Attitudes; *Teaching Methods IDENTIFIERS Oral Tradition ABSTRACT Ideas about resources and methods especially appropriate for Indian students are presented in this book of 19 chapters by 17 authors. The bulk of the material is addressed to non-Native teachers, and teaching motWs do not require knowledge of a Native American language. The opening chapter lays out evidence of the need for improving Native American education_and_describes problems contributing to poor_achievement ranging_from cultural differences to_irrelevant_curriculum. A chapter on bilingual education presents a rationale and_defines components of successful programsA discussion of seIfconcept and the Indian student urges teachers to ezpect success, respect students and their 1culture, 1and give students responsibility. Instructional methods and selected bibliographies are presented in chapters on reading comprehension,_ reading material selection# teaching Native_American_Iiterature, the whole_Ianguage approacht_and_Raiglish_as a_second language for Indian students._Specific_chapters_cover_sociaI studies, science, Mathematicsoand physical education curriculum for Native American students. Two chapters on Indian parents focus1 on children's early interactional experiences at home as they relate to later_academic achievement and recommend ways to address parental involvement. Additional chapters deal with effective discipline for the Native American_student, testing, and preserving Indian culture through oral literature. (JNZ) _- MISSION-TCYREPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTEDBY IOW -A4/1"h6T-- TO THEEDUCATIONALREVOURCES INFORMATION CENTER IC)." A Bilingual/Multicultural Approach Edited by Dr. Jon Reyhner L911 EiSTER11 aprair MONTANA COLLEGE Acknowledgements This book would not have been possible without the generous ceopration of the contributing authors. Acknowledgement must also be made to earlier efforts in In- dian education which this ho-ok utklates but by no means replaces. Special_comment needs to be made ahout 1RObert A. Roessel, Jr.'s _Handbook For indion_Education and Miles V. Zintz's RdtacoOn Across Cultures. Both books_ greatly influ- enced the editor vlien be startml teaching on the Navajo Reserva- tion fifteen years ago without any experience with Indians or In- dian education. The case studies and autobiographical accounts of Indian students' school experiences in these books are particu- larly _interesting. _However, both beam practically ignore bi- lingua education since they were pFmted before the current rise of interest in this field. The Klitorial assistance of Charles Rightzare and Dr. Hap Gillihuld was greatly appreciated elong with the administrative support of Dr. Benedict Surwill, Dean,School of Education; Dr. Harry LwAssittant to the Dean; and Dr. Ricardo Garcia, Chair, Divieion of Elementazy and Seeondary Education. Finally, the fifst_pimting_a_ this boOk man made_ possible though grant OG008300151 from_the U.& Department ofEduca- don as part of a Dean's Grant to improve the quality of and to in- stitutionalize bilingual teacher training within the School of Education at Eastern Montana College. However, opinions ex- presied herein do not necesiarily reflect the position of the U.S. Department of E_ducation or Eastenz Montana College and no of= ficia endorsement is implied. Eastern Montana College Billings, MT 59101 Copyright © 1986- by the individual chapter jailors Third Printing, 1987. Funding for the third printing was pro- vided by Eastern Montana College. cover by Jcw3 Heins Table of Contents Preface Introduction vi E The Need for an Adapted Curriculum Hap Gillulànd .......... ...... .... ....... .... ..... 2: Bilingual Education: Teaching the Native Language Jan Reyhner .....12 3: The Historical Background _of Indian Education Jeanne Eder cuidJon Reyhner 31 4: Self Concept_and the Indian Student Hap Gilliland .. ................ ....... 57 5: Improving Reading Comprehension of Indian Students Daniel L. Pearce 70 6: Selecting Reading Material for Indian Students Itap Giattand 83 7: Teaching Native American Litere.-ure JamesSaurennon 91 8: The Whole Language Approach to lAnguage Arts for the Indian_ Student Sandra Pox 103 9: English-as acond Language for the Indian Student Rachel Schaffer 114 10: aocial Studies and the Native American C Adrian Heitknreith . 134 11: Teaching Science to the Native American Student Carlos I. Ovando 159 12: Mathematics and the Indian Student David M. Davison and Duane B. Schindkr 178 13: Using Microcomputers in Bilingual Education 4. W.-St:rick-rand . ... .... .. ........ 14: Physical Education for the Indian Student Robert W. Grueninger 201 15: Parents: The Indian Child's First Teachera Sandra Kay Streeter 214 16: Teachers and Parente: Working Together Dick Little Bear 222 17: Discipline_and the Indian Student Hap Gilliland- 232 18: Testing and Evaluation in Multicultural School§ Russell Lord 242 19: PreServing_Indian Culture through Oral Literature Sandra A. RiOtz 255 6 Pre ace This book is designed to aid teachers with ideas about resources and _methods especiallyappropriateforIndian students. information in the chapters of Teaching the Indian Chitd is not meant to replace material in standard methOds courses in education but is meant_to supplement that material. It iS alai not meant to replace standard works iii iñiáñiñdBi! lingtal Education, only to update them, to give new teachers an idea of what resources and materials are available, and to make some ideas from those standard works more readily available to educators of Indian students. Good teachers_ have always recognized the individual background and character of _each student and_have takemadvan- tage of those unique characteristics when planning leRcnne. This book hoves to provide the good teacher of Indian students with some teaching methods and materials they will find especially useful. The editor would appreciate negative and positive feed- back from the field as to the usefulness of the material in this book- Its purrme will onlyloe served if Indian children have a better schoolaxperience, froth both academicand personal stand- points, as a result of ideas taken from this book and put to use by educators of Indian youth. Jon Reyhner, Assistant Professor Eastern Montana College INTRODUCTION Perhaps the greatest effect on American educationalre form came from the report, A Nation at Risk: TheImperative for Educational Reform, April 26, 1963, issued_ by the National Conunission on Excellence in Education. This educationreport Was reaVonsible for creating,Irom the pubhca mandato for re- forming the educational system that hasnever been seen before in this country. A very cogent point made in thisreport is that part of what if; at risk is the promise first madeon this coati- tient: All, regardleseof race or class or economic status,are entitled to a fair chanceand to the tools for developing their individual powers_of mind and spirit to the utmost. Thia promise_means that all children by virtue of theirown et= forts, competently guided, can hope to attain the nature and informed judgment needed to secure gainful employment and to manage their own lives, thereby serving not only their own interest but the progress of society itself.(13. 9) TO bagio With, being an American Indian in itself is_ no Pro- blem; hotvever, being an American Indian andgrowing upend go- ing U) schml ina nonrIndian environment anchor:lay frequently hie PrOblem. Children_fromthe dominant American culture grow up experiencingandbeing influenced by one predominant way of life while American Indian children grow up experiencing at least two very different views of the world they live in. Tim often teachers and other school personnel are oblivioui of the fact that American Indian students undergo traumatic -alitural_conThetk whila attending-schoolSadly,--many-of these-- studenti devdop strong feelings of alienation and soon learn_to withdraw psycholOgically and, in time, physically; Theschool drorioutrate by American Indian studenteisamong the highest in our country. This_bigh _dropout rate isattributed to the lack of relevantturricula and the poor self image of Indian students. A National Education Association publication, American In- &art/Alaska Native Education, estimates that tfrenty-five p4r- cent of American Indian children begin tchOol unable to Spnak English (1983, p. 27).