., CURRICULUM GUIDE FOR SPECIAL SIX=YEAR ADOLESCENT NAVAJO PROGRAM Including Minimum Essential Goals and Suggested Activities PART I (First~ Second 9 Third, and Fourth Years) Summer School Workshop~~l953 Intermediate Division, Intermountain School Brigham City, Utah P' ..,.. ...1 ,,.~. : · ·: :~, I' ' ' I • I < ol \. o' Il l,· .:, : I I I ' ' • I I ':' · ~' \ ..·:·. /:-:· '•·... /.. ' INTRODUCTION The Navajo Reservation~ -v.rhich is located in northern New Hexico and Arizona and extends a little into Utah, is nearly four times the size of the state of Hassachusettso The tribe numbers about 70,000. Approximately, 80 percent of the Navajo population is illiterateo There are school facilities for less than half the children of school age~ The median years of schooling for the tribe as a whole is less than one yearo It is estimated that the reservation could sustain about 35 9 000 people, if all resources known at the present time were fully developedo As it is:1 much of the land has been overgrazed and is eroded o Fru."'ming lands and water are ver;y limited for the whole tribe o }iany more people are try­ ing to secure a living from "\.tays they have known on the reservation than is possible Efforts are being made to help many of the Navajos find places to 1..rork and live off the reservationo They are seriously handicapped trying to live .in other parts of the country when they are unable to speak English} or 1.-rhen they have not gained the basic kno1.1ledges and skills of ru1 elementary educa~ tion and do not under,stand general customs and manners that differ from their 01m<» To help a larger number of Navajos acquire these necessary learnings, facilities in off=reservation boarding schools have been provided for boys and girls of t\·lelve to eighteen years of age who have had little or no previous school experienceo These schools are~ .Albuquerque Indian School 'i Albuquerque~ Nevi }iexico Car son Indian School ;- Ste1.vart, Nevada Chemawa Indian Scliool, Ohemawa, Oregon Chilocco Agricultural School ~ Chilocco 3 Oklahoma Concho Indian School, Concho ~ Oklahoma Intermountain School~ Brigham City, Utah Phoenix Indian School, Phoenix 7 Arizona Sherman Institute, River side~ California1~ For every one of the ·Navajo pupils in off""'reservation schools Sl there are approximately four others re""' maining on the reser-vation 1-1i th no schools available for themo ~2= The material in this guide is designed to meet the needs of this special group of near=adult Navajo pupils enrolled in these sch6olso Many knovJ' little · or no Englishc l· any are unfarnilia-r vJith any environment except the Navajo Reservationo The program outlined h~re aims in six years to make them literate and to equip them vl.i th skills · to earn a living. No attempt has been made in th..is guide to sho·w ho\-.r the material may be organized for daily use., The members of the staff at each school \.J"ork closely with a leader who helps them to acquire effective procedures and techniques suitable for older! non=English speru(ing beginners., This edition of the guide vias revised after two years of experience o The guide has been developed after two years of summer=school workshop with the people ·who have been concerned 1r1i th the programo This group included elementary teachers and super= visorso ~~ Navajo students of regular junior and senior high school grades are also per mitted to attend the Riverside ctnd Ft.() Sill Indian Schools in Oklahomao ~3 = THE SPECIAL NAVAJO PROGR.AN The Navajo Program is a six=year prog:r·am especially plarmed to give adult beginning Navajos (ages 12 to 18) an education that will equip them to earn a livelihoodooff. the reservation., Our aim is the total development of each childo The min:l.mum age level is 12 years s a_Yld the school \vork is aimed at permanent employnent, which in many states is li11dted to youths of 18 years or oldero Instruction is given in both English ru1d Navajo$ In the beginning the acquisition of neu ideas takes place through the use of Navajo., The acquisition of an English vocabu= J ary takes place as r.!lpidly as each pupil can learn English~ but no attempt is made to limit the pupil~s intellectual development to his ability to acquire English., vJhen the pupils have learned enough English to make it possible, some of th13 instruction, after it has been given in Navajo _, is put into simple English sen~ences ~ a..l').d the pupils learn to express in simple English the n.ew ideas they have acquired ., Thus 3 Navajo is used for three purposes g As a medium theough which nev ideas can be acquired more rapldly; as a basis for learning English.; and for tf!sting the understandings that pupils ha.ve gained tl'll:·ough English~ At the end of the six=year instructional period, it is expected that the pupil,:; \vill be thirlid.ng in English as well as i11 Navajo o The rni:l.terial in this guide outlines what i.s to be taughto Each teacher is free to use h.is or her o~r.rn creativeness in deterrr.Qning b.o·w it shall be taught so long as the following principles are observed ~ lo Teaching is to be based, as much as possible, on f:i.rstcoehand ex-perience-so 2$ Teaching is to be done in small g:roups4> A class of t:wenty-five may be divided into three,:~ fow:-) or five &Toups., The groups are flexible and changing so that the pupil may be .in one group for reading, "Hith a different g-.coup fot· arithmetic ]' and still anothe.c group fer shopo There will be ti.1ne.s when the tot•l1 g~coup participates in an activ:tty at t.he srune time., In classrooms of beg:bmers the.re is a classroom teacher and a teacher=interpreter, for- approxi..,...... mately 25 pupils., The classroom te!lc.her is respon;3ible for tho total program of his grou.po It is his responsibility to study each individual pupil in his group~ and in cooperat1on ·\Ji th others to provide the ex-periences · ~,;hich will affor'd every opportunity for maximum persona] i ty ~4- development and social adjust m.ent as wel l as to fB.cilitate the pupiJ.~s other learningsc The teacher plans daily lli th the inter preter the information the pupils are to get through the Navajo language o He plans regularly ~-:ri t h the home econor.1ics and shop teachers the prevocational experiences the group \rt.:tll have o These gro1..r out of the eyeryc-o day needs of pupils and form. a basis for much classroom worko This cooperative plan= ning is closely tied to the goalso The classroom teacher 3 insofar as poss ible~ folloHs his group through four years of their program, During this t:ilne the pupil looks to the teacher for guidance, both in personal and educational problemso During the fifth and sixth years of the pro§,L'am, the pupil specializes in a chosen vocation., At this point a vocational teacher becomes responsible fo:r. the total probram of the pupilJ and calls upon a classroom teacher to give the academic in=­ struction needed by the pupilo During the last t wo years of the progrruu it is the vocational teacber who ~ in cooperation \..ri th others 1 plans the experiences that the pupil will have so as to be able to give him an effective programo The general prevocational emphasis for each year is~ Second Yearg To develop good work habits and desirable attitudes toward worko To teach the pr oper care and use of hand tools and equipmentc Third Year~ To give general vocational experiences that will be practical wherever the student livesa on or off the reservationo One and one-half hours daily at scheduled periOds¢ Fourth Year g To give general exploratory experiences that will furnish enough background and experience in each vocation to enable him to analyze his interest in and aptitude for choosing a vocatione One and one=half hours daily at scheduled periodso The arrangement for carrying out the last two years is as followsg Fifth Year g The vocational teacher is now charged with the responsibility for directing the program of pupils in his group and providing for specialization in skills of a chosen vocationo In vocational classes~ emphasis is on instruction and not Rroductiono The equivalent of half tL~e is spent in vocations and half time in the classroomo Maintenance people may give the vocational instructor a list of jobs to be done around the planto The vocational instructor may check off those he wishes to use for practical instructiono =5= Sixth Yeax ~ Emphasis is on putting in a.."'l honest dayw s workj in vocational instructiono The equivalent of two-thirds to three-fourths time is spent in vocational instruction and in performing skills of the trade o One=fourth to one-third of the time is used for instruction in good living in any community o Maintenance people give the vocational instructor a list of jobs to be done at the planto The vocational in= structor checks off those .to be done by the pupil in learning his tradeo The vocational instructor ~ with the maintenance people 1 helps the pupil plan his work before the job is undertaken and to evaluate the performance after the job is com­ pletedo Vocational courses offered by this school are determined by job opport~ties within a 300 mile radius in the surrounding areaso Upon completion of the pupilUs aours~~ it is the responsibility of the school to help him find permanent employment in this areao' The school is also charged with the responsibility of keeping in touch with the pupil and of giving him the help and encouragement needed tmtil he has become firmly established in his job" It is -also the responsibility of the school to train the pupil for successful home living in an American community and to find a home where the pupi1.