Essay on Teaching Native American Youth

Education has been a topic of controversy for many years now, and will continue to be for years to come. The modern American society is best defined by its education. A good part of the average person’s life is spent at school, going to school, and paying for school. However, even though education is so obviously very important, there are many groups in America that are getting shorted. The Native Americans are a key group that has struggled the most. The largest obstacle they face is lack of proper education. The standard educational practices being used for the instruction of Native American peoples are not effective. There are many pieces to this road-block, and many solutions. This can be rectified by having more culturally

At the outset, data indicates that Alaska native students fall behind non-natives in academics at Alaska

The modern American society is best defined by its education. The “American dream” is founded on going to school, getting a good job, and becoming successful. Ironically, the actual native peoples of this country are actually the least likely to attain this dream. The largest obstacle they face is lack of proper education. The standard educational practices being used for the instruction of Native American peoples is not effective. There are many pieces to this road-block, and many solutions. This can be rectified by having more culturally aware teachers and parents, and by teaching the general population more about the Native American cultures.

Despite the challenges and changes that still need to be made to insure no Aboriginal Child is left behind, there are changes currently being made that show the benefits of a culturally responsive program and bring hope to the future of Aboriginal early childhood education. The Aboriginal Head Start early childhood education program is slowly expanding. As well other programs have developed, like Awasisk Cultural Development Program in Prince George, British Columbia that uses Metis curriculum and Mannawasis AHS programs that teaches both Cree and English (Nguyen, 2011). I believe that these programs are the foundation for a future where all Aboriginal children have an opportunity to be educated through their cultural traditions and language.

This was a very important report because prior to it, Native American children were being sent to boarding schools were their heritage was frowned upon. “Recommendations included building day schools in Native American communities and the reform of boarding schools for Native American children.” (Parkay, F. 2001) This report was considered a landmark one because of the issues it highlighted of the educational issues plaguing the Native American community at the

Native Americans on the reservations are at socially and economically disadvantage compared to persons who reside in metropolitan cities. Life advancement opportunities and individual accountability for better living standards are almost non-existence in many Native American communities. The environment that is around young adolescents are very

Perhaps it is no surprise that, not providing libraries etc. within the Attawapiskat temporary schools due to poor funding, leads Indigenous student to have a low academic achievement. Therefore, poor funding and under resources of schools on reserves like Attawapiskat is another direct reason why Indigenous students are more likely not to finish high school in comparison to non-indigenous (Pidgeon, 2015). Hence, their inability to finish high school will affect their ability to obtain greater life chances of employment.

The education system has demonstrably undermined the educational needs of Indigenous students in the past (Fletcher, 1989 and Eades, 1995 as stated In Hanlen; 2002). Though there has been much support invested through the use of money, programs and time, all working towards a decent objective in Indigenous education, there has still been minor developments in the results of indigenous education (Hanlen, 2002).

A trending issue throughout Native American tribes is low high school graduation rates and high retention rates. There are many reasons why these rates are so low and the national and local governments are working hard to solve these problems. Some reasons why these schools have such high retention rates are the fact there is very little recognition for schools, the lack of a more modern learning environment,and situations such as teen pregnancies, substance abuse, and household situations. These all have a direct correlation to why Native American youth have such high retention rates.

As in these past decades many of the young Indigenous people in reservations are not able to fulfill their dream to become someone in life due to poverty. “High school graduation rates are also among the lowest of any population. In the states with the most American Indians, less than 50% of Native students graduate, on average” (). There is a tremendous effect of poverty that takes a toll on young Native Americans dreams and future in reservations. “ Roughly 51 percent of Native American students in the class of 2010 earned a high school diploma.

As stated by Heather Sholten, author of the newspaper article "State of Emergency for Indian Education", she explains that "The problems of native students begins long before they reach high school. The percentage of American Indians and Alaska Native fourth-graders scoring below basic on the national assessment of educational progress increased by two points between 2005 and 2011 – – even as a percentage of fourth-graders struggling in math declined by five points in that same period." This quote highlights how early educational problem may begin well before students even enter high school. This means that we should focus more on early education, rather than trying to fix the problem while they’re in high school.

Cheryl Crazy Bull has a firm focus on the important role of Native American education in creating self-determination for Native American peoples. “Our mission is to promote indigenous self-determination and knowledge through education. Self-determination means choice, access, and control over human and natural resources.” Crazy Bull also believes in fostering community links and in the reclamation of Native research by Native peoples. Tribal schools and their partners at other colleges should be utilizing research, not simply to gain status for themselves, but to reinvigorate the community. Research should be utilized to re-invigorate Native languages and cultural practices. Knowledge should not be horded, but shared with the community

The initiative focuses on how First Nation, Métis, and Inuit histories, cultures, and perspectives are being incorporated into many areas of the elementary and secondary curriculum. This will help both Aboriginal students and the rest of Ontario’s students. For Aboriginal students, the curriculum helps foster a sense of identity and positive self-image. For the rest of Ontario’s students the new dimension to the curriculum adds rich opportunities to explore, learn about, and appreciate Aboriginal communities and how they add to our province 's culture.

Culturally Responsive Teaching is a pedagogy that recognizes the importance of including students' cultural references in all aspects of learning (Ladson-Billings, 1994). This approach to teaching encompasses how knowledge is both communicated and perceived by the students. The teacher must have a good relationship with the parents, have high expectations, learn about their students culture, have culturally mediated student-centered instruction, willing to reshape the curriculum, and be a facilitator in order to accomplish this method of teaching. These are key points a teacher must be willing to do if they intend to be an effective teacher especially in a highly culturally diverse area like central

The first issue at hand for the Native-Americans is poor academic achievement. It has been that…”the Native-American lives and education has been under the control of the federal and state governments” (McNamara & Burns, 2009, p. 135). This is due because the unfortunate