Indigenous education


Indigenous education specifically focuses on teaching Indigenous knowledge, models, methods, and content in both formal and informal settings. The growing recognition and use of Indigenous education methods can be a response to the erosion and loss of Indigenous knowledge through the processes of colonialism, globalization, and modernity. It also encompasses the teaching of Indigenous history, culture, and languages.
Indigenous peoples' right to education is recognized in Article 14 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples makes particular reference to the educational rights of Indigenous peoples in Article 14. It emphasizes the responsibility of states to adequately provide access to education for Indigenous people, particularly children, and when possible, for education to take place within their own culture and to be delivered in their own language.

Cultural context in the Americas

A growing body of scientific literature has described Indigenous ways of learning, in different cultures and countries. Learning in Indigenous communities is a process that
involves all members in the community.
The learning styles that children use in their Indigenous schooling are the same ones that occur in their community context. These Indigenous learning styles often include observation, imitation, use of narrative/storytelling, collaboration, and cooperation, as seen among American Indian, Alaska Native and Latin American communities. This is a hands-on approach that emphasizes direct experience and learning through inclusion. Learners feel that they are vital members of the community and are encouraged by community members to participate in meaningful ways. Children often effectively learn skills through this system without being taught explicitly or in a formal manner. This differs from Western learning styles, which tend to include methods such as explicit instruction, in which a figure of authority directs the learner's attention and gives them tests and quizzes. Creating an educational environment for Indigenous children that is consistent with upbringing, rather than an education that follows a traditionally Western format, allows children to retain knowledge more easily because they learn in a way that was encouraged from infancy within their family and community.
Akhenoba Robinson further said that traditional Western methods of education generally disregard the importance of Indigenous cultures and environmental contributions, which results in a lack of relevance for students of aboriginal backgrounds. Modern schools have a tendency to teach skills stripped of context, which has a detrimental impact on Indigenous students because they thrive off educational environments in which their cultures and languages are respected and infused in learning. Various aspects of Indigenous culture need to be considered when discussing Indigenous learning, such as content, social culture/interactions, and cognitive culture.

Classroom structure

According to a 2019 publication by Akhenoba Robinson, the structure of Indigenous American classrooms that reflect the organization of Indigenous communities eliminates the distinction between the community and classroom and makes it easier for students to assimilate the material. Effective classrooms modeled off of the social structure of Indigenous communities are typically focused on group or cooperative learning that provides an inclusive environment. A key factor for successful Indigenous education practices is the student-teacher relationship. Classrooms are structured so that teachers share control with students. Instead of an authoritative role, teachers act as co-learners, balancing personal warmth with academic expectations. In Mexico, teachers allow students to move freely around the classroom to consult peers and seek occasional guidance from instructors.
Teachers in Indigenous classrooms in a community in Alaska rely on group work, encourage the students to watch each other as a way to learn, and avoid singling out students for praise, criticism, or recitation. Praise by Western standards is minimal in Indigenous classrooms, and when it is given, it is for effort, not for providing a correct answer to a question. Classroom discourse in Indigenous classrooms is an example of how the teacher shares control with the students. Observations in the Yup'ik and Mazahua communities show that Indigenous teachers are less likely to solicit an answer from an individual student, but rather encourage all of the students to participate in classroom discourse. In the Yup'ik classroom, direct questions are posed to the group as whole, and the flow of the discussion is not the sole responsibility of the teacher. Classrooms in Indigenous communities that incorporate Indigenous ways of learning utilize open-ended questioning, inductive/analytical reasoning, and student participation and verbalization in group settings.

''Escuela Unitaria'' (one-room one-teacher)

In 2019, A. Robinson wrote that Escuela Unitaria is a one-room, one-teacher style of schooling that is used in some rural communities, which utilizes ways of learning common in some Indigenous or Indigenous-heritage communities in the Americas. The school serves up to six grades in a single classroom setting with smaller groups in the classroom. Community involvement is strongly implemented in the management of the school. Learning activities are not just inside the classroom but also outside in the agricultural environment. Children are self-instructed and the content involves the students' rural community and family participation. The school is structured to meet cultural needs and match available resources. This classroom setting allows for a collaborative learning environment that includes the teacher, the students, and the community. Integration of cultural knowledge within the curriculum allows students to participate actively and to have a say in the responsibilities for classroom activities.

Spirituality

Indigenous students make meaning of what they learn through spirituality. Spirituality in learning involves students making connections between morals, values and intellect rather than simply acquiring knowledge. Knowledge to Indigenous people is personal and involves emotions, culture, traditional skills, nature, etc. For this reason, Indigenous students need time to make connections in class, and often benefit from a safe and respectful environment that encourages discussions among students.
A 2007 study by Gilliard and Moore presented the experiences of eight Native American educators, focusing on the impact of having family and community culture included in the curriculum. Typically, tribal K-12 schools on the reservation have majority European American teachers. This study differs in that sense by studying educators who are entirely of Native American background and their interactions with students and families. These educators reported that their interactions with families stem from respect and understanding. There were three categories that surfaced when understanding and defining culture; respect of children, families, and community, building a sense of belonging and community through ritual, and the importance of family values and beliefs.
  1. Respect of children, families, and community: Educators approached interactions in a reflective and respectful way when talking with children, families, and the community. Educators accepted practices concerning death in individual families. Educators made it a point to be aware of curricular activities that may offend certain tribes. Lastly, educators spoke in a soft, quiet, and gentle way to the children.
  2. Building a sense of belonging and community through ritual: Specific to the tribe on the Flathead Reservation, powwows are a community ritual that bring together families and community. Educators worked with families and their children to make moccasins, ribbon shirts and dresses, and shawls prior to the powwow, and included elements of a powwow into their classroom. For example, they keep a drum in the classroom to use for drumming, singing, and dancing.
  3. Importance of family values and beliefs: Educators give parents opportunities to be involved in day-to-day activities in and around the classroom, such as meal times, play time, holidays, and celebrations. Educators collaborate with parents regarding curriculum around holidays and cultural celebrations, reinforced the importance of speaking their tribal languages, clarified with parents what their home language is, and had respectful discussions around traditional values and beliefs that led to compromise, not isolation or separation.
The educators in this study worked on a daily basis to respect, plan, and learn about parents' beliefs and values so they can create a community culture linked to the school curriculum.
Similar to the previous study mentioned, Vaughn conducted a multiple case study of four Native American teachers and two European American teachers at Lakeland Elementary in 2016. The participants were asked to draw from influences, relationships, and resources of the local tribe, local and state practices, and knowledge of effective pedagogies to co-construct knowledge.
At the time this study was conducted, Lakeland Elementary was failing to meet No Child Left Behind's yearly progress in reading. State officials would come to observe teachers unannounced to make sure they were teaching the mandated literacy curriculum. This required the teachers to follow the literacy program, even though the curriculum seldom met the individual and specific linguistic and cultural needs of the majority of Native American students at the school.
The researcher focused on two questions, the first one being, "In what ways did these teachers approach developing a curriculum to support their students' social, cultural, and linguistic needs?" One theme that came up was "pedagogical re-envisioning", which refers to the pedagogies and understanding of culturally responsive teaching to address writing, along with the understanding that each student has individual needs. With such an understanding, teachers can let students include oral storytelling to personalize their learning. The second question was "What shifts in teachers' pedagogical practices resulted from this collaboration?" Four themes came up; cultural resources, working with the community, multimodal approaches, and integrating students' experiences and interests from their lives outside of school into the curriculum. By addressing these four themes, teachers were able to re-envision how curricula can meet individual needs for many Native American students without leaving out their interests, culture, or resources.