Native Americans and Early Literacy Education

Mar 13, 2011
Stacia Levy

Gathering of Nations Pow Wow - Freedigitalphotos.net/EA

Currently primary-aged children of Native groups suffer educational inequities, particularly in the area of literacy, that are well-documented.

Native Americans and Early Literacy Education

Currently primary-aged children of Native groups suffer educational inequities, particularly in the area of literacy, that are well-documented, due to the lingering effects of a past history of colonialism and its typical policies of forced assimilation. The dropout rate for American Indians is close to 35% compared to 25% for the national average, and only 9% have completed a bachelor’s degree, compared to a 20% national average, according to the Capital Area Indian Resource Center (CAIR) (2007). Many tribes live in geographic and social isolation and third-world type of conditions, according to LaPointe and LaMer, representatives of CAIR, in a 2008 interview.

The primary schools years are especially critical to literacy because “at around the third grade, ‘learning to read’ shifts to developing competency in ‘reading to learn,’” Reyhner states in "Teaching Reading to American Indian/Alaska Native Students," (2001, p.2, ERIC Document 459972, ERIC Document Reproduction Service), Naive Americans may have trouble with this transition, according to The Nation's Report Card. Past and current polices are inadequate, resulting in an achievement gap between native and mainstream groups.

Past Policy and Literacy Programs for Native Groups

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, federal policy of educating American Indian/Alaska Native youth, specifically through the program of Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding schools, was oppressive and oriented on assimilating these youth into mainstream culture in a form of “cultural genocide," according to CAIR (2007). Much of “instructional time” was spent on religious indoctrination and hard labor (CAIR, 2007). Such policies and programs set the stage early for conflicts between the mainstream educational system and Native groups.

Current Literacy Programs and Native Americans

Today “fewer American Indian and Alaska Native students are achieving proficiency than their counterparts,” Nelson states in Learn-Ed. Nation’s Inventory: A Tool for Improving Schools with American Indian and Alaska Native Students. (Northwest Regional Education Lab, 2002, p. v).This is particularly felt in reading/literacy rates, with only 43% of Native Amercians reading at or above a basic level compared to the 73% of their white counterparts, according to The Nation's Report Card ( 2001). They often have little grasp of the basics and are often below grade level in achievement, according to Quintero,a representative of CAIR, in a 2007 personal interview. Numerous causes of this might be considered.

To begin, there is a discordance of school/native culture. According to Chavers, in Exemplary Programs in Indian Education (Albuquerque, NM: Catching the Dream Found, 1999), typical American Indian/Alaska Native values are collective in orientation, rather than individualistic, focused on the present rather than the future, and holistic rather than analytical and sequential, linked to families and communities,” putting it at opposition with Western values and worldviews which are practiced in the mainstream classroom through such customs as working individually on papers and tests (getting or giving help might be considered “cheating”), studying for long periods of time for some future payoff, and taking apart such academic forms as essays and math equations for analysis.

Other issues, such as cultural stereotyping, and misinterpretation of Indian culture, may lead to a sense of isolation among American Indian/Alaska Native youth, according to Quintero (2007). American Indian/Alaska Native students may feel isolated and humiliated by negative and wrong stereotyping, according to CAIR (2007).

For example, “Even though Indians had no prior concept off the total war that was forced upon them, and despite the fact that we had peace leaders who struggled diligently to avoid hostilities, it is Indians who remain stereotyped as ‘warriors,’ ‘braves,’ and ‘savages’… In more than 90 California public schools, our youth are forced to see themselves as warlike caricatures’” through such images as Indian mascots," Hook states, in The Problem with Indian Mascots in Schools. (Adapted for the Alliance Against Racial Mascots)

Mismatch between Native Learning Styles and School Curriculum

Besides the different learning styles between Native American and school culture, there are also differences in teaching styles and teacher routines and a general mismatch between these teachers’ routines and American Indian/Alaska Native students’ learning styles, For example, it is wrong in American Indian/Alaska Native culture to force your will on someone else, which creates conflict in traditional classrooms where the teacher is regarded as the authority who “controls” the class. In addition, American Indian/Alaska Native students tend to learn in social groups with adults present, by observing adults who model behavior in activities. This is again different from the typical pattern of American classrooms, where children are segregated by ages and from adults during learning and play tasks much of the day.

Native American and Alaska Native children might also speak a different dialect of English or, in some cases, their Native language. This factor, not speaking the standard language of instruction, can limit the number of words children can decode using the phonics method currently prevalent in reading instruction, with its drills in the connection between sound and the written symbol.

This method is designed for standard English speakers, and students taught to decode words that are not in their oral vocabulary end up just “sounding out” words without understanding of the word or the text, according to St. Charles and Constantino, in "Reading and the Native American Learner." (Research report. Olympia, WA: Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Office of Indian Education, 2000).

Finally, students might come to school with a negative attitude about reading and school success. “Centuries of experience with literacy helped produce a positive view of reading and education among people of European descent. Further, reading is central to Christianity because of the importance of the Bible reading. However, some Native Americans have negative attitudes towards literacy because of this very association with European ‘conquerors,’ Christian missionary efforts, and repressive Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) boarding schools in the past,” Reyhner states (2001, p. 4.)

However, Reyhner is quick to further elaborate, it is a mistake to consider that reading and literacy is a “white” activity, and literacy is critical for any child’s survival today.

Current School Policies and Programs Are Inadequate

Finally, one the largest issues in education today is the 2001 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Act or No Child Left Behind (NCLB), with its heavy emphasis on standardized curriculum and testing and need to quantifiably demonstrate progress.

While according to some experts like Fox in "American Indian/Alaska Native Education and Standards-based Reform" (ED 459039, 2001) state that there is some promise for American Indian/Alaska Native education in the content standards, with its clear objectives and common curriculum, in many ways NCLB has failed to live up to its promise.

For example, “standardized, norm-referenced, and multiple choice tests are thought to by some to be culturally biased, In addition, performance on standardized tests is correlated with socioeconomic status, according to the organization FAIRTEST, in Implementing Performance Assessments: A Guide to Classroom School and System Reform. (1995). Many Native American children are poor, again putting them at odds, culturally, with the test.

Finally, there is a concern over inadequate assessment of culturally and linguistically diverse students and lack of focus on parent involvement, according to Beaulieu in Testimony before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on the FY2006 budget request. National Indian Education Association. In fact, NCLB has been characterized as a reaction against multiculturalism and bilingualism.

Other programs, such as Head Start, have met with more success. Head Start has been called “vital” to Indians and critical to self-sufficiency, according to LaMer and LaPoint ( 2008). 28% of tribes participate, with a total of 23,000 children, according to the National Indian Association.

Recommendations: Other Instructional Approaches

Other approaches that have seen some success with Native populations include the “Language Experience Approach,” in which the teacher writes down actual words students have used in some activity, such a storytelling. The words taken down then become the basis for teaching phonics, vocabulary, and grammar. An advance to this approach is “using the language experience approach can ensure that the words the students decode are in their oral vocabulary, often not the case with commercial materials,” Reyhner states (2001, p. 2).

Many educational experts concerned with these problems in the education of minority students call for a “culturally responsive” curriculum and its three essential components necessary to address the needs of children from diverse cultures: it appreciates children’s home cultures and attempts to build on students’ existing to knowledge and language.

A culturally responsive curriculum also promotes interaction and collaboration between children and adults and children and children. Such a curriculum also does not distinguish between minority and mainstream students in standards and expectations. Finally, such a curriculum recognizes the connection between children’s home literacy and school literacy.

Suggestions for Future

There is a need for further research on the effectiveness of education on literacy groups and a change in policies to address their specific needs. More input from Native groups themselves about their educational needs should be sought, according to Beers (1989). Increased funding should be sought, and a blueprint for Indian education and teaching new strategies should be designed, according to the Transition Paper (2004).

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, there is a “critical need for connecting education to language and culture and linking the school to the community’s purposes,” according to Gover in The Coolanggatta Statement on Indigenous Rights in Education (1999). For example, more focus should be placed on the learning styles common to Native groups, such as cooperative learning and materials that relate to Native American experiences.

In conclusion, we should enhance Native students’ achievement through “culturally responsive pedagogies,” helping educators gain the necessary skills for designing curriculum that is culturally and socially appropriate.