Alaska Native educators have developed standards that schools and communities can use to examine the extent to which they are attending to the educational and cultural well-being of their students. These "cultural standards" are intended to complement Alaska state content and performance standards. Standards have been developed for five…

This document contains the five issues of "Sharing Our Pathways" published in 2002. This newsletter of the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative (AKRSI) documents efforts to make Alaska rural education--particularly science education--more culturally relevant to Alaska Native students. Articles include "Nurturing Native Languages"…

A survey and interviews examined the beliefs of traditional and contemporary Navajos concerning individuals with disabilities. Participants were 30 staff members from the Kayenta and Pinon Unified School Districts (Arizona), of whom 21 were Navajos, 8 Anglos, and 1 Hispanic; 1 Anglo and 8 Navajo community professionals; and 15 Navajo parents,…

The Fairbanks American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) Science Camp was designed for Alaska Native middle school students from 11 school districts. The camp enables students to learn from Native Elders while completing hands-on science projects; stimulates interest and confidence in mathematics, science, and engineering among Alaska…

This book is an appeal to First Nations leaders in Canada to promote educational integration--a mixing of ideas in which non-Aboriginal people are taught those elements of Native culture and philosophy that support a reverence for the Earth and all living things. The benefits of such an undertaking cannot be overemphasized since the very existence…

Native identity as conceived by Native people is not incorporated meaningfully into Ontario's rational, standardized curriculum. The omission of Native languages and understandings perpetuates the erroneous colonial notion of Native inferiority. First Nations education as sui generis should affirm the Native way of life through the use of Native…

This paper explores teaching strategies for communicating complex issues and ideas to a diverse group of students, with different educational and vocational interests, that encourage them to develop critical thinking, and explores pedagogies appropriate to the multidisciplinary field of Aboriginal studies. These issues will be investigated through…

As part of her Graduate Diploma in Secondary Education course, Verushka Taylor was asked to imagine how issues the Social Contexts of Secondary Education class was reading about and discussing impact upon the work of teachers. To that end, students were asked to think deeply about one of the topics addressed in the semester, and to frame a…

Wherever colonizers have overwhelmed and marginalized Indigenous peoples, the educational system has failed these populations because it has been racialized and hegemonic, Eurocentric practices have subverted other ways of knowing. Despite the diversity of today's classrooms, minority world views are not provided space within educational…

Visits to rural indigenous communities in Oaxaca (Mexico) exposed Vermont teachers and university students to cultures that recognize the interconnectedness of life and caused them to reflect on how different cultural patterns promote or hinder ecologically sustainable living. The communities' efforts to incorporate their culture and language into…

Examines differences in theoretical assumptions between mainstream science classrooms and American Indian traditional thought systems. Provides examples of culturally relevant science programs that overlook these differences, resulting in damage to traditional knowledge. Calls for culturally relevant programming that recognizes the legitimacy of…

Inspired by the Alaska Native Knowledge Network's "Standards for Culturally Responsive Schools," members of fourteen social justice, peace, and environmental education (SJPEE) special interest groups (SIGs) from the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and several other prominent organizations have been involved in drafting SJPEE…

The aim of this article is to analyze the nature of the historical and contemporary social contexts within which applied linguistics in Africa emerged, and is currently practiced. The article examines the challenges "local" applied Linguistics in Africa is confronted with as it tries to amplify applied linguistic programs emanating from…

The Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative (AKRSI) was established in 1994 to develop pedagogical practices that incorporate the indigenous knowledge systems of Alaska Native peoples into formal educational programs. The statewide project is organized around five initiatives, each of which is implemented in one Native cultural region at a time on a…

Information Technology and Indigenous People provides theoretical and empirical information related to the planning and execution of IT projects aimed at serving indigenous people. It explores many cultural concerns with IT implementation, including language issues and questions of cultural appropriateness, and brings together cutting-edge…