Throughout this booklet the directions
have been guided by the many books and general treatises from qualified leaders
in American education. All who have
been exposed to the insightful writings about education from such a renown
publisher as Jossey-Bass and the myriad of professional journals, should
recognize that the fields of American higher education are very well researched.
The one shortcoming that professional educators do acknowledge is in the
relatively new and incomplete data that has been compiled relative to minority
cultural learning practices.
The Native American Indian Culture is one of the inadequately researched
and documented areas. Those who
teach in Native American Indian colleges (most particularly non Native American
Indian instructors – who comprise the majority of teachers in some Indian
colleges) are often faced with the dilemma of adjusting to the several different
concepts of learning as evidenced by the unique cultural backgrounds they face
in the classrooms.
Hap Gilliland, Teaching the Native American, states that the
teacher cannot make assumptions as to the learning style of the individual.
He further notes, “Although the majority of Native Americans are good
visual learners, there will be a great variety in every classroom, and some
students will be auditory learners… The more verbal teacher must be careful to
fully utilize the observational and imaging skills of the students.”
The following quotes from Gilliland serve to make some cogent points,
i.e., evaluating the learning of Native American Indians is not always testable
by most standards patterns of evaluation:
A)
“We need… to show our respect for indigenous knowledge.
By indigenous knowledge, we mean sources of knowledge and skills that are
not derived from books, knowledge that is integrated into everyday life,
knowledge gained from living, acquired through direct experience and
participation in real-life experiences.” P. 53
B)
In many Native American homes, the mother guides the learning by
modeling household duties expected of children. Children learn through observing over along period of time,
then begin to practice the skill as they feel secure in doing so.
It can be expected then, that children accustomed to learning through
imitation may appear hesitant when expected to do a task after only being told
to do it. Pp. 54-55
C)
At an informal party among strangers, a majority of non-Indians try
to make talk with whoever will listen. They
feel compelled to act, to make contact, to cover their uneasiness with talk,
with action. Traditional Indians,
on the other hand, will stand or sit quietly, saying nothing, watching,
learning, trying to discover what is expected of them, and speaking only when
they are sure of themselves. White
people find their place by active experimentation, Indians by quiet alertness.
Pp. 57-58
You
who are teachers in this setting, must be aware of the fact that all the rules
that were learned in methods classes in traditional teacher training colleges
may have to undergo severe modification, and your personal perceptions of what
is relevant in teaching some classes should be carefully considered and analyzed
in light of the differing cultures you may face in the classroom.