Supporting Indigenous

Paraprofessionals Katie Archer Olson MAT ECE –Chair Paraprofessional Ed

Overview of session

Identification of Indigenous

People and Representation in the field of

education

Impact on instruction

learning and assessments

Ways to supportParaprofessionals

IDENTIFICATION OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE AND REPRESENTATION IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION

Pass out rocks

What do you think of when the word indigenous is used?

What group(s) of people come to mind? Choose one

group.

What images, smells, tastes, rituals, languages, clothing,

locations, etc. does the word conger up?

Take a moment to draw/write these on the paper

provided on your tables.

Identification of Indigenous People

Ide

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The United Nations describes indigenous as:

Cultures that are not from the dominant culture

Origins from pre-colonial….pre-settler of western society

Distinct language, political, social and subsistence lifestyle

Resolve to maintain ancestral lifestyle, customs, traditions

IMPACT ON INSTRUCTION LEARNING AND ASSESSMENTS

A Look at Research

HOW DO DOMINATE CULTURES PERCEIVE EDUCATION, LEARNING AND UNDERSTANDING (COMPETENCIES) VS. INDIGENOUS?

Break up into small groups and do a comparison with the paper provided

(Barnhardt & Kawagley, 2011)

(Barnhardt & Kawagley, 2011)

(Barnhardt & Kawagley, 2011)

Collect rocks Denina language

The Center for World Indigenous studies states that there are approximately 370 million indigenous people in the world and out of the 7 thousand known spoken languages, indigenous people contribute to more than 4 thousand of those languages.

The United Nations quoted people of declining languages:-”If I forget my native speech, and the songs that my people singWhat use are my eyes and my ears? What use is my mouth?”

-How can I believe the foolish ideaThat my language is weal and poorIf my mother’s last wordsWere in Evenki?

What does learning look like for many indigenous

cultures

Oral language as a primary way to

preserve culture

Intentional Non-Verbal

Communication

Strong sense of connection to the natural world for

survival

Teach by working side by side

Strong connection to family and community

Different circadian clock

Life Pace is much slower

Examples of Indigenous Learning

http://www.uaf.edu/mcc/culture-and-math/videos/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUYH4zDegnM

Two examples of Alaska Native Learning

Math and Literacy

What does the teaching instruction look like in the lesson?What was the goal/purpose of the lesson?In what ways could the “teacher” gauge the competencies of their students?How might the students transfer this information to their lives? How might this look different if a non-native teacher was teaching the same concept?

“Indigenous youth struggle to find relevance in classrooms that make little or no effort to represent their histories, values, perspectives, and world views”(Hare & Pidgeon, 2011).

As we look at an underrepresentation of indigenous educators we must be mindful to allow for Western academic gain while students retain and value indigenous contributions to subject matter (Meaney & Evans, 2012). -Bridging learning

Supporting Indigenous Paraprofessionals

Have people find their rocks

Value their contributions to nurture their native language

Value the contribution of sharing perspectives

Transference of life and self-regulating skills

Encourage post-secondary education programs that focus on supporting indigenous professionals

http://www.ed.gov/edblogs/whiaiane/tribes-tcus/tribal-colleges-and-universities/