Search

This dissertation targeted Indigenous educators who have affiliations with both the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes in the Wind River Reservation. The study analyzed how their perspectives around curriculum and pedagogy were impacted when they interacted with critical Indigenous education theory and conversed with Indigenous education scholars. The research questions were 1) What are the ways Indigenous educators can sustain Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho ways of life in the classroom?; 2) How will participants’ teaching philosophies change from their conversations with Indigenous scholars and their interactions with Indigenous education research?; 2a) How does this experience with Indigenous theories and scholars inform the ways in which Indigenous educators sustain Indigenous knowledge and values?; and 3) How can Indigenous educators incorporate Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho knowledge systems in curriculum and pedagogy? The study used qualitative methods and incorporated Indigenous qualitative research methods along with Indigenous knowledge systems. Data was gathered through self-reflective journal entries, pre/post interviews, and focus groups. Within the theme of relationality, subthemes emerged addressing Indigenous teachers’ relationality to community and school, Indigenous teachers’ relationships with students and their families, and relationality between teachers’ and students’ identities and curriculum. The second main theme was the teachers engaging with Indigenous theories and scholars. A subtheme that arose described the teachers’ personal reflections regarding Indigenous theories. A third main theme that occurred was experience with Indigenous theories and scholars and interactions with Indigenous knowledge and values. The subtheme for this theme analyzed teachers’ reflections after meeting Indigenous education scholars. The fourth main theme was contextualizing the process and how teachers engaged with critical Indigenous t

Sa’ah Naaghai Bik’eh Hozhoon (SBNH) is the framework to Hozho and living the Hozho Way of Life as Dine people. This dissertation draws on SNBH and family stories to learn from Dine high school students and their parents how to 1) support and prepare Dine high school students for career and post secondary pathways, living the Hozho Way of Life; 2) understand what a student living the Hozho Way of Life may look like in academic spaces; and 3) identify how Dine high school students can develop opportunities for post-secondary and career options. In this research, I used Dine epistemology of SNBH (Shirley, 2019) to base my study in Dine knowledge and an Indigenous research approach. I also collected student and parent stories using Storywork (Archibald, 2008). The voices of students, parents and myself resonate as we share heartfelt stories of our families, communities, and ways of living for this research. Each story is respected and honored as these voices come to life. I offer the stories of nine students and four parents, as they expressed their belief in living the traditional Dine Way of Life. I also show how, in interviews, students and parents shared lived experiences and insights into the concepts of harmony, beauty, happiness, and balance, the philosophy of Hozho. Dine high school students discussed how, through the principles of SNBH, youth can think, plan, live, and evaluate their college plans and future careers, and how 1) their beautiful thoughts give them direction; 2) their beautiful planning develops their goals; 3) beautiful thoughts affect their thoughts and plans; and 4) they have hope for new blessings. Overall, in the dissertation, I show how using the four principles of SNBH offers insight into the ways that Dine high school students can develop expectations, motivation, and confidence in their career and occupational pathways.

This critical Indigenous qualitative study seeks to examine Diné (Navajo) students’ struggle with success in American mainstream postsecondary institutions. The aim of this research is to explore Diné graduate college student narratives about mainstream higher education and their overall purpose for attending graduate school. The heart of this research is driven by the question: What is the main purpose Diné college students attend mainstream postsecondary institutions in the United States? Two additional questions served as guides: 1.) In what ways is Diné identity & culture important at mainstream postsecondary institutions? 2.) How can mainstream postsecondary institutions incorporate more culturally based frameworks to promote American Indian student success? This study uses the unique framework of Sa’ąh Naagháí Bik’eh Hózhóón (SNBH) philosophy of balance and harmony with the Ałchi Silah (Duality) paradigm identified in Diné Philosophy to examine the overall experiences of Diné college students. In addition, this study draws upon the theoretical framework of Tribal Critical Race Theory (TribalCrit) to map out the depth and scope colonialism and neocolonialism imposes on the experiences of Diné college students in the educational environment of policies and practices, theories(stories) and school traditions of mainstream postsecondary institutions. The specific connection to student success for Diné college students is the deconstruction and reconstruction of the Diné identity in relation to the cultural landscape of U.S. mainstream universities and colleges. A narrative based inquiry (storytelling) approach is utilized to uncover successes, obstacles, and misunderstood factors of mainstream higher education in the U.S. for Diné college students. This study proposes and recommends a Diné centered epistemology to reclaim Diné identity from the hold of 21st century colonialism. A Diné centered epistemology provides within mainstream postsecondary institutions, a sp

This qualitative self-study written as a memoir located in the Indigenous paradigm ― signals a reference of challenge to a western worldview. As Ary, Jacobs, Sorensen, & Walker, (2014) put it, “A key difference that has been difficult to understand from a Western perspective that values individual knowledge is the indigenous paradigm that knowledge is relational and shared with all creation” (p. 506). Tewa scholar Gregory A. Cajete’s (1994) personally designed and creative Pathway as “structure and process” of two Indigenous education models employed as methods and foundational characteristics of Indigenous education will aid to the discussion of the concepts Ary et al, mentions above, that is, that knowledge is relational and shared with all creation. Moreover, my overarching theoretical consideration positions relationships with the natural world through Indigenous environmental ecological notions of “natural community” and “natural democracy,” most effectively pioneered by Cajete’s (1994) creative design and research. As a site of exploration, Cajete’s (1994) book Look to the Mountain: An Ecology of Indigenous Education will be referred to when discussing the two models (1) The Connected Rings of Indigenous Visioning: The Vision, and (2) The Indigenous Stages of Developmental Learning: Finding the Center Completedness that includes interconnected features that complement the drive and flow of the memoir. Also, the interpretation of the memoir narrative takes into consideration the circular interconnected style of Cajete’s models with an emphasis on the nature of “intuitive logic and way of analysis” (p. 116) represented in Opaskwayak Cree scholar Shawn Wilson’s (2008) book Research Is Ceremony: Indigenous Research Methods. Wilson’s approach finds complementarity as it allows for an uninterrupted flow of lived personal and cultural learning experiences, i.e., intuitive and logic through an Indigenous self-study. My memoir explores areas of my life that are pivotal

This dissertation explores the accessibility of SAT and ACT standardized tests and related preparatory resources in relation to Native communities. The ultimate goal of this research is twofold. First, to help identify some of the barriers to educational access experienced by Native students, and second, to use this information to increase awareness of and make recommendation for addressing the varying levels of access Native students, both on and off reservations, have to the SAT and ACT tests and related preparatory resources. Utilizing a theoretical framework based in Tribal Critical Race Theory, this research employs a mixed-methods approach to data collection and analysis in recognition of the distinct roles both narratives and numbers can have in illuminating upon a particular issue. Personal narratives from thirteen Native college students and five school administrators exclusively within Arizona provided the qualitative data for this study. Additionally, publically-available annual reports and databases generated by the College Board and ACT, Inc. provided quantitative data on the location of testing centers in the state of Arizona, as well as national and Arizona-specific trends in American Indian student participation on the SAT and ACT as compared to their peers. This research identifies three key barriers to standardized testing – and access to higher education – experienced by students and school administrators within Native American communities: 1) lack of geographic accessibility of testing centers, 2) lack of accessibility of college and test preparation resources, and 3) lack of financial accessibility of taking the tests. Collectively, this research provides deeper insight into the role of standardized testing in Native students’ educational experiences, how this differs between on-reservation schools and off-reservation schools, and ways in which schools and organizations can cooperate to increase the accessibility of higher education for all Nati

Inquiry is a learning stance that affords students with a variety of engagements to learn about a concept. It is a collaborative process where students think together, work together and talk together to develop their understanding of the issue they face. Inquiry supports teachers in creating highly recommended learning environments for students. Educators know the importance of the relationship between teachers and students and the influence on students' learning development and achievement in school. These goals can be reached through understanding classroom environments and informing teachers about an inquiry approach in teaching. This understanding will also improve teacher’s knowledge and help him/her professionally interact with students. This research explored the experiences and perspectives of eleven Saudi female educators on their learning experiences as students and as teachers in two different settings, Saudi Arabia and the U.S., and two different teaching strategies, a traditional teaching approach and a learning centered approach. I used a qualitative approach to design this study to ask my participants about their learning and teaching experiences before and after studying abroad. In-depth interviews allowed me to access their perspectives and how they created meaning out of experience. I used in-depth interviews, using focus group interviews for the third question only with the participants in Tucson because I wanted to explore an inquiry related to a group of people linked by their background culture. Throughout this study, the data was gathered and analyzed to answer three general questions: 1. What are the teaching and learning experiences of Saudi teachers? 2. How do the experiences of Saudi teachers impact their thinking about teaching practices and the curriculum in their classrooms? 3. What are the perspectives of Saudi women who either are teaching or have teaching experience on the type of learning experiences needed for Saudi Arabian pre-ser