A Need for a Competency Based Teacher Education for Native Americans. Position Paper.

This paper addresses: (a) problems in the education of native Americans caused by prejudice and the coercive assimilation policy of the federal government, and (b) the need for improvement of education for Indians. The prime requisites for change must be generated in a climate of willingness on the part of educational institutions to assume responsibility of their role as change agents and validate the definition of educational expectations, needs, and priorities as defined by the Indian community. Those definitions of educational needs by the Indian community should then be processed into existing teacher training programs as viable and essential components in the teacher training process. One of the most comprehensive models that deal with the training of teachers for the enthnically different child is being developed at the Institute for Cultural Pluralism, San Diego State University. It is composed of four basic components: (a) philosophy of education for the culturally and linguistically different, (b) sociocultural awareness in the home and community, (c) oral language and assessment techniques, and (d) diagnostic and prescriptive strategies. The competency statements of this program are included in the paper, as is a brief bibliography. (HMD)