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PREFACE
Christine Bennett in her book Comprehensive Multicultural Education warns us that we should not look to the literature on learning styles as the key to understanding what is happening to minority youth in our schools. Rather, we should view learning style research as one of the keys that goes beyond individual differences and helps us to understand the impact that world view has on the learning process of all children and particularly, as James Banks says, the "children of color" in our schools.
In the field of American Indian/Alaskan Native Education, we are concerned about the numbers of students who are not finding school a meaningful place to be and are becoming "school weary." We have looked to the learning style literature to help us understand the impact of cultural values and socialization practices on the teaching-learning process.
What the literature suggests is that Indian children from many tribal groups have learned to learn and demonstrate what they have learned in ways which are different from what is expected in mainstream, traditional American schooling. While there may be similarities across American Indian/Alaskan Native cultures, there are differences as well and we should not use our understanding of learning styles as a stereotype or label to describe, but rather as a set of understandings which will inform policy and illuminate pedagogy.
The authors of articles in this special issue have presented their reviews or views of how native children approach learning tasks as influenced by their culture. There are five articles reprinted from past issues of JAIE and four new articles. Swisher and Deyhle have reviewed the literature of recent years and presented suggestions for teachers; a similar article appeared in the Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. More presents a similar review of Canadian Indian learning styles. Through Coyote's Eyes, Tafoya illustrates how legends and stories can serve as a basis for a traditional teaching paradigm. Macias discusses the strength of indigenous learning style in creating success for American Indian women in a university setting. Specific tribal groups are targeted in the studies by Wauters, Bruce, Black, and Hocker; Walker, Dodd, and Bigelow; and Diessner and Walker. Finally, Ross and Chrisjohn and Peters, in their respective articles, debate the issue of cognitive style and brain hemispheric functioning.
Although the topic of this special issue has been comprehensively discussed, there is need for further study and pedagogical interpretation. We invite you, our readers, to consider the thoughts and perspectives presented herein as pathways to understanding the learning processes of native children.
John W. Tippeconnic III
Karen Swisher
Editors
John W. Tippeconnic III is an Associate Professor in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Arizona State University. Karen Swisher is an Assistant Professor of Education and Director of the Center for Indian Education at Arizona State University.
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