Journal of American Indian EducationVolume 2 Number 3
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THE NEED FOR STUDENT RECORDS IN THE COUNSELING OF NAVAHO STUDENTS
Edward Charles Hinckley "My father been jail in Oklahoma three years." "I do not know who is my father." "I have seven brothers and four sisters." "My father make no money last two years." "For fun I go to squaw dance." "All summers I herd sheeps." These statements were made by members of a fourth grade class of Navaho Indian students at Intermountain School, Brigham City, Utah. They were 13 to 14 years old and had not started school or spoken English before they were nine or ten. The statements were made in the course of filling out a teacher-made questionnaire to be placed in each child's cumulative folder. Information such as this, seldom, if ever, encountered by teachers or counselors of Anglo students, is not uncommon among Navaho boys and girls. To people well-acquainted with Navaho culture, the statements would not be surprising. Unfortunately, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (the agency responsible for the major part of Navaho education) makes no demands for such cultural understanding on the part of its employees and sponsors only a limited orientation program for them. It is hoped that this article will make teachers and counselors of Navaho children realize the advantages to be gained from acquiring as thorough a knowledge as possible of their students' cultural backgrounds, which are unlike anything the inexperienced employee has ever imagined. One of the unfortunate aspects of current Navaho education is the lack of a Navaho-wide standardization of cumulative folders. A not untypical Navaho student might go for two or three years to a reservation day or boarding school administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Here a cumulative folder is begun, it is hoped, in compliance with procedures established by that particular reservation sub-agency. The student might then be transferred to a BIA off-reservation boarding school which has a different system of records. From there, if he reaches a high school level of achievement, he might transfer to an off- or on-reservation public school, administered by the State, again with a different policy of record-keeping. Furthermore, it is extremely unlikely that the original cumulative record will keep pace with student's travels. The author has taught in three BIA Reservation boarding schools and two BIA Reservation day schools, as well as in the largest of the BIA off-reservation boarding schools. In addition, he has had professional contact with the staffs of an off-reservation public school enrolling Navaho students, as well as reservation public school (see Note 1). On the basis of this experience it is safe to say that in a great many cases cumulative student records are incomplete and often non-existent. Due, perhaps, to this lack of a standardized system of Navaho cumulative records, it is also true that many individual folders, if they succeed in staying with the student, are sparse in the material they provide for either the teacher or the counselor. Test information of one sort or another is generally present, but it may well reflect achievement on three completely different tests, taken at irregular intervals, making interpretation difficult. Attendance figures are usually available, as is a health record card. Anecdotal reports are irregular, with each school, or type of school, apparently using a different form. Teacher training and supervisory practices play an important part here. The author has never forgotten the following excerpts from a (supposed) anecdotal report form, filled out by a second grade teacher in a BIA Reservation boarding school.
Date Anedcote March 3 "The sky is very blue." April 7 Johnny said, "Good morning."
However, one of the gravest lacks in the information which should be in a Navaho student's folder is in the area of family and background information. The reason for the gravity of this lack should be apparent when it is realized that the great majority of teachers and counselors coming into the field of Navaho education have no knowledge of Navaho culture or people before beginning work; none being required by either the Bureau of Indian Affairs, or the states in which the Navaho Reservation lies. Although all Bureau establishments (and some of the public schools serving Navahos) have an orientation program for new employees, this lasts two weeks at most; and it is frequently attended for the first time by teachers who have already been in Navaho classrooms for a year or more and concentrates mainly on adaptation of classroom techniques to the local school situation. Although an exposure to Navaho culture is attempted in the orientation of reservation school employees, it is too brief and underemphasized to provide any basis for cultural understanding. Off-reservation teachers of Navahos are even less fortunate in that their orientation is shorter and permits no exposure to the Navahos' home environment. Nor has the author ever observed any concerted administrative effort to remedy this lack of opportunity for cultural understanding, since each teacher is left to his or her own devices. Although many teachers have the desire and curiosity necessary to do research into Navaho culture on their own initiative, many others do not. The result of this is, in many cases, a sad lack of communication between students and their teachers or counselors. Furthermore, the well-meaning adult who lacks specific cultural information is ill-advised to fall back on his or her own experience, or—worse—his or her own ideas of Navaho experiences, in dealing with these students. The differences between Navaho culture and home environment and that of even a depressed rural section of the United States must be seen and experienced to be believed. The most immediate result of this situation is that the counselor (even one non-directly oriented) is likely, through his lack of basic information, to say or do something almost at once which indicates to the Navaho student that his "adviser" knows little or nothing about Navahos or their culture. This, of course, fails to establish the rapport which all counseling situations demand. In addition, the Navaho student will not indicate that the counselor has committed a faux pas because that is not the custom of the Navaho and, therefore, the counselor will not realize his mistake. From this point on, effective two-way communication between the student and the counselor is blocked. The Navahos' name for themselves (Dineh) may be accurately translated as "The People," and that is the way they think of themselves. Even today they are inclined to look upon Anglos as interlopers, intruders and foreigners, and tend to accept their administrations and ministrations only with a good deal of forbearance, if at all. Consequently, the need for establishing rapport in a counseling relationship with Navaho students is of more than normal importance. As a partial easement of the situations already mentioned, resulting from lack of specific information about Navaho culture and home environment being available to the teacher or counselor, the author has designed a specific background information sheet for use with Navaho students. It is anticipated that fourth grade students and above could complete the questions in a teacher- or counselor-directed group session. Below the fourth grade level, it could best be completed on an individual student basis, utilizing a Navaho interpreter to ensure that the questions were fully understood and the answers accurate. The questions have been phrased as simply and clearly as possible, to allow for the "foreign" language handicap which faces all Navaho students in their contacts with Anglos. Some of the answers may be partially repetitive, permitting a cross-check on accuracy. It is felt that the inclusion of a completed information sheet, similar to this, in each Navaho student's folder would help make the following statements true in Navaho schools: . . . a good cumulative record can facilitate both acceptance and understanding. It will often help with the initial ice-breaking stage by suggesting topics in which the client is likely to be interested. It may furnish warnings as to areas to be avoided at the beginning. (1:63) When the isolated items of information . . . are brought together into a composite picture, guidance becomes an easier task. Unless these items of information are available, little can be accomplished by either the classroom teacher or the guidance specialist. (2:407) Background Information Sheet For Navaho Students
Date _________ To the Student: Some of you have been here before. Some of you are new students. These questions have been written down so that we can find out some things about yourself, your home, and your family. The more things we know about you and your life on the Reservation, the quicker we will be able to get to know you, and the better we will be able to help you with your school and dormitory life. Follow the directions of your teacher carefully. Read each question all the way through. Ask questions if you do not understand what you are to do. Answer each question carefully. Write neatly so we will have no trouble reading your answers.
Trading Post A. 1. My full name is
2. My birth date is I am _________________ years old now. (Month Day Year)
3. The name of the place I was born is (Trading Post Town State) 4. The name of the place I live now is (Trading Post Town State) 5. My census number is
B I have been to school before, in these places.
Kind of School (Day, Trailer, Boarding, Year Name of School Community, Public, Mission) Grade
C 1. My father's name is Is your father alive? 2. My father's census number is 3. My mother's name is Is your mother alive? 4. My mother's census number is 5. My mother's name before she was married was
D I have these brothers and sisters.
BROTHERS In what school, or Grade, if Lives at home Married Name Age Not in school in school or Where (Yes-No)
SISTERS In what school, or Grade, if Lives at home Married Name Age Not in school in school or Where (Yes-No)
E. 1. Did your father go to school? What was the last grade he finished? (Yes-No) 2. Where did he go to school?
3. Did your mother go to school? What was the last grade she finished? (Yes-No) 4. Where did she go to school?
5. Does your father speak and understand English? (a little, a lot, not at all) 6. Does your mother speak and understand English? (a little, a lot, not at all) 7. Is your father at home most of the year? (Yes-No) 8. If he is not at home, where is he?
9. Is your mother at home most of the year? (Yes-No) 10. If she is not at home, where is she?
11. Does your father have a job for which he gets paid money (such as working at a school, on the roads, at the trading post, in the mines, in town, in another state)? (Yes-No) 12. If he does, what kind of work does he do?
13. Where does he work?
14. If he does not have a job, what work does he do at home?
15. Does your mother have a job away from home? (Yes-No) 16. If she does, what kind of work does she do?
17. Where does she work?
18. If she does not work away from home, what kind of work does she do at home?
19. Does your mother weave rugs? Does your father make jewelry? (Yes-No) (Yes-No)
F 1. Which of these people do you live with in the summer time? (Circle the right answers.) Mother Father Grandmother Grandfather Uncle Aunt Brother Sister Some one else (Who? --------------------------- )
2. What kind of house does your family live in? (Circle the right answer.) A hogan with 8 sides A house made of logs A house made of flat boards A house made of bricks A house made of stones A tarpaper house A tent Some other kind (What kind )
3. How many people besides you sleep in this house in the summer?
4. Are there any other homes right next to yours?
5. If there are, who lives in them?
6. How many miles is your house from the trading post?
7. How long does it take to get from your house to the trading post in a pick-up truck?
8. Does your family have a car? or a truck?
G. 1. Did you work at home last summer? (Yes-No) 2. If you did, what kind of work did you do?
3. If you did not, where did you work?
4. If you worked away from home, what kind of work did you do?
5. Did you earn any money last summer? (Yes-No) 6. How much money did you earn?
7. What did you spend your money for?
8. What kind of work did you do to earn this money?
H 1. Did you make any trips last summer? (Yes-No) 2. If you did, where did you go?
To visit friends or relatives? (Yes-No)
To Squaw Dances? How many? (Yes-No)
To rodeos? How many? (Yes-No)
To the Gallup Ceremonial? (Yes-No)
To the Flagstaff Pow-wow? (Yes-No)
Somewhere else? Where? (Yes-No)
2. What did you do for fun last summer?
3. Did you read any books last summer? How many? (Yes-No)
4. Did you read any magazines? Which ones? (Yes-No)
5. Did you read any newspapers? Which ones? (Yes-No)
6. Does your family get a check each month For how much money? (Yes-No)
7. Where does the check come from?
8. What subjects do you like best in school?
9. What subjects do you not like in school?
10. My family has sheep horses, and cows. (Number) (Number) (Number)
Notes 1. Tyler, Leona E., The Work of the Counselor, Appleton-Century-Crofts, Incorporated, New York, 1953. 2. Willey, Roy DeVerl, Guidance in Elementary Education, Harper and Brothers, 1952.
*Chinle Boarding School, Lukachukai Boarding School, Pinon Boarding School, Smoke Signal Day School, Whippoorwill Trailer School, Intermountain Indian School, Aztec Dormitory, Chinle Public School.
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