Volume 23 Number 3
May 1984

John Red Horse, Ph.D., Arizona State University

THE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK, Arizona State University, and the Navajo Nation intend to launch an educational component on the Navajo reservation. Its development is planned in three phases. Initially a certificate program in family and children's services will be started for paraprofessionals employed in the Navajo Division of Social Welfare. This will be expanded to include similar programs in clinical supervision and administrative leadership. These efforts will serve as the foundation for the final phase, a stable professional program with continuous offerings.

This article discusses issues influencing the preliminary phases of the component. Section one discusses antecedents and highlights insights gained from previous training efforts on the Navajo reservation. Section two discusses the initial certificate program with attention drawn to linkages between academic coursework and applied skills training. Section three discusses negotiation processes and delineates areas in which the School and tribe must make accommodations to foster the component. The article concludes with a summary discussion which includes suggestions for potential expansion of the model.

The Navajo tribe has involved paraprofessional personnel in routine training to build capacities in human services. This has been a lucrative plan for training organizations, but has raised serious questions. A recent tribal resolution indicates that training has not provided beneficial or systematic staff development. Training seldom includes a planned curriculum series, lacks coordination, fails to provide uniform standards, and is unable to provide adequate support services. In addition, training has not provided guidance and counseling to foster educational planning among students; consequently, students waste valuable time taking unrelated courses without advancing toward a professional degree. Essentially, training fails to provide program continuity (Tsosie, 1983).

Indian faculty from the School have subsequently conducted training on the Navajo reservation. These efforts were designed as field tests to appraise the feasibility of starting educational services on the reservation. With a changeover of administration at the School, findings drawn from the field test were advanced to the incoming Dean with recommendations that the School consider an educational plan with the Navajo Nation. The Dean agreed that the School should assume more commitments with the reservation and assigned the author along with Professor Gonzalez-Santin to develop such a thrust.

The field test data was re-examined to assess the general climate for educational services among paraprofessionals and the availability of students for enrollment. The aforementioned field test which was conducted with the Navajo alcohol programs indicated that the climate was present. This training had consisted of a four course curriculum. It was attended by a consistent student body drawn from the entire reservation. Students attended regularly, were highly motivated, and completed assignments on schedule. Students were willing to work unusually long hours since classes were normally 10 to 12 hours per day. Their only frustration was that training was too short and did not include follow-up consultation to monitor application of skills (Red Horse, 1983).

Data from the alcohol programs also gave an initial impression on potential students for enrollment. These programs have over 50 paraprofessional employees, most of whom have expressed desires to pursue formal education, but are reluctant to leave the reservation to do so. Further communication from the Navajo Social Welfare Division identified an additional 350 employees as interested students (Yazzie, 1983). These two programs combined provide the enrollment potential necessary to launch an educational component.

In addition to the climate and enrollment potential, however, field test data indicated that a tutorial plan would be necessary to support an educational component on the reservation. Academic backgrounds common to paraprofessional groups, particularly educational deficiencies, presented difficulties in training. An educational component would have to adapt to language barriers and limited skills in reading and writing. A common profile of paraprofessionals is that they have rich backgrounds and intuitive knowledge to make them effective human service workers; however, they lack sophisticated experience in formal academic settings. Following field observations, the tutorial plan must include three features: it must reframe jargon commonly found in professional journals to avoid confusion among paraprofessionals; it must include applied skills units to monitor student development in reading and writing; and it must include classroom recitations to assure that concepts drawn from professional literature are being acquired uniformly by the students (Red Horse, 1984).

The initial educational model had to meet the aforementioned contingencies. It had to provide meaningful instruction that would lead to improved on-the-job performance and serve as a springboard to further educational pursuits. Furthermore, it had to include a rigorous tracking procedure to assure quality control. The initial certificate model was designed with those standards in mind.

The certificate program is designed to provide foundation knowledge in family and children's services. It includes a curriculum series, a decentralized instructional plan with enriched faculty-study ratios, and an evaluation plan to assess outcomes.

The curriculum series represents the equivalent of one semester of academic work. It consists of four courses: one in human behavior, one in community organization, and two in direct practice. Each course is 80 hours long and divided into academic and applied skills seminars. Three credits are earned for academic seminars and carry full transfer value. Two credits are earned for applied skills seminars and are transferable on a proportional basis. The reason for this is that the applied skills seminars serve two functions. First, they are compensatory sessions to upgrade educational deficiencies in reading and writing. Second, they represent field internship time which in professional schools require a minimum number of service hours to earn credit.

The curriculum series is shaped as follows:

FAMILY DEVELOPMENT: A foundation course that examines family behavior with emphasis upon developmental needs of children, minimum standards of child care in family systems, and aspects of child abuse and neglect with regard to physical, emotional, educational, and nutritional needs of children.

CASE ASSESSMENT: A clinical course that examines behavior patterns common to abusive and neglectful family systems with emphasis upon clinical diagnosis, case planning, and treatment.

CASE MANAGEMENT: A clinical course that examines professional standards of practice with emphasis upon setting treatment goals, evaluating client progress, record keeping, and case coordination.

COMMUNITY PLANNING: A foundation course that examines community team building with emphasis upon foster home recruitment, foster care licensing, and organization of multi-disciplinary teams through coordination with school, court, police, and medical personnel. This course also examines primary prevention strategies of self-help networks and community education plans.

The curriculum series will be taught through a decentralized instructional plan. This will match the five service areas of the Social Welfare Division: Tuba City, Shiprock, Fort Defiance, Crownpoint, and Chinle. This strategy serves two primary purposes. It provides an enriched faculty-student ratio so that acquisition of skills can be individually monitored, and it allows faculty to be immersed at student work sites so that observations of academic work patterns and study habits can be direct. Moreover, since faculty also serve as field instructors, decentralization provides for their availability for on-site clinical supervision.

Decentralization makes the instructional design complex. Each course will be repeated five times; thus, a total of 35 courses must be taught to allow all enrolled students to complete the certificate program. Consistency and quality of instruction will be facilitated through use of a small cadre of faculty who have prior records of success with minority training programs. They will receive orientation regarding goals and objectives of the certificate program and the scope of work expected of faculty.

While decentralization introduces constraints to program coordination, it does foster an effective model for monitoring quality control. The instructional plan will follow a serve-study-serve strategy (Miller, 1981). The principles of this strategy are threefold: a service such as instruction is given; outcomes of the service such as acquisition of skills are studied; areas of ineffective service such as materials not mastered by students are identified, and these materials are reframed and repeated until mastery is accomplished.

This strategy will be employed with both the academic and applied skills seminars. In this manner mastery of basic knowledge such as developmental and practice theory and ability to transfer knowledge into effective clinical service can be monitored. Each course is divided into two sections for this procedure. One section is instructional; the other is tutorial. Instruction for the academic seminars will follow a traditional lecture and discussion process. Instruction for the applied skills seminars will follow a case study method. Tutorial sections will be similar for both the academic and applied skills seminars. These sections simply measure student progress and guide planning for tutorials on an individual or group basis.

Salient features of the serve-study-serve design with stated tasks for each section are highlighted as follows:

ACADEMIC SEMINAR: An instructional section for each course in the curriculum series designed to cover basic areas of theory and practice through lecture, recitation, and discussion. A post-section test is included.

ACADEMIC TUTORIAL: A monitoring section for each academic seminar scheduled 15 working days following the academic presentation. Students will be tested for retention of materials, academic deficiencies identified, and academic matter repeated as necessary. A post-section test is included.

APPLIED SEMINAR: An instructional section for each course in the curriculum series that follows 15 working days from academic tutorial section. Effective transfer of academic principles will be measured by case study methods. Student clinical files will be reviewed and staffing sessions with actual cases will be conducted. Student deficiencies will be identified with follow-up training in application skills implemented as necessary.

APPLIED TUTORIAL: A monitoring section for each applied skills seminar scheduled 15 working days following the applied presentation. Application skills will be re-examined with individual tutorials administered as necessary.

COURSE REVIEW: A course review will be conducted following completion of the applied tutorial. This will bring together vital pieces of theory and practice, identify areas for future work with students, and establish supervision objectives for students in their field work. A post-course test is included.

While the instructional design appears elaborate through employment of 80 hour courses and a serve-study-serve strategy, this seems advisable given the academic profiles of paraprofessionals in the Navajo Division of Social Welfare. These mirror those of the field test data. Babe (1983) indicates that only 30 percent of the Division's paraprofessionals have significant prior experience with college-level work. The objective of the certificate program is not simply to offer courses, but to provide an opportunity for educational and professional advancement through an effective transfer of knowledge and skills.

Moreover, the instructional design meets the mandate that was advanced by the Navajo Education Committee. It sets competency-based standards for instruction, provides support services to foster those standards, and is organized in a continuous series with a long-term educational goal.

The negotiation process involves two distinct levels of participation. The initial level included personnel from the School of Social Work and from the Navajo Division of Social Welfare. This group negotiated around specific issues of social work education, technical assistance for grants preparation and administrative procedures, development of a research center and regional clearing house, and organization of a Navajo Advisory Committee to the School of Social Work. During a meeting held on October 27, 1983, both parties agreed to draft a memorandum clarifying each party's understanding of responsibility around these issues. In most instances the memoranda were in agreement (Yazzie, 1983; Red Horse, 1983b).

Essentially, it was recognized that the School of Social Work is mandated through the Board of Regents Mission Statement to provide educational services on a statewide basis. It was agreed that the development of extension courses planned as a continuous package that would lead to undergraduate and graduate degrees would be offered on the reservation so that the Division of Social Welfare would not have to experience a manpower drain in order to improve the quality of services and increase the number of professionals within the Division. It was agreed that Division personnel would receive time off to pursue their education. Finally, it was agreed that an advisory committee would be established, that joint grant efforts would be pursued on a routine basis with the Division assuming leadership in matters of tribal domain and the School assuming leadership in matters of instructional domain, and that development of a research center would be explored.

Subsequent to this initial meeting, the Division and the School jointly prepared a grant for a demonstration program. This required considerable negotiation around instructional design, costs, and tuition resources. While this joint effort led to the initial certificate program model, it also uncovered several delicate issues that had not been considered at the initial meeting. For discussion purposes these will be identified separately as university and tribal considerations.

University considerations are twofold: they involve matters of institution building and traditional protocol in academic design. Institution building implies permanence. An educational thrust on the reservation, be it a well-planned series of extension courses or an on-site component, cannot rely solely upon grant money support. Such reliance will simply lead to prevailing conditions previously described by the Tribal Council's Education Committee. Education not only must be well-designed and coordinated, but also must be predictably and continuously present. In this manner, it becomes a recognized institution by the reservation population; a system that has become, so to speak, a cultural partner and permanent piece of the community's life. Institution building can be achieved only through commitment by the University Administration to make the educational thrust a part of its line-item budget.

Traditional protocol in academic design implies sanctioned authority in educational planning. In university systems this rests with a collegial body of faculty. Needless to say, faculties have some deep-rooted views regarding prerequisite academic work, admission standards, and sequencing of courses according to student academic standing. The educational thrust on the reservation must commit itself to engage in a cultural match, that is, to adapt to prevailing conditions of potential students who have not been provided educational opportunities similar to the mainstream population for which traditional entry standards have been designed. This does not imply that those standards cannot be a long-range goal; indeed, if the educational thrust is successful the entire spectrum of reservation education should eventually be influenced by its presence. Initially, however, these process standards should be relaxed in favor of concentrating upon student potential. In the certificate program model, students enrolled in upper division courses should receive prior screening with the idea that the tutorials will provide for greater flexibility in prerequisite and admission standards.

Fortunately, the second level of negotiation included the Vice-President of Academic Affairs from Arizona State University. He acknowledged the need to address long-term and short-term goals concurrently and the compatibility of the School of Social Work's plan with Board of Regent's policy. He also appears to endorse a partnership with the Navajo Nation through his assumption of major responsibilities to represent the University in drafting a mutual agreement with the Navajo. It is perhaps through his office that the above issues can be framed in a manner acceptable to the University community.

Tribal considerations also relate to institutional building. Consequently, they require decisions by actors beyond the tribal Division Of Social Welfare. Again, the second level of negotiation involved personnel in positions to influence these issues, including members of the Navajo Tribal Council and representatives from the Division of Education and the Tribal Chairman's Office. Institution building as previously defined implies permanence through fiscal support. Two issues, in this writer's opinion, merit consideration because they can stimulate motivation and broaden the impact of the initial educational thrust.

The first issue involves merit pay increases for paraprofessionals who successfully complete certificate programs. This is a common practice among many human service organizations. It serves to motivate, but it also extends recognition to employees who value education, who invest considerable time and effort to improve themselves through education, and who eventually make significant contributions in their work as a result of it. In this manner, employees can draw a concrete relationship between career advancement and education.

The second issue involves tuition policies of the tribe. As currently designed, these favor students in full-time residence at a university or college. This, of course, is judicious spending and should continue to be the primary outlay of educational funds. It has significant impacts, however. It serves as an institutional barrier to those tribal members who choose to remain on the reservation and provide vital services to reservation communities. It also promotes the very activities that are of paramount concern to the Tribal Education Committee: duplication of efforts by consultants, lack of continuity in courses, and failure to provide support services or educational counseling (Tsosie, 1983). Much of this occurs because training is conducted through titled monies such as grants funded for specific purposes which support the training of employees in specific roles with needs for highly specialized, and seemingly unrelated, types of knowledge. Seldom in this writer's years or training for human service projects has he encountered grant funds earmarked for long-term educational strategies. The certificate program model, however, provides an opportunity for consolidation. It organizes around generic knowledge, and even though its students will be part-time, it would seem they merit tuition support.

Again, the above tribal considerations represent this writer's opinion. This must be taken into perspective. While the key individuals involved in the second level of negotiation can impact these issues, they are involved in areas superordinate to considerations of merit pay and tuition support. The issues are advanced with that thought in mind.

This article has discussed the launching of an educational component on the Navajo reservation that is jointly agreed upon by the School of Social Work, Arizona State University, and the Navajo Division of Social Welfare.

Bahe, R. personal communication. November, 1983.

Dieppa, A. personal communication. May, 1980.

Miller, D. alternative paradigms available for research on American Indian families: Implications for research and training. In Red Horse, J., Shattuck A., & Hoffman, F. (Eds.) The American Indian Family: Strengths and Stresses. Isleta, N.M.: American Indian Social Research and Development Associates, Inc., 1981.

Norris, P. personal communication. April, 1980.

Red Horse, J. progress report on human development training. Mesa, Arizona: American Indian Resource Organization, 1983a.

Red Horse, J. memorandum to Dean Jesse McClure of the School of Social Work. December, 1983b.

Red Horse, J., Decker, J.T., & Starrett, R. brief strategy: A conceptual framework for paraprofessional training. In Marquez-Baines, C. (Ed.) Toward a Theoretical Model in American Indian Mental Health. Oakland, California: Urban Indian Resource Center, 1984.

Tsosie, D.J. Recommending that the Navajo Tribal Council require that all post-secondary education programs and courses offered in the Navajo Nation be approved by the education committee and coordinated Navajo Community College, and recommending that the committee be directed to develop a comprehensive post-secondary educational plan. Window Rock, Arizona: Education Committee of the Navajo Nation, December, 1984.