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Volume 27 1987 Contents

  • Issue 1 October 1987
    • ANALYSIS OF NAVAJO ADOLESCENTS' PERFORMANCES ON THE RAVEN PROGRESSIVE MATRICES
      Craig Sidles; James MacAvoy; Carolyn Bernston; Anne Kuhn [pp. 1-8]
      According to the article, the Raven Standard Progressive Matrices (RSPM) was administered to 183 classroom Navajo students who ranged from 13 to 15 years of age and were from BIA and public schools in Arizona and New Mexico. Scores were evaluated on the basis of primary language (Navajo vs. English) and school geographical location (on reservation vs. off reservation), and norms were developed according to chronological age, primary language, sex, and school geographic location. From their findings, the authors suggest that primary language does not play a prominent role in the RSPM performance of adolescent Navajo students, and that the RSPM is appropriate for use with Navajo students attending school on or off the reservation. *

    • POSTSECONDARY COUNSELORS: A MODEL FOR INCREASING NATIVE AMERICANS' COLLEGE SUCCESS
      Judith Kleinfeld; Joe Cooper; Nathan Kyle [pp. 9-16]
      According to the authors, the Postsecondary Counselor Program "offers a new model for increasing the success of Native American students in college." The article states that the pre-college orientation program, special student services programs, and career-focused programs "have little long-term personal connection with students' families and communities." The article then proposes the Postsecondary Counselor as, first, lodged in the central office of a K-12 school district, and second, as "student-based" rather than institution-based or mission-based. According to the authors, the "Postsecondary Counselor Program provides rural Native American students with the same type of personal attention and support during the difficult early adult years that middle class students take for granted."

    • NATIVE INDIAN LEARNING STYLES: A REVIEW FOR RESEARCHERS AND TEACHERS
      Arthur J. More [pp. 17-29]
      The article discusses four areas of research that provide evidence for important differences in Learning Style between Indian and non-Indian students: (1) internal cognitive processes or learner characteristics, (2) external or environmental conditions, (3) teaching and communication styles, (4) traditional learning styles. According to the author, differences in Learning Style "occur frequently but are not found with sufficient consistency to suggest a uniquely Indian learning style. However, they occur often enough to warrant careful attention." The article suggests seven areas of learning style strengths and weaknesses among Native people and outlines four implications for teachers and three other specific implications. The author concludes that the "most effective application of learning style theory lies in the greater understanding and ability to adapt to individual differences, and in identifying and building on the strengths of Indian students."

    • TOWARDS ACHIEVING AN INTERACTIVE EDUCATION MODEL FOR SPECIAL NEEDS STUDENTS: THE COMPUTER WRITING PROJECT FOR NATIVE AMERICAN STUDENTS
      Ruth Sower [pp. 30-38]
      "Native American 4th grade children (N=30) from the Tuba City, Arizona Boarding School were provided with a pilot computer program for ten weeks in order to study the feasibility of using LOGO, a computer programming language designed to promote cognitive development, and Bank Street Writer, a word processing program for children. The model program used computers as interactive tools for promoting reasoning and writing. Data were gathered by observational methods, including documenting of child behavior and talk in the regular and computer classrooms and children's logs of daily work. Samples of the children's computer work and the observations by the researchers also provided data for evaluation of the pilot program. The study demonstrated that Native American children can learn in a LOGO environment and that the children, the community, and the school supported such efforts. Finally the study noted that language use in the computer classroom was significantly more evident than in regular classrooms."
    • Booklet Series

     

  • Issue 2 January 1988

    • TO DRINK OR NOT TO DRINK: THE INDIAN ADOLESCENTS' CHOICE BETWEEN FRIENDS AND FAMILY
      Yoshimitsu Takei; Patrick Lynch; G. Mike Charleston [pp. 1-9]
      According to the article, the study focused on families as a unit of analysis for the inquiry on contrasting socialization of teenagers in families and peer groups in different Indian communities. According to the article, four sites with substantial Indian populations were utilized in the upper Midwestern section of the United States; two rural areas close to a large city, a metropolitan area, and a large reservation located several hundred miles from the city. The authors conclude that "those who drink tend to be youths who report less affectionate ties to their parents, consider their friends to be very important in their lives, and claim to do things without consulting their parents. The image this description evokes is that of a teenager who is rejecting parental authority. . . Therefore, teenagers might drink even if they know drinking (or using drugs) can have negative consequences on their health."

    • BEYOND SEGREGATION OR INTEGRATION: A CASE STUDY FROM EFFECTIVE NATIVE AMERICAN EDUCATION
      Linda Pertusati [pp. 10-20]
      The article analyzes rural schools with Native American students to determine if a minority-controlled educational institution can be academically effective, and if a bicultural academic program can be effective within a desegregated school environment. The article discusses (1) theoretical considerations of segregated and desegregated education, (2) theoretical considerations of current Native American Education, (3) methods, demographics and program of the case study, (4) human inputs affecting the program, (5) educational quality and academic effectiveness, and (6) "Success and Constraint: Why Does The System Work So Well?" According to the author, most of the "theoretical arguments over segregation and desegregation and cultural isolation are considered as dichotomous absolutes--juxtaposed ideal types. In these analyses segregated education is conceptualized (1) on white standards and ideology, and (2) on political relations of power. Thus, concerns about politics and culture override considerations of educational effectiveness and ignore attributes of the minority culture."

    • HOLISTIC TEACHING/LEARNING FOR NATIVE AMERICAN STUDENTS
      Robert W. Rhodes [pp. 21-29]
      The article begins by stating that "additional argument and possibilities for curricular changes are needed" to implement a different learning/teaching methodology in the educational system. The article discusses (1) current status of Indian education, (2) need for change, (3) Native American Learning style (story telling and group argumentative process), (4) teaching styles, (5) learning environment, and (6) curricular concepts. The author concludes, by "providing some techniques which consider different learning styles for different students [haptic, right brained and holistic], the teacher could develop strategies which would increase the likelihood of success for more students. In this manner, even awareness will increase sensitivity and lead toward an increase of positive student growth."

    • MATHEMATICS-LIKE PRINCIPLES INFERRED FROM THE PETROGLYPHS
      Charles G. Moore [pp. 30-36]
      The author identifies the possibility of providing a rationale for the hypothesis: Elements of mathematics-like thought can be inferred through a study of the petroglyphs by using the principles of abstract mathematics: (1) iteration, (2) recursion, (3) similitude, (4) tiling, (5) symmetry. In conclusion, the author suggests four classroom activities utilizing the principles discussed in the article.

  • Issue 3 May 1988

* Page numbers refer to location in the original published version of the article.
 

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