Pauline Rindone

Although family structure and family socialization practices appear to be important determinants of achievement motivation and educational attainment (Hermans, 1972; Kelly, 1972; Rosen, 1961; Touliatos & Lindholm, 1974), there has been very little effort to examine these factors from a culturally different perspective, and more specifically from a Native American perspective. Maehr (1974) states that "the possibility that achievement may take a variety of forms and be pursued to differing ends has really not been fully explored" (p. 887). The majority of cross-cultural work on achievement motivation has focused on the universality or unidimensional concept of the achievement motive (Berry, 1981) and little attention has been directed to the notion that it (achievement motive) may be expressed differently in other societies and cultures.

Only very recently has the notion of defining achievement motivation and other psychological theories from a culturally based perspective (rather than on Western theoretical models) been pursued (Baumrind, 1980; Korchin, 1980; Cole, 1975). Maehr and Nicholls (1980) suggest that success or failure appear to be distinct concepts which are culturally and situationally determined. Despite these beliefs, there is a scarcity of information concerning factors that contribute to the success or failure of Native Americans and other minority groups in academic settings.

The literature on Native Americans indicates that Indian students experience a high drop-out rate in college (Falk & Aitkens, 1984; Edwards & Smith, 1981), and achieve grades consistently lower than white students (Lunneborg & Lunneborg, 1986). In most instances, the literature does not attempt to explicate the causes or factors that contribute to this problem. To find solutions to these problems, research on Native Americans must focus on the Native American experience. Duda (1980) suggests that extensive cross-cultural ethnographic data are needed to address concepts such as achievement motivation and high academic achievement among Native Americans. One way to meet this challenge is to explore and identify those factors that contribute to the successful completion of a college degree.

This study examined the backgrounds of Navajo individuals, who had completed at least a four-year college degree, in an attempt to identify those characteristics that were "most influential" in their pursuit of a college degree. It is postulated that identification of these factors can lead to the development of a more appropriate model to measure achievement motivation and academic achievement from a Native American perspective.

The population for this study consisted of approximately 400 Navajos who had attained at least a four year college degree. The participants were identified from 1983-1986 graduate rosters from the Navajo Division of Higher Education in Window Rock, Arizona. The researcher gained entry through the Education Committee (composed of Navajos who are elected at large from the Navajo Reservation) of the Navajo Division of Education, who endorsed her study.

The sample consisted of 200 participants who were randomly selected from the population. These participants were mailed an interview with questions relating to family characteristics, educational background, socioeconomic status, language background, and demographic data. A second mail-out to the same sample was conducted two months after the first, to ensure a representative sample.

The interview schedule was developed with the assistance of Navajo educators who live on the reservation and work for Navajo educational agencies.

One hundred seven of the 200 questionnaires mailed out were returned, which constitutes a 50 percent response rate. Of the 107 respondents, 11 had completed a bachelor’s degree, 78 a master’s degree, four a doctoral degree, and 14 listed other degrees such as jurisprudence or medical. There were 80 females and 27 males in the sample. Their ages ranged from 23 to 53, with a mean age of 33. Eighty-seven percent of those responding had been born on the reservation.

The respondents were asked a series of questions concerning their family’s background. Table 1 shows the most frequent responses to these questions. The majority of the respondents (80% or higher) indicated that their parents were born on the reservation and were married. Sixty-six percent reported family incomes below $10,000 with 49% reporting family incomes of $5,999 or less. In this question the respondent was asked to list total income to include income earned from rug weaving, jewelry making and other crafts. Fifty percent of the participants responded that they came from traditional families where Navajo was the predominant language and the Navajo way was followed by family members. A question on religious practice (not included in table) yielded similar results with 48% responding that the family’s religious practice was traditional. The most frequently listed occupation for father was "laborer," and "housewife" for mother. Fifty-five percent reported that their fathers had completed less than six years of schooling, and 52% stated that their mothers had completed less than six years of schooling. However, more than 60% of the respondents indicated that their parents were interested in more education (question not included in table). Ten percent indicated that their fathers were college graduates or had attended some college and 9% indicated that their mothers were college graduates or had attended some college.

TABLE 1
Fitnifly Characteristics

The educational attainment and occupations of the parents may explain the low family incomes reported. While research studies indicate that socioeconomic status (occupation and educational level) is correlated with achievement motivation and academic achievement (Evans & Anderson, 1976; Turner, 1970), these data indicate that SES did not appear to be an important factor in the educational attainment of this Navajo population. It may be that for Navajo families a stable family life with traditional values becomes a more important determinant of achievement.

Table 2 shows the responses related to the educational background of the students. The majority of the sample (71%) had no preschool or kindergarten experience prior to entering first grade. Forty-eight percent were monolingual Navajo speakers. Studies on bilingual education suggest that children who speak little or no English experience the most difficulty with instruction in school and that one of the factors that facilitates the transition to an English-speaking world of learning is a bilingual teacher. For this population, only 9% report that their teacher used Navajo in the classroom, which indicates that instruction was conducted primarily in English. Seventy-one percent report that they attended public schools, and 47% attended Bureau of Indian Affairs. Apparently neither type of school favored bilingual education at the time these individuals were attending elementary and secondary school. However, 53% indicate that their teacher encouraged them to succeed in school which may have influenced their achievement levels. The responses to participation in extra-curricular activities indicate that about half of the population participated in athletics, music, art and social clubs, but participation in publications, debate and drama was less than one-third of the population.

TABLE 2
Educational Background

The five questions in Table 4 concerned the respondents' behavior toward school and school work. These questions attempted to tap their perceptions concerning motivation toward excelling, since there is an overwhelming amount of literature indicating that minority students underachieve because of "lack of motivation" and "having no desire to excel" (Bryde, 1971; Kluckhohn & Leighton, 1966). Sixty-eight percent stated that they desired to achieve academically, 82% responded they completed school work assigned, 56% said they read in their free time, and 56% said that they competed (academically) against friends and relatives. All five factors have been identified in the research as contributing to school success.

TABLE 3
Language Background

TABLE 4
Motivation Questions

The last question (not listed) asked respondents to list the single factor that contributed to their high academic achievement. Thirty-four percent responded that it was their own motivation, and 45% reported that it was encouragement from parents and other family members.

This study examined the background of Navajo college graduates in an attempt to identify the factors that may have contributed to their high educational attainment. It is apparent that the parents of this sample were able to motivate and encourage their children to succeed. Therefore, the assumption that low income and low educational level of parents perpetuate low educational aspirations for their children does not hold true. In this sample of Navajo college graduates, we see that parents and family members were the driving force in their desire to achieve.

The majority of these Navajo college graduates came from homes whose family income levels were very low (53% below $5,999), the family was traditional and spoke predominantly Navajo, and the father’s occupation was that of laborer. More than 50% of the parents had less than six years of schooling. Over half of the parents were interested in more education for themselves, but were unable to obtain it.

Despite these statistics, this sample of Navajos was able to successfully complete a four-year college degree and in most cases exceed it. One can only speculate as to what motivated them to achieve when all the odds appear to be against them.

This author contends that achievement motivation and aspirations toward high academic achievement have been prevalent factors among Native Americans and other minority groups. However, it has only been within the recent past that these groups have been afforded the opportunity to express these motives via education. The question of what motivates Navajos to achieve appears to be linked to the family as revealed by this sample’s response to "the single factor that contributed to their high academic achievement." In a similar study, Amodeo and Martin (1982) found that Hispanics also felt that encouragement from family was the most motivating factor influencing their high educational achievement.

These findings indicate that the family (as measured through the stability of traditional values) is the key to the academic success of these high achieving Navajos.

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