Barbara V. Kirk

Increasingly, dialogue journals are being used in classroom settings at all instructional levels for a variety of purposes. In a dialogue journal, a bound notebook, the student and teacher carry on a private, written communication on topics or concerns of interest to the student. Topics may be personal or academic and the teacher responds as a participant in a conversation, without critiquing or correcting the student's writing.

Dialogue journals have been used in developing writing skills (Kreeft, 1984; Staton, 1980) even with five-year-old kindergarten students (Boloz & Jenness, 1984; Hall & Duffy, 1987); integrating reading and writing (Atwell, 1984; Gambrell, 1985); developing thinking and reasoning skills in the content areas (Staton, 1984, 1987); and assisting students in resolving personal problems (Potts, 198 1; Staton, 1980). Moreover, they have been used with elementary through adult special education populations (Rhodes & Dudley-Marling, 1988; Staton, 1985; Walworth, 1985) and students learning English as a second language (Hayes & Bahruth, 1985; Kreeft, 1986, 1987). Most importantly, dialogue journals provide an opportunity to know the students better and to personalize instruction according to the needs and interests of the individual student. This article describes the use of dialogue journals in a program to encourage secondary students of Native American heritage to pursue a postsecondary education. Also, it is suggested that a dialogue journal may be a useful technique in helping minority students clarify their feelings and values related to their ethnic identity.

In response to the serious underrepresentation of minorities in postsecondary education, a state-funded Martin Luther King/Cesar Chavez/Rosa Parks Initiative supports College Day Programs to encourage junior and senior high minority students to pursue a college education. The goal is to build the expectation of a college education by early exposure to a campus, campus life, and positive role models. Among the week-long College Day Programs, minority students from area school districts were invited to attend a workshop on Ojibwe traditions at a university. Seventeen students from eighth through tenth grade enrolled in this workshop, and, although not intended solely for Native Americans, students' degrees of Indian blood ranged from one-sixteenth to three-fourths.

The Ojibwe Traditions Workshop focused on the culture of Native Americans historically located in Michigan. Qjibwe is the language of the Chippewa Indians, one of the three major tribes along with the Ottawas and Potawatomis which trace their roots to the Great Lakes Region. In addition to providing college exposure, the purpose of this workshop was to increase students' knowledge and appreciation of Ojibwe culture, to enhance the students' selfefficacy and to encourage a prideful ethnic identity. In this workshop, students were introduced to Ojibwe language, history, religion, contemporary issues, storytelling, arts and crafts, food, music and dance. For all of these activities, Native Americans served as role models, providing positive ethnic identification through educational and occupational achievements. These role models included a university professor, an attorney who also serves as a tribal judge, a Head Start teacher, a senior worker, Chippewa artisans with degrees in fine arts and political science, a retired civil engineer, and university students pursuing teaching degrees in Ojibwe bilingual-bicultural education. An important component of the workshop was planning for college which included career exploration, considerations for selecting a college or university, admissions requirements, selecting college preparatory courses within the high school curriculum, financial aid availability, time management and study skills.

Dialogue journals provide an opportunity to reflect on experiences and to share thoughts with an adult about events, ideas, choices, feelings, and problems (Staton, 1984). To encourage the students to reflect on their experiences during the week on campus and to provide personal communication between each student and the workshop staff, dialogue journals were utilized on a daily basis. Students wrote daily in their journals during a scheduled 20-minute period and whenever there was time remaining after completion of an activity. The only instruction to the students concerning topics was to write about their experiences and thoughts while attending the workshop. At the end of each day, the journals were collected and distributed in a random fashion among the staff who responded to the journal entry as a written conversation, reacting to the content rather than the students' writing. Journals were then returned to the students on the following morning.

In their journals, students wrote about the workshop activities, the recreational activities, making new friends, living in the dormitory, and college aspirations. These journals not only provided a means for actively engaging students in thinking about their experiences but the interactive nature of a dialogue created the opportunity for a tutorial relationship between each student and staff. In our responses to their entries, we attempted to clarify information presented in the workshop and discuss with the students their concerns related to Native American cultural heritage as well as encourage aspirations for college education. Unedited excerpts from the students' journals illustrate the nature of these exchanges between the students and staff.

Even after discussing information presented in the workshop activities, it was apparent from the students' journal entries that there was a need to provide further clarification. For instance, two Chippewa elders told of their experiences as students in the federal Indian School operated from 1893-1933 in Michigan. They described the school, the manner in which they were treated, being separated from their family sometimes for more than a year, and their attempts to run away from the school. One of the elders did run away at I I years of age, but when he arrived home, after more than a 100 mile walk, his parents immediately sent him back to the school. Several of the students interpreted his parents' action as a lack of love for their child rather than the power of the federal government over Indian people as these elders intended to convey. This is evident in the following student journal entries with responses by the staff to clarify their interpretation. (Pseudonymns are utilized to respect the privacy of all participants.)

In this case, the journals were critical to the staff's awareness of this interpretation. In the ensuing discussion with the elders, students did not bring forth this interpretation, very likely in consideration of the elders' feelings. The thought of being so unloved by one's parents was almost unthinkable to these teenagers.

Students participating in the workshop came from urban and rural areas and the reservation located about three miles from the campus. John, from a large urban area, commented in his journal on his perceptions of reservations. Because there were students from the reservation, the journal, for him, served as a means of expressing his views without possibly offending those students.

One of the presentations on planning for college included the availability of financial aid and, among the types of financial aid discussed, was the Michigan Indian tuition waiver. An individual who is a minimum of one-quarter Native American descent, a certified member of a recognized tribe and a Michigan resident qualifies to receive a tuition and fees waiver at any public junior college or university. To this, and perceived other benefits, Angela responded:

This entry and others suggest that Angela is struggling with her identity, not feeling as "Indian" as some of the students in the workshop but still being considered Indian by her family.

Each day, the students received instruction in the Ojibwe language. Students' journals entries on learning Ojibwe were all very positive and, in our responses, we attempted to build on that enthusiasm to increase their appreciation for the culture and ethnic pride. In the following exchange, the staff member is a Native American university student in the Ojibwe bilingual bicultural teacher training program.

In addition to responding to topics initiated by the students in their Journals, we also introduced topics to encourage students to participate in the workshop activities. For a student who appeared somewhat indifferent to learning Ojibwe, a staff member wrote in his journal the following:

For one of the cultural presentations, a traditional Menominee Indian dancer related the significance of each item of his dance outfit and, in so doing, shared his philosophy of life. All of the student journals included entries on this presentation demonstrating appreciation for Ojibwe culture. One entry in particular seems to reflect the dilemma of ethnic identity for many Native American youth.

When students wrote in their journals about possible careers or special talents and interests, our responses offered encouragement for a college education, information about careers and, whenever possible, related this to a Native American role model. For example, ceramics techniques used by the Great Lakes Indian tribes were demonstrated by an artist of Ottawa heritage who has a Master's degree in fine arts. She described her heritage and the way in which art provides a means of expressing that heritage as well as a satisfying career. In addition, she discussed with the students their interests in art and careers related to art. The first exchange between Rachel and a college student staff member occurred early in the week while the second was written on the last day of the workshop.

Although it is generally recommended that dialogue journals be used for an extended period of time, such as a semester or school year (Kreeft, 1987; Staton, 1987), the interactions during this one-week intensive workshop suggest the use of journals in this way provides a setting in which ethnic pride can be strengthened. Each morning the students were eager to read the responses in their journals and especially seemed to enjoy interacting with the college students on the staff. Clearly, the journals provided a means of clarifying information and ideas presented in the workshop as well as an opportunity for positive feedback and encouragement to pursue a college education. Perhaps most significant for minority students, the use of dialogue journals in this context may provide a personalized, low-risk environment through which the student and adult can jointly consider concerns related to their ethnic heritage.

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