Cross-Cultural Issues in

Alaskan Education Vol. I

PART IV
TEACHING/LEARNING ISSUES

It was not a caprice of the moment when Jesus admonished his own followers to “pray in this way: ... lead us not into temptation. “rather than “help us to overcome temptation when we encounter it.” Very simply, preventive tactics constitute a pragmatically superior strategy to formulating responses in the face of crisis. So those of us who are seriously concerned with the problem of constraining cultural bias in cross-cultural encounters will want to focus our efforts more on causes than effects, and attack the problem in the formative stages-we will want to develop preventive measures that will preclude the problem’s ever taking shape.

-Bill Vaudrin

The following articles focus on the cross-cultural classroom, where many of the students from small villages first encounter “Western Society.” The problems inherent in this encounter are still a long way from being resolved, but the developing awareness and sensitivity reflected in these articles indicates that progress is being made. The greater participation of Native people in the schooling process, and the adaptability of new programs and teaching approaches has the potential of reducing the negative consequences of schooling and enhancing some of the positive consequences. The extent to which this occurs depends to a large extent on the ability of educators to establish a learning environment that is accommodated to the unique attributes of the learner, rather than requiring the learner to always accommodate to the schooling environment. As these articles indicate, this is a complex task with sometimes subtle and unanticipated ingredients. Cultural biases, whether in the individual or the institution, are not always obvious, and even when they are, they can be deep-seated and difficult to overcome. The greater our awareness of the manifestations and consequences of our biases, however, the more able we are to deal with them. To this end, these articles are directed.