BARRIERS TO EDUCATIONAL SUCCESS

What do you see …

Aniak and Anchorage students and parents were asked what they see as barriers to the educational success of Native children who live in rural villages and in Anchorage. Anchorage business representatives were asked to identify barriers to education in general. (See Appendix C.) The answers often mirrored concerns heard in other components of the research: poor teacher quality;teachers' ignorance of Native culture and rural village life resulting in a culture gap; and curriculum that does not integrate Native knowledge, language and culture. Focus group participants felt that students are not as well prepared in basic education as they should be, and that schools do not provide enough vocational education and other options.

"The school system is only as good as what parents expect. A lot of times parents create problems they don't realize are being passed on to their children." (Business)

"What really bugs me is teachers in rural Alaska don't have a clue what rural Alaska is like." (Business )

"I see a high number of teachers with 'missionaryitis.'" (Business)

"Very rarely does an Anchorage Native student have the attention needed to give them confidence to succeed, and a rural student coming into Anchorage doesn't have a competitive edge because the schools they come from are too small. (Anchorage)

"From small village to town. Not understood by teachers because of cultural differences." (Anchorage)

"Drugs and alcohol, no will to succeed and move on afterward." (Aniak)

Issues related to teachers had several elements. As previously indicated, many participants said rural villages often do not get high-quality teachers. Several Aniak participants noted the high turnover among teachers as well as administrators and counselors. All groups were concerned that non-Native teachers have little preparation for Native culture and village life. They said many often seem unreceptive to it and put little effort into learning about local customs and history. Aniak participants cited several examples of teachers "talking down" to village students. One business participant called the problem one of "missionaryitis."

The lack of Native teachers in rural and city schools was seen as a major reason few education programs try to integrate Native language and culture into the curriculum. Some business group respondents faulted statewide curriculum deficiencies and the failure to properly train new village teachers.

Participants in all groups cited examples of Alaska Native teachers being unable to get teaching jobs when they returned to their villages. Business participants felt this was due in part to the social and political dynamics of some villages that did not welcome back their own students. They also said Native teachers were often more closely scrutinized, creating a difficult professional situation.

Participants also were concerned about making sure that basic skills -- like English, math, and science -- were adequately funded and taught in the schools. Business participants were especially focused on this, along with the need to include vocational and other options. However, they recognized that the small size of village schools was a barrier to offering more options.

Related to this, participants in all groups felt there were inadequate counseling resources for students, especially in districts where counselors were shared by several village schools. Because they traveled throughout the district, the counselors were not always available when students needed them. Some business participants felt counselors did not give students enough information about the many intern and scholarship opportunities available to them. They also said the school counselors did not adequately prepare students for the realities of college life and the workforce. They were concerned that counselors were not making appropriate career suggestions or helping students prepare for the competitiveness of the post-secondary institutional and workplace environment.

Other barriers identified by focus group participants included drugs and alcohol. The participants were particularly concerned about children's exposure to their parents' use of alcohol and drugs, the availability of alcohol and drugs in the home, and parents' lack of awareness of how exposure to the use of these substances could affect their children's school performance.

Focus group participants were asked to speak from the larger context of the Native community and not personal experience. Many noted their concerns about parents who did not have high enough expectations for their children, and failed to give them the support they needed to succeed in school, such as helping with homework, being involved in the school, and making sure their children got enough sleep and good nutrition. Some Anchorage participants felt parents were unaware of programs and options available to their children.

Interestingly, some Aniak parents said schools gave too much homework. They felt this indicated poor teaching during school time and a lack of awareness of other responsibilities that students had in village life. They were concerned that the amount of homework sometimes led to students falling behind and getting frustrated. Some Aniak students defended the importance of homework, and some cited examples of poor instruction.

Anchorage business participants noted the difficult transition from the village to the city as a barrier to educational success. Business participants talked about how they felt village students were set up for failure, citing village students who were at the top of their small high school graduating class only to find they were at the bottom when they moved on to a university.

Anchorage participants in particular felt that many urban Natives have lost their connection to rural Alaska. One believed that more villagers were moving to Anchorage because of fishing declines and other economic problems in the villages.

They talked about cultural differences that affect an individual's ability to succeed in an urban educational environment, specifically cultural barriers to speaking out, stigmatizing Native children in the urban environment, and prejudice among some teachers. One Anchorage participant said he should have had the choice to not participate in an Alaska Native program when in high school.

Anchorage parents and business participants identified the increasing problem of young single mothers who move to Anchorage or other urban areas without adequate financial resources, and then face housing and transportation problems.

All three groups had plenty of examples of the lack of adequate school funding, particularly in the villages. One Aniak respondent worried that smaller villages could not offer competitive teacher salaries to attract good teachers. There was concern that small schools did not have enough funds to feed students two meals a day, and were no longer able to take them to the urban and farm areas of Alaska, an important experience for rural children. An Anchorage participant said more Head Start programs and smaller classes were needed.

Aniak participants emphasized the importance of more "hands on" activities in the classroom. Several talked about local elders and businesses participating in school activities, although lack of student attention seemed to dilute the satisfaction of helping in schools.

Return to the Issues in Alaska Native Education: Focus Group Research

Return to the McDowell Final Report

Return to Alaska Native Knowledge Network