TEACHING STYLES AND TRAINING

Teaching style is logically the counterpart to learning style. "When the teaching style of instructors matches the learning styles of students, the probability of learning success increases "(Backes, 1993). Matching styles is best accomplished through direct observation and classroom experience (Swisher, 1991).

Taking into account learning behaviors rather than controlling and dictating the learning environment will empower students to assume more responsibility for their own learning (Haberman, 1991, in Backes, 1993). Effective teaching also means "stretching students "by "planning and implementing student participation in learning experiences that require behaviors the student has previously avoided " (Cox &Ramierez, 1981, in Swisher, 1991).

However, "it is [also ]imperative that educators not teach solely to groups (ethnic), but teach to individuals' learning strengths" (Backes, 1993). Lomawaima cautions against one general Indian or a pan-Alaska Native curricula, because of the diversity of Native cultures and experiences. Educators need to work locally to develop relevant content and methods (Lomawaima, 1995).

Even language and cultural programs developed for adaptation at the local level may not take hold. For example, it was difficult to generalize the Standards for Effective Pedagogy (StEP) program developed in the early 1990s by the Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence at the University of California, Santa Cruz. StEP was to be tailored to the needs of the local school, but Alaska's Yup'ik school districts, in which it was tried, had too many regional differences in Yup'ik dialects, ecology, and subsistence. It also took time for teachers to learn the curriculum. With high teacher turnover and limited professional development time, it was difficult to implement the principles and skills required for the curriculum. Recognizing the validity of the concepts, several communities developed similar programs using their elders and school staff. ¹⁶

The expectation that American Indian and Alaska Native teachers will facilitate a better match between teaching style and learning style is not always supported in the literature. "The effects on aboriginal teachers of being educated in culturally discontinuous classrooms themselves, both at the university and grade school levels, may hinder such teachers from developing culturally based pedagogical practices," according to McAlpine and Taylor (1993).

Deyhle and Swisher (1997) note that little research has been done on the impact of Indian teachers teaching Indian students, and that "cultural relevance is rarely defined and almost always assumed to be significant. "This exclusive focus on culture and curricular innovations leaves little room for other factors that may impact one's academic success, including economics and social structure (p. 163) .

The Alaska Native Knowledge Network provides extensive guidelines on teaching style. The network is a collection of curriculum resources for Alaska teachers sponsored by the Alaska Federation of Natives and the University of Alaska through the National Science Foundation and the Annenberg Rural Challenge. As previously described, the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative is to "develop educational policies and practices that effectively integrate Indigenous and Western knowledge throughout a renewed educational system. "The Network also promotes the "daily use of indigenous languages "in the hope that Alaska ' s "educational institutions will support us in perpetuating our languages. "(See the Web site: http://www. ankn. uaf. edu/).

Teacher Training

Effective teacher training programs are vital to any efforts to improve American Indian/Alaska Native education. In describing why Native Americans have the highest dropout rate of any ethnic group in the United States, current research rejects ideas of intellectual or cultural inferiority and instead points to the nature of schools, education, and teachers as the cause (Reyhner, Lee, & Gabbard, 1993).

Specialized teacher training programs are designed to increase the number of American Indian and Alaska Native teachers and better prepare them for the challenges of the classroom. Non-Natives interested in teaching in Native schools also participate in many of these programs. Such programs are helpful in decreasing teacher turnover, which in some American Indian/Alaska Native communities can be 50 percent or higher (Heimbecker, 2000). Lipka (1994) indicates that teacher turnover in rural Alaska ranges from 5 percent to 20 percent per year. ¹⁷

Persistent teacher and administration staff turnover is the greatest obstacle to sustaining reform. Kushman et al. (1999) notes that turnover hinders reform efforts and "leads to a cycle of reinventing school every two or three years. "They suggest that developing teachers and administration staff from within the community may offer the greatest hope of sustaining reforms. Longer-serving local staff can in turn create greater community stability and more trust between school faculty and parents. Stability and trust may lead to increased ability to develop curriculum that is appropriate to the culture of their communities. Many years of commitment are required for the cultural curriculum to become part of the teaching standards of the local communities and the school district.

Content of Teacher Training Programs

Training programs designed to prepare teachers to work with American Indian and Alaska Native students require grounding in anthropology, sociology, and history (Reyhner, Lee, &Gabbard, 1993). This enables teachers to explain the non-Native world to their students and help their students navigate the cultural discontinuity between home and school. It also helps teachers understand how education of Native students has changed over time.

The literature indicates that culturally responsive teaching and experiential/interactive methods enable teachers of Alaska Native and American Indian students to be more effective. The learning environment will better match Native students' needs and backgrounds if teachers adapt instruction to the way their students learn at home;if they provide students real experiences beyond textbooks and lectures;and if they actively listen to and address students ' concerns (Swisher & Deyhle, 1992; Cummins, 1989 & 1992; both in Reyhner et al. , 1993).

Salzman (1990) notes the importance of teacher-training programs for effective communication across cultures.

Collaboration across cultural barriers in the service of goals defined by Indian communities requires a basis of respect and understanding. Such a relationship demands a consciousness that does not confuse differences with deficiencies and assumes a willingness to cooperate on the basis of equality (Salzman, 1990).

Salzman (1990) uses what he calls "Intercultural Sensitizer "training to address this issue. The training focuses on inferences that each of us make regarding the cause of behavior. Salzman maintains that training teachers to be more sensitive to the culture of their students enables "non-Native American educators to better interpret behaviors and signals through the cultural/historical perspectives of Indian students, parents, and colleagues. "

Specific Teacher Training Programs

School or community-based teacher-training programs are often an effective means of recruiting American Indian/Alaska Native paraprofessionals into the teaching profession. Two examples are the Reaching American Indian Special Elementary Educators (RAISE) program, located on the Navajo Reservation in Kayenta, Arizona, and the Lakehead University Native Teacher Education Program located in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada (Nishabe Nation). Program participants generally have experience working with children in a school setting and are committed to working in education. Such school-based programs allow participants to stay in their own communities, honor family obligations, receive community support, and continue to contribute to the educational life of the community as they work toward their certificates. Daily hands-on training in schools immerses the teacher-trainees in the community culture and the problems they will face as teachers (Heimbecker, 2000) .

The 1970s University of Alaska Cross-Cultural Education Development (X-CED) Program is an example of an early bicultural teacher-training program. Although the program was discontinued, UAF has made efforts to replace it with other cultural programs, including a new degree program for elementary education intended specifically for rural Alaska. X-CED reportedly helped increase the number of Alaska Native teachers in a few villages (Reyhner, 1999) .

Graduates of the X-CED and similar programs faced being rejected on two fronts: by mainstream teachers who mistrusted the alternative nature of their teacher-training program, and by Yup'ik communities that mistrusted the alien appearance of an Alaska Native teacher (Reyhner, 1999). A research and support group for Yup'ik teachers, known as Ciulistet , was established to help teachers address this conflict between mainstream schooling and Yup ' ik culture. The teachers developed science and math curriculum that relates to the children ' s environment, and used the rich Yup'ik oral tradition to develop oral and written literacy. They also devised culturally appropriate ways to interact with Native students, for example, not spotlighting individual students in the classroom. Lipka's Transforming the Culture of Schools:Yup'ik Eskimo Examples, details the challenges Alaska Native teachers used as they incorporated Yup ' ik culture-based curriculum into a mainstream educational setting. Esther A. Ilustsik's "The Founding of Ciulistet: One Teacher's Journey" also offers an autobiographical account of her experiences with Ciulistet and X-CED.

While there is optimism for success of these programs, acceptance of Alaska Native teachers by school administrators and the communities remains a challenge.

¹⁶ Per McDowell Group conversations with school administrators in the Southwest Region and Lower Kuskokwim school districts, April 2001.

¹⁷ To verify these figures, McDowell Group contacted the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development (EED). A department official indicated that EED did not track teacher turnover. It is possible that local school districts do, but McDowell Group was unable to verify which districts may keep these records.

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