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Cross-Cultural Issues in
Alaskan Education
Vol. I
PART I
EDUCATIONAL POLICY ISSUES
Since most of the people of the world live in villages-and since,
coincidentally, it is those same people who typically depend directly
on the land for
their subsistence and possess the smallest per-capita share of the world’s
material wealth . . . it should come as no surprise that developing
delivery systems to provide any kind of educational opportunities in small
villages
has never been a local or international priority, since to do so with
any real integrity would predetermine a heightened awareness on the part
of
these anthropolitically
slumbering millions, which would have certain and irreversible consequences
for the ruling classes, both locally and internationally, that would
not at the outset appear desirable to them.
- Bill Vaudrin
The following articles are addressed to issues with policy implications for
the development, implementation, and evaluation of education programs in Alaska.
They are issues being confronted by educational administrators, planners, practitioners
and boards throughout the state, and particularly in the 21 new Rural Education
Attendance Areas. The development of educational services for rural Alaska
is still in the early formative stages, compared to the rest of the country.
Alaskans are, therefore, in a position to establish policies and create programs
attuned to contemporary needs and conditions, provided they can overcome traditional
habits of thinking and approach things from new perspectives. Though this may
seem an obvious consideration in a cross-cultural environment, an examination
of schools in even the remotest corners of the State will indicate that it
rarely occurs, outside of some unavoidable concessions to the physical environment.
Though the issues in the following articles are not new, the authors have attempted
to address them in the context of the unique conditions and contemporary state
of affairs in Alaska. They should, therefore, contribute to an ongoing dialogue
out of which new policies and programs can emerge.
Inupiaq Education-Eben Hopson
Rural Secondary Education: Some Alternative Considerations-D.M. Murphy
An Evaluator Views Northern Education Programs-Kathryn Hecht
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