Listening to the Community: Guidance From Native Community Members for Emerging Culturally Responsive Educators

Abstract

Critical race theory (CRT) emphasizes the importance of listening to the counter-narratives of people from marginalized groups. However, the applicability of CRT in practical settings often remains unclear for educators and scholars. This project offers not only a place for Native community members to share their experiences and ideas, it also provides practical guidance for emerging culturally responsive educators and ways to use themes from narratives to guide future scholarship. As a result of interviews with five Native community members, three themes emerged for non-Native educators working in Native communities: (a) learning from the community, (b) transforming thinking through discomfort, and (c) gaining awareness of positive values. These themes can be used to guide future projects, including reservation-based field experiences and research projects exploring educator thinking in reservation communities.

Christine A. Rogers is a Ph.D. candidate in Education at the University of Wyoming. Her main research interests include community-centered scholarship and learning, critical literacy, and decolonizing education in reservation border towns.

Angela M. Jaime identifies with Pit River & Valley Maidu tribal affiliation and is an assistant professor in Educational Studies at the University of Wyoming. Her research interests include curriculum studies, Native American and multicultural education, and ethnic studies.

Notes

1. Although it is certainly desirable to refer to Native people by their tribal names and to point out individual tribal traits, it is not feasible to do so when discussing the tribes in general. In addition, in this article we avoid using specific identifying aspects, including tribal affiliation, which could infringe upon privacy of the participants in this project. Therefore, unless noted otherwise, the terms Native, Indigenous People, or Native American will be used to refer to all tribes.