Abstract
The present study describes a yearlong collaborative inquiry involving six teachers and their professional discussions about literacy instruction as they developed a curriculum to support the cultural and linguistic needs of their school’s 88% Native American student population. Participants in this study were four Native American teachers and two European American teachers who taught in an elementary public school located on a Native American Reservation in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Using a grounded theory approach, focus group discussions, interviews, and artifacts were analyzed. Analyses revealed the positions teachers adopted (i.e., advocate and cultural visionary) in their collaboration and the re-envisioning that took place as teachers adapted the curriculum to support their students’ linguistic and cultural strengths.