Incorporating Native American Culture into Early Childhood Education
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Transcript of Incorporating Native American Culture into Early Childhood Education
Forgetting a Heritage
Countries around the world are making an effort to include the cultures of their indigenous peoples in modern early childhood education programs.
Why not the US?
Forgetting a Heritage
By ignoring the traditions of the Native Americans in US preschools, we are allowing our children to forget an important piece of our country’s heritage.
Why let it go?Click Image to Enlarge
Forgetting a Heritage
It’s time to include the Native American culture in our schools so future generations can benefit from the knowledge, teaching practices, and traditions that might otherwise be lost.
Why not start now?
Forgetting a Heritage
To embrace this heritage, we must determine:
What obstacles are stopping us from incorporating our native culture?
What knowledge and values do Native American elders believe are the most important to pass on?
How should we share these lessons with our children?
What resources will early education teachers need to represent the culture?
What’s Stopping Us?
Based on a 2012 study, Native Americans make up just 1.7% of the US population.
Among those, just 52% of native families with kids between the ages of 3 and 5 enrolled their children in early childhood education.
This makes their voice one the smallest minorities in the EE system.
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What’s Stopping Us?
Unfortunately, when Native American culture is addressed in public schools, harmful stereotypical portrayals are used.
Lessons are limited to tipis, savage-like warriors, feather head bands, and a bias perspective of the first Thanksgiving.
This does not teach nor honor their true culture.
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What’s Stopping Us?
Too often, Native Americans are grouped into one homogenous group.
In reality, there are currently about 500 tribes, each with its own language and cultural traditions.
This prevents students from learning about the unique qualities of their regional tribe.
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What’s Stopping Us?
With more and more Native Americans growing up in urban settings, there is less exposure to their traditional culture.
This has caused a generational shift that contributes to the loss of some cultural values and traditions.
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What’s Stopping Us?
Early childhood education teachers are not reaching out to local tribes, thus their students are missing out on opportunities to witness accurate and valuable cultural lessons.
Additionally, reservation preschools are segregated from non-native preschools, preventing them from interacting and sharing their culture with others.
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Native Recommendations
Native Head Start programs recommend teaching:
Unique aspects of the lifestyles of various tribes: i.e. differences in tribal dwellings, nomadic vs. agricultural tribes, etc.
Actual tribal names instead of simply “Native Americans”: i.e. Cheyenne, Hopi, Apache, etc.
Historical AND modern native culture
Activities with inoffensive, non-stereotypical materials
Click Image to Play Video: Start at 1:03
Native Recommendations
In order to teach Native American culture, early childhood educators need to become aware of the struggles Native Americans face and the many individual perspectives that come from their diverse group.
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Native Recommendations
In 1996, Native American Elders gathered in Colorado and specified the following culturally-significant principles:
Learn and be proud of native language.
Understand that all forms of life are interconnected.
Recognize the powers of native ceremonies and religious ways.
Live with dignity, honor, and humility.
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An Oral Tradition
Schools are encouraged to teach native language, ceremonies, and other principles through:
Elder interaction
Mythological storytelling
Native song and dance
Field trips to native events
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An Oral Tradition
Teachers are encouraged to reach out to local tribal elders and to use the many multimedia resources of the web to learn and teach traditional native stories, songs, and more.
Click Image to Play Video
An Oral Tradition
It is important to expose children to native performers through field trips and by attending performances where they can see dances, ceremonies, and native communities first-hand.
Click Image to Play Video: Start at 1:21
Connecting to Standards
Native educational principles are easily connected to the Head Start Child Development Early Learning Framework, especially:
Music
Creative movement and dance
Social relationships
Family and community
Knowledge of the natural and physical world
Click Image to Enlarge
Success in Action
In Nebraska, the Native Indian Centered Education program has created a partnership between public schools and Native Americans to provide native-centric educational opportunities like:
Elders teaching traditional drumming and dancing
Outdoor classrooms that host native healing gardens
Monthly family events designed by native parents
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Success in Action
Based on their success, NICE recommends that family-school-community partnerships work best when:
The project benefits all partners
The pursuit of a shared vision is promoted
Understanding is encouraged
Family access to community resources are built and strengthened
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Join the Movement
If we truly intend to incorporate Native American culture into our early childhood education programs, we need ongoing input from Native Americans from a variety of backgrounds, whether traditional or not.
Please share your favorite native resources, strategies, and recommendations below!