The WWW Virtual Library, an index of Native American resources (maintained by Karen Strom) is a very useful web site for a variety of topics. Included are some of the sites listed below, as well as a great deal more information.The American Indian Education homepage, maintained by Dr. Jon Reyhner, Northern Arizona University, includes a compilation of appropriate children’s literature (including links to stores which sell these books), information on the history of American Indian education, bilingual / bicultural education efforts, and content-specific materials. This site provides links to important resources in the field of American Indian Education. Among them is American Indian/Alaska Native Education: An Overview (Reyhner, 2002), an excellent review of Native American education, past and present. Also as a pdf file: Effective Standards-Based Practices for Native American Students (Apthorp, D’Amato, & Richardson, 2003), which determined positive correlations between improved student achievement and curriculum characteristics The link to math and science materials leads to the following article: Improving Mathematics and Science Instruction for LEP [Limited English Proficiency] Middle and High School Students Through Language Activities (Reyhner & Davison). The article concludes with five recommendations for science and math teaching:
- Teachers must relate their mathematics and science instruction to the out-of-school life of their students.
- The implementation of ethnomathematics and ethnoscience can help teachers relate those subjects to their students’ out-of-school lives.
- Teachers must use teaching methodologies that “contextualize” the subject matter they teach.
- Teachers need to be concerned about affective factors in their classrooms.
- Teachers of mathematics and science need to provide writing and other language development activities for their LEP students.
The Journal of American Indian Education: (JAIE)
This journal is all on-line except for the most recent few years . A few examples related to science teaching are summarized here.
Teaching and Learning With Native Americans: A Handbook for Non-Native American Adult Educators, Marilou Schultz and Miriam Kroeger (1996) While targeted specifically to adult educators working with Navajo students, the book provides insight into how to create culturally relevant curriculum, as well as strategies for working with this tribe, many of which can be generalized to any population. Also interesting is the comparison between the dominant culture's values and Indian (specifically, Navajo) values. While it would be unwise to assume that all tribes share Navajo values, it is a good place to start in becoming aware of cultural differences.
Women, Minorities and Persons with Disabilities in science and engineering, a report to the NSF (1994) includes statistics and distribution of American Indians. The majority of American Indians live in non-metropolitan areas, with the greatest numbers in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Oklahoma. Examples from this report include: Teaching Mathematics to American Indians