Six-year-old Travis had the attention of the whole class as he sat dangling one leg off the table at the front of the first-grade room. I expected him to give us a quick lesson on village life, which Travis did quite often at the spur of the moment. But today, he started out, “When I was Indian ... ”
No Alaska Native child should feel that he or she has to leave his or her Native identity back in the village and is no longer Indian in our urban schools. We do all children an injustice by not having a diversified staff.
CNN’s Anderson Cooper spotlighted a special report on racial concerns where children were asked to point to the most beautiful and the most intelligent child out of an assortment of lighter- to darker-skinned children. Invariably, they picked the lighter child. This biased arena will never change within the school system if the educators we select to administer our schools are not sensitive to diversity among teachers and other staff members.
There are schools with high populations of Alaska Native students with no Alaska Native teachers. When I retired, my school had 95 Native students out of 435 students and no Alaska Native personnel. Imagine my surprise when three highly qualified Native teachers applied through in-district transfer and none were hired.
I have an administrative degree and worked for 15 years on various committees recruiting qualified Native teachers. I encouraged two of the highly qualified Native teachers to apply, as I knew them personally and both were just a few credits short of getting master’s degrees, with combined 30 years of successful teaching experience.
Principals are paid to make decisions for the best interests of their schools. I encourage administrators to follow the direction of the local school board and administration, which is to consider the need for Alaska Native certified staff at the school level when they have well-trained Alaska Native teachers who apply. The school board and administration need to be vigilant in monitoring if the goals for diversity in the schools are to be met within the schools.
One little student looked up at an Alaska Native teacher and asked if she was Native. The teacher proudly stated, “Yes, I am.” The little girl said, “I am too!” The student further asked, “Are you a teacher?” The teacher responded again saying, “Yes, I am a teacher.” A smile went from ear to ear as the little girl enthusiastically said, “Oh, I can be a teacher, too.”
This story is not new. Minority teachers each have a story to tell. When a student asked a little first-grade girl if she was Athabascan, she said, “Yes, but Mrs. Nelson is, too.”
Our Alaska Native students need to be validated in their own unique cultural identity as successful and proud, contributing members of our communities. When students see teachers of all cultures in the schools, they understand the true meaning of the democracy of our nation. We teach our students to honor and appreciate the people in the armed forces who are willing to give their lives so we can fully participate in the freedom and rights that we have as American people. Expecting our students to be represented by educators from all walks of life is not “preferential treatment.” It is an inherent right as an American citizen.
As a teacher, I am encouraged that many parents of all races expressed appreciation for the cultural sensitivity and knowledge of Alaska Native cultures the students in my class learned as they were required to maintain the state standards set for children in all areas of education. Our rich and diverse community makes us proud to be Alaskans. My knowledge of who I am as an Alaska Native Inupiaq — born and raised in Alaska — was reflected in my desire to be a role model to all cultures of the value of reaching our full potential while maintaining our own identity.
Let’s strive to make education equitable for all children in our schools. This is the true American spirit.
Jeannie Nelson of Fairbanks is an Inupiaq and a retired school teacher originally from Lake Minchumina.
Kamen, I have reread Ms. Nelson's writing and I read nothing that says she wants unqualified Native teachers. If anything she states "highly qualified" and qualified.
redpoll, You walk your talk, alright. You talk with "forked tongue." You say color should not be an issue but you state a range from light pinkish hue to dark bluish black and I imagine you know right where you fit in. You assume icebreaker is a man (why?) and you state that icebreaker would assume you were a professor in the Hot Licks line. Correct me if I am wrong but professors come from scuffy to polished. How would I know you as a professor? Maybe from the suggestion that you leave your confined writing cubicle? That could have been a jail cell--You are full of assumptions and quite arrogant at that. Regarding that we are all human and can understand and share. How long have you been in Alaska and is maqtaq, stinkhead fish or pickled beaver tail part of your diet? Oh, I assumed mathematics is a universal language. Are you saying Natives are not a part of this?
I agree with Rodney King when he asked, "Why can't we all just get along?" We can start by respecting our differences, not tearing them down. I say "we" to include me.
Lastly, evil, I hope history doesn't repeat itself as in the lower forty eight when development of resources drove the Natives into reservations and stripped them of their lands. As repoll says, we all must learn from past history.
A truly good teacher will inspire children to follow their dreams, which is critical for Alaska Native youth. I'm not saying that an imported teacher can't teach, and teach well; however, a local teacher will better understand the difficulty of Native youth who are trying to balance tradition, subsistence, and traditional responsibilities with the expectations of the western culture.
To me, the critical question is, how can we encourage Native youth to pursue that career? How can we provide *opportunity*?
I liked the straw man argument brought up almost immediately by icebreaker, who writes, "Isn't it possible to hire people of color that are intelligent in your world without bringing up racism?" You gotta laugh. I want the best teachers, regardless of race or ethnicity. This person assumes racist motives from wanting the best? And, by the way, all people have color, ranging from a light pinkish hue to a dark bluish-black.
Cool to be called a redneck, too, talking about stereotypes. If icebreaker was standing behind me in the line at Hot Licks, he'd assume from my appearance and speech that I was a prof at the university. Hilarious.
88888 is correct when she points out that some people see their race or ethnicity as something that makes them different from the rest of us. We're all one human family.
Rockee makes the classic mistake of thinking that something done by one culture can't be understood by others. "Can a non-Native (implant) teacher truly grasp the value of potlatch or fish camp, and bond with these youth in the way a truly magnificent teacher will?" Let's turn the tables and ask if a Native teacher can "truly grasp the value" of mathematics as devised by the Greeks, Arabs, and Chinese? Of course, that's a stupid question. All things human can be shared and understood by each other. The alternative is a racist, divided world where we believe that your race and ethnicity prevent understanding of each other, which has been tried in many places and created much suffering.
xxevil_duckiesxx tells me that Alaska is "OUR LAND." The same words have led to centuries of war and oppression. Ask a Serbian about Kosovo. Eventually, someone who believes it is "OUR LAND" will start war and ethnic cleansing. Well, if you wants the outsiders gone, you're thinking of doing that. Good luck.
Dilzina, there is no connection between the race of teachers and student achievement. There's lots of research out there. You ask what the school principals and school districts are doing to help students who drop out. I'd ask what the families, community, and students themselves are doing to prevent dropping out. In fact, drop out rates are linked to family involvement in the education of their children, intact family structures, and support in the community for academic excellence. It's not racial, either. People heaped together as "whites" show remarkable differences in educational attainment when you look at the cultural background and ethnicity of the student. ("Whites" or "Caucasians" actually comprise dozens of different cultural backgrounds.) The same goes for people heaped together as "black." Students whose families come from the American slave era, the Caribbean, or west African immigrants show many differences in achievement.
As far having a teacher of the same ethnic background as best qualified to teach - why did Princeton hire Einstein, a Jew, to teach a bunch of non-Jewish kids? If some of the posts here are correct, Einstein shouldn't be able to teach kids of different cultures. But he did.
In any case, my children deserve the best teachers. I really don't care about the teacher's race or ethnicity. Several are Native, by the way. I don't care about their race; I care about competence. I want the best.
And racism has to fought wherever it shows up, including in very nicely worded letters to the editor. Tolerance of racism only allows it to flourish.
It isn't. This perspective is asking for native teachers just because they are native, regardless of qualifications. That is hiring based on race, thus it is racist. Yes, affirmative action is racist.
--Is a caucasian implant from Texas going to connect to Native youth in the same was as a Native teacher?--
Depends on qualifications. Which is what people want for the kids, qualified teachers. Hire based on the ability to do the job, not race.
--It doesn't appear to me that Ms. Nelson is asking for anything special;--
Then we must agree to disagree. To me, this perspective reads as a basis for discriminatory hiring practices using race as the criteria.
It would be nice if more natives went into teaching to provide the qualified role model Ms. Nelson is seeking. The key word is "qualified" though. Just being native shouldn't make someone qualified to teach.
Is a caucasian implant from Texas going to connect to Native youth in the same was as a Native teacher? Can a non-Native (implant) teacher truly grasp the value of potlatch or fish camp, and bond with these youth in the way a truly magnificent teacher will?
We should acknowledge and honor our differences. Predominant cultures should not expect minority cultures to "blend", and thus effectively wipe out all cultures.
It doesn't appear to me that Ms. Nelson is asking for anything special; rather, she's just encouraging us to utilize a very special resource to preserve, enhance and protect what is beautiful about our country: Our diverse People!
I believe that minorities make a mistake when they emphasize the fact that they are different. There is nothing wrong with any child being taught about his or her ethnic heritage. But to constantly emphasize the fact that they are different causes others to SEE them as different. And that is were racism is born. When a group of people (in this case, Alaska Natives)gives off the message, even if unintentionally, that they are different and therefore better, or deserving of special treatment, then resentment grows in others. That causes racism and prejudice. Minorities will never be fully accepted until we can all see each other as equal. We shoud emphasize the good qualities in others, and acknowledge their accomplishments. We should not emphasize our ethnic differences, as that divides us.
Let's take Ms. Nelson's racist ideas to the extreme. Do we need a teacher of Irish ancestry to teach little Michael Sullivan? Do we need an African-American of Caribbean ancestry to teach this kid over there, and an African-American whose ancestors were slaves in America over here? What about the race of the principal? And after we're done dividing up everyone according to race and ethnicity, let's not forget gender, or the gay students. Shouldn't we hire a gay teacher for that kid just coming out - wouldn't want that child to be separated from his or her sexual identity.
Students deserve the best teachers, period. If that person was born in Kotlik, good. If that person was born in Sacramento, fine. Hasn't Ms. Nelson learned anything from human history about the consequences of racial stereotyping, racial selection, and racial exclusion?
While Ms. Nelson was pushing her narrow racist agenda in the classroom, what happened to the other students who weren't Native? Ignored? Heaped with scorn? Left out? Teachers should be teaching every child in the classroom, not just the ones whose ancestry matches the teacher.
I would have thought that this issue had been resolved with the notion that people are judged by the content of their character, but I guess that message hasn't gotten through to some of us. Racism is bad. Maybe Ms. Nelson needs to expand her worldview outside the confines of Alaska to see that.
The other side is shouldn't any person's culture promote teaching and education in a way that promotes diversity, without the need for incentives to justify a person's choice to be a teacher?
Teach all children, not just the native ones, to earn what you want and not expect to get it handed to you because of the color of your skin.
What opportunities are out there to encourage a child from the village to pursue a teaching degree?
What steps do Alaskans need to take in order to afford our Native youth the opportunity?
I appreciate your letter and agree whole-heartedly. Personally, I would like to see more youth pursue leadership roles; seems to me like teaching is a natural fit.