This presentation was offered for the National Resource for ParaEducators Conference April 2015 by Katie Olson. Katie is the Program Chair for Paraprofessional Education at Alaska Christian College in Soldotna. In this workshop we take a look at indigenous people, their representation in the field of education, research that supports the value of recruiting indigenous people as ParaEducators and reflection of key factors that supports the success of indigenous students in the classroom.

1. Supporting Indigenous
Paraprofessionals
Katie Archer Olson MAT ECE –Chair Paraprofessional Ed

2. Overview of session
Identification
of Indigenous
People and
Representation
in the field of
education
Impact on
instruction
learning and
assessments
Ways to support
Paraprofessionals

3. IDENTIFICATION OF INDIGENOUS
PEOPLE AND REPRESENTATION IN
THE FIELD OF EDUCATION
Pass out rocks

4. What do you think of when the word indigenous is used?
What group(s) of people come to mind? Choose one
group.
What images, smells, tastes, rituals, languages, clothing,
locations, etc. does the word conger up?
Take a moment to draw/write these on the paper
provided on your tables.
Identification of Indigenous People

5. IdentificationofIndigenous
People The United Nations describes
indigenous as:
Cultures that are not
from the dominant
culture
Origins from pre-
colonial….pre-settler
of western society
Distinct language,
political, social and
subsistence lifestyle
Resolve to maintain
ancestral lifestyle,
customs, traditions

7. IMPACT ON INSTRUCTION
LEARNING AND
ASSESSMENTS
A Look at Research

8. HOW DO DOMINATE CULTURES
PERCEIVE EDUCATION, LEARNING
AND UNDERSTANDING
(COMPETENCIES) VS. INDIGENOUS?
Break up into small groups and do a comparison with the paper provided

9. (Barnhardt & Kawagley, 2011)

10. (Barnhardt & Kawagley, 2011)

11. (Barnhardt & Kawagley, 2011)

12. Collect rocks
Denina language
The Center for World Indigenous studies states that there are approximately
370 million indigenous people in the world and out of the 7 thousand known
spoken languages, indigenous people contribute to more than 4 thousand of
those languages.
The United Nations quoted people of declining languages:
-”If I forget my native speech,
and the songs that my people sing
What use are my eyes and my ears?
What use is my mouth?”
-How can I believe the foolish idea
That my language is weal and poor
If my mother’s last words
Were in Evenki?

13. What does
learning look
like for many
indigenous
cultures
Oral language as a
primary way to
preserve culture
Intentional Non-
Verbal
Communication
Strong sense of
connection to the
natural world for
survival
Teach by working
side by side
Strong connection
to family and
community
Different circadian
clock
Life Pace is much
slower

14. Examples of Indigenous Learning
http://www.uaf.edu/mcc/culture-and-
math/videos/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUYH4zDegnM
Two examples of Alaska Native Learning
Math and Literacy
What does the teaching instruction look like in the lesson?
What was the goal/purpose of the lesson?
In what ways could the “teacher” gauge the competencies of their students?
How might the students transfer this information to their lives?
How might this look different if a non-native teacher was teaching the same concept?

15. “Indigenous youth struggle to find relevance in
classrooms that make little or no effort to represent
their histories, values, perspectives, and world
views”(Hare & Pidgeon, 2011).

16. As we look at an underrepresentation of indigenous
educators we must be mindful to allow for Western
academic gain while students retain and value
indigenous contributions to subject matter (Meaney &
Evans, 2012). -Bridging learning

17. Supporting Indigenous
Paraprofessionals
Have people find their rocks

18. Value their
contributions
to
nurture their
native
language

19. Value the
contribution
of sharing
perspectives

20. Transference
of life and
self-
regulating
skills

21. Encourage post-
secondary education
programs that focus
on supporting
indigenous
professionals
http://www.ed.gov/edblogs/whiaiane/tribes-
tcus/tribal-colleges-and-universities/