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Caring for Our People Training (COPT)Effective Teaching on the Reservation: A case study |
[Note: Names have been changed to protect privacy.]
One aspect of Donna’s teaching philosophy that I admire most is her sincere desire to get to know and understand the "Spirit Lake People". The majority of teachers who teach on the Spirit Lake Reservation are non-Indians. While they may be excellent teachers inside the classroom, they leave the reservation at the end of the day making no attempt to get to know the community their students come from. Indeed, there are times when these teachers do not acknowledge their own students after regular school hours. Donna on the other hand, has leaned the Dakota language, she attends our pow-wows (many times participating as a dancer) and other cultural events, she often attends her students’©&Mac246; birthday’s parties, honoring, graduations etc.
As an active participant in the community, Donna has her own ideas on how to bring positive change to the reservation. This is the only area that I often disagree with her on. I feel that though she is an excellent teacher, and has gone to considerable length to become part of the community, she still doesn’t understand the complexities and subtleties of the Dakota people, and probably never will. As a result and this is strictly my opinion, when she chooses to take a matter into her own hand, she often exacerbates an issue rather then adding to its resolution. Why is this important to her teaching effectiveness? Because Tribal politics often has a negative impact on areas it touches. As politicians jockey for public visibility and popularity they often get involved in any issue that will increase their visibility and popularity. Often, a politician approaches a non-Indian, who works for the tribe, in an attempt to influence them in a way that will gain favor with their constituents.
For example, say a relative of the politician was dissatisfied with a grade they received and wanted the politician to use their influence to change it. The politician in turn, wanting votes, approaches the person in question and offers the non-Indian something to change the grade; maybe promising they will get a contract for the next year. While it is next too impossible to get a grade change the instructor(s) are introduced to politics, reservation style and some come to realize how easy it is to influence policy by association with a politician. Donna, like many other non-Indians, is susceptible to this and sometimes approaches a tribal politician on their own. By doing so, they often make a situation worse. My closing statement about Donna is that she is an asset to the community, she brings knowledge, commitment, and expertise not found on this reservation. Observing her offers a new staff member to the reservation insights on both how to be effective and paths not to take.
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