A Conceptual Framework for Non-Native Instructors Who Teach Adult Native American Students at the University

Abstract

Native students often desire an education that will enable them to contribute to their home communities and facilitate tribal development, while retaining close ties to their cultural heritage and identity. We outline a conceptual framework that provides a starting point for non-Native American educators to consider as they engage Native American students in higher education. Four elements are critical for non-Native instructors to consider: his or her positionality; the history of educational delivery to Native populations -in particular the "Boarding School Era" -and its implications for education today; the presence of micro-aggressions felt by Native students on most college campuses; and how desires to increase and facilitate tribal sovereignty and self-determination may inform the education of Native students. By engaging in self-reflective pedagogy with positionality, history, and sovereignty in mind, non-Native instructors may be more likely to engage in effective strategies for Native learners.