Based on interviews and classroom observation, this book presents the "collected wisdom" of 60 teachers of American Indian students in all parts of the United States, as well as teachers of indigenous students in Australia and Costa Rica. Chapter 1, "Introduction: The Teacher as Learner" presents the authors' backgrounds, the study's emerging themes, general procedures of the study, and rationale for the final presentation of data. The study was based on the premise that teachers in schools that serve Indian children should see themselves as learners who are open to understanding the reasons that children and communities are the way they are, who are willing to discover and consider the differences between school and home cultures, and who are willing to change their ways of teaching to give children a better chance in school and life. Each subsequent chapter has a theme and standard format: a story that introduces the chapter's content, questions to tap the reader's prior knowledge, a profile of a teacher-interviewee, a problematic case study, a summary of research on the theme and its implications for practice, and references. Chapter titles include the following: "Cultural Difference: Recognizing the Gap into Which Students and Teachers Fall"; "What Has Gone Wrong: The Remnants of Oppression"; "Creating a Two-Way Bridge: Being Indian in a Non-Indian World"; "Issues of Native Language"; "Ways of Learning"; "Literacy, Thought, and Empowerment"; and "What Works: Student Motivation as a Guide to Practice." The last chapter is an epilogue which discusses the universality of issues in indigenous education, the strength and tenacity of culture, and the need for an integrated approach to educational problems. Appendixes detail the research methodology and provide questions to guide a teacher's change to authentic assessment. (Contains an index.) (SAS)