Case study describes the efforts of Kuinerrarmiut Elitnaurviat, the K-12 school in Quinhagak, Alaska, to implement school reform initiatives that support the merging of school and community values and priorities. Despite nearly a century of outside acculturation efforts, the Yupik people of Quinhagak are attempting to integrate their language,…

A qualitative study examined the role of Aboriginal parents in a Canadian urban public elementary school with high Native enrollment. Despite the existence of an alternative K-6 Native program and a parent advisory committee, Aboriginal parents felt they had little impact on school decision making. Parent-school struggles over culture-based…

Surveys and interviews with 42 science teachers of Aboriginal students in northern Saskatchewan examined teacher attitudes toward Western science and Aboriginal knowledge and their practices that integrated the two cultures. Barriers to accommodating both Western and Aboriginal science cultures in the classroom were found to be conceptual,…

Examines two issues related to Indian mascots in North American sports culture: (1) deculturation or stripping away an ethnic group's culture; and (2) dysconscious racism or unconscious acceptance of the dominant group's norms and privileges. Discusses effects on Indigenous and non-Indigenous children and calls on educators to help eliminate…

Describes the process of building partnerships between Aboriginal communities and the University of Northern British Columbia at the levels of both institutions and persons, focusing on collaborative development of a First Nations Studies curriculum. Argues that overtly participatory methodologies have enhanced the collaborations' success,…

Faculty at two small Canadian universities were surveyed concerning their research activities and preferences, views of themselves as researchers, and factors they felt constrained or facilitated research activities. Respondents were highly committed to research. Teaching and nonteaching commitments, availability of graduate students, limitations…

Interviews with 50 First Nations adults in British Columbia generated 437 incidents illuminating the facilitation of mental healing. Fourteen categories emerged, including participation in ceremonies and cultural traditions, expressing emotions, learning from role models, spirituality, connection to nature, exercise, and social connections.…

Beatrice Medicine, Professor Emerita from California State University, suggests that a higher education program for Native Americans should integrate the knowledge and wisdom of elders as well as address the different cultural values and spirituality of Native American students. The challenge is to prepare Native students to live and work in the…

Stan Wilson (Cree), professor at the University of Alberta, discusses a spiritual experience that led him to a greater understanding of the life of his Native ancestors. Suggests that indigenous peoples need to shift attention to the spirituality that kept their ancestors in harmony with the environment and to recognize spiritual knowledge through…

Examines some of the ways in which nature is textualized in technocultural discourses with particular reference to the incorporation of satellite-based weather monitoring and digital imaging technologies into global consumer markets of information and entertainment. Suggests that critical readings of popular media representations of weather are…

A survey of 1,200 students at York University (Ontario) found students' place of residence affected student involvement and first-year grades. After controlling for standardized test scores and department, freshman grades of off-campus students were higher than those of on-campus students. Despite off-campus residence and low involvement in some…

This paper describes guidelines for education of gifted learners in Canada, prepared by 85 policymakers at a 1988 symposium. The guidelines focus on 10 challenges: change, client interests, communication, leadership, learning, policy, programing, research, technology, and values. Quality indicators in program development are outlined, as follows:…

Item analysis data were collected for the Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test and Goodenough-Harris Drawing Test, from urban and rural Alberta (Canada) youngsters and Inuit youngsters from the Northwest Territories (Canada). Both tests were inadequate in individual item difficulty levels, suggesting the necessity of revising scoring systems and…

This paper outlines a model of cognitive functioning and remedial direction, based upon an information integration approach and work in neuropsychology. The approach, used primarily with low-achieving and learning-disabled students, utilizes "bridging tasks" which are paired with specific global cognitive tasks to promote generalization…

Summarizes elements of bush-oriented Algonquin technology and ideology with regard to relationships of learning to material culture, games, child rearing practices, and legends. Discusses influences of "traditional" educational methods on Native informal learning structures, using aspects of Bandura's social cognitive theory. Contains 22…