An indigenous vision of 21st century education in the Bering Strait region

Abstract

I am an Iñupiaq Alaska Native from the Bering Strait region and have worked in the region for 32 years in the fields of elementary, secondary, postsecondary, and adult education. Alaska Native students, as a cohort, have consistently had higher drop out rates and lower percentages of proficiency than other cohorts. My work represents a synthesis of my personal and professional experiences and is similar to research methodologies such as triangulation, auto-ethnography, mixed methods, or various Indigenous research methodologies that focus on webs of relationship. I also interviewed a sample of community members ranging in age from 15 to 75 years old to determine to what extent they hold similar or dissimilar views. I suggest: 1) changes to teacher certification requirements, 2) changes to school district practices and discourses, and 3) a stronger partnership between communities and educators, so that schools can more effectively serve the communities to which they are responsible and so that local life ways and priorities form the foundation of schooling.