Border Schools: A Critical Look at Multicultural Education Serving Native Americans

• In Event: Interrogating Whiteness in Multicultural Contexts

Abstract

This qualitative study was situated in a school that bordered a sovereign Tribal Nation. Using the lens of Tribal Critical Race theory and the methodology of Portraiture, the researchers found that teachers and administrators were likely to historicize and homogenize the Native student body. The school’s multicultural content and implementation supported an underlying metaphor of paternalism toward the Native student body and their families. However, the faculty was impacted by patterns of paternalism in education policies, such as NCLB, limiting their ability to fully implement multiculturalism in the school. The problem is identified as a lack of critical multicultural education for pre-service teacher education programs and external education policies that impact the schools autonomy to fully implement a multicultural curriculum.

Authors

• Cheryl A. Hunter, University of North Dakota

• Terri Martin-Parisien, University of North Dakota