Developing Excellent Teachers in Rural and Remote Arctic Communities: Challenges and Efforts in Rural Alaska

• In Event: 60.083 - Roundtable Session 19
  In Roundtable Session: 60.083-7 - Rural Teacher Preparation and Professional Development

Abstract

The education system can be a major player in the cultural and economic wellbeing of Arctic communities or it can amplify and accelerate the process toward losing cultural integrity and contact with nature. A significant factor for healthy, resilient Arctic communities can be schools and teachers. Access to quality education for all Alaskans is critical to sustaining healthy and vibrant indigenous communities in a rapidly changing global context. However, high rates of teacher attrition threaten the provision of quality education and equity in access to educational opportunities.
We present findings from an ongoing three-year National Science Foundation (NSF) Polar Programs-Arctic Social Sciences funded study of factors influencing teacher retention and effectiveness in Arctic Alaska.

Authors

• Ute Kaden, The University of Alaska - Fairbanks

• Philip Patrick Patterson, The University of Alaska - Fairbanks

• Barbara Leigh Adams, University of Alaska Fairbanks

• Joanne Healy, University of Alaska