The Strength of Traditional Cultural Values and Personal Resources Among American Indian Women School Administrators

• In Event: 66.057 - Roundtable Session 27
  In Roundtable Session: 66.057-2 - Indigenous Wombyn's Cultural Strength Navigating Institutional Power

Abstract

This qualitative research study viewed how successful American Indian women school administrators used their agency to sustain, and further their positions as administrators. Exploring their capabilities and well-being through positive psychology and Indigenous Ways of Knowing, we wanted to discover the resources participants used to function capably and skillfully while still maintaining their agency. Emerging themes included personal resources, negative energy, capability, the “big picture,” being an American Indian woman administrator, and knowing your culture and where you came from. Findings indicated these women school administrators used their agency to deal with barriers in their positions, and relied on personal resources and traditional cultural values to maintain their integrity in their positions and interactions with people with whom they interacted.

Authors

• Dana E. Christman, New Mexico State University

• Amneh Al-Rawashdeh, New Mexico State University