Grandmothers' Pedagogy: Lessons for Supporting Native Students' Attending Universities

• In Event: 31.041 - Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies: Intergenerational Sustenance and Solidarities From Turtle Island to //Hui !Gaeb

Abstract

Relationships with and support from family is vital to increasing Native American college students’ persistence and their overall degree attainment. Family support is demonstrated in different ways. Encouragement may include advice and accountability for grades, helping students in overcoming difficulties, motivating students to succeed, and making sacrifices to pay for the cost of attending college. Among most Native communities, family goes beyond the immediate members and includes extended family members such as grandparents, aunts, uncles, children, cousins, and/or clan relatives. Yet, missing from our general conversations about family support is the powerful and unique influence that grandmothers have among Native college students. Using Indigenous storywork, an Indigenous qualitative methodological approach, first-year Navajo (n=10) college students’ share stories of how grandmothers supported their transition into college. Findings reveal that grandmothers’ pedagogies rooted in Indigenous Knowledge Systems of listening, sharing stories, and an openness to vulnerability motivated students to navigate through complex challenges. Examples from universities that have incorporated grandmother-like pedagogy are discussed. These lessons probe our thinking to consider how higher education institutions can move toward grandmothers’ pedagogy, an example of culturally sustaining pedagogy that cultivates a loving and caring environment for Native students.

Author

• Amanda R. Tachine, Arizona State University