Navigating the Education of Indigenous Students in Rural Schools: Toward Culturally Responsive Practices Across Educational Levels

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Wednesday 3:45 pm - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Culturally Sustaining and Decolonial Pedagogies: Transforming Indigenous Education Through Community-Driven Research and Educational Reform

Abstract

Rural schools face unique pressures to balance local expectations with urbancentric mandates, often marginalizing Indigenous students through axiological differences and inadequate funding for culturally responsive practices. This conceptual paper examines three educational components—PreK-12 schooling, teacher preparation, and principal preparation—through an Indigenous lens, emphasizing relationships, federal trust responsibility, and equitable instructional leadership. Using narrative inquiry, we highlight the lived experiences of Indigenous students in rural North Dakota, contextualizing policy and funding challenges (e.g., Senate Bill 2304, anti-CRT legislation) that hinder culturally responsive education. Grounded in the Transformational Indigenous Praxis Model (TIPM; Pewewardy et al., 2018), we propose pathways for educators to (re)center Indigenous knowledge and sovereignty.

Authors

• Cailen O'Shea, North Dakota State University

• Amber M. O'Shea, University of Nebraska - Omaha

• Sashay Schettler, Bismark Public Schools

• Hollie Mackey, North Dakota State University