Teachers of Diné Language and Culture: Building Enduring Systems of Support

• In Event: 67.070 - Sheraton Roundtable 14 - Grand Centre
  In Roundtable Session: 67.070-6 - Voices From the Margins

Abstract

In response to the question, “How do we build enduring systems of support for our children within our classrooms and communities?” we examined the learning logs of Dine teachers in a graduate course in Bilingual Education. We asked, “How does your understanding of history, research and current practice in the field of Navajo education inform and improve your own teaching and learning?” We attempted to gain a sense of the whole from this rich data source which focuses on concrete events in the stories of the participants, listening for the unique stories of how teachers learned to value their language and why they continue to teach it, exploring the institutions of literacy and power in which teachers work and live.

Authors

• Louise Lockard, Northern Arizona University

• Velma M. Hale, Northern Arizona University, Dine' College, Fielding Graduate University