Understanding and Caring

Recent research on minority children has produced studies that show different reactions to cooperative vs. competitive situations, questioning techniques, classroom pacing, and classroom organization. ... Although Indian students come to school with an approach to learning which is culturally influenced and often different from students of mainstream America, the styles which teachers use to deliver instruction are essentially the same for everyone. If Indian children have learned to learn in a cooperative way, they may experience conflicts when they enter the competitive world of the classroom. ...

Teachers can implement specific methods and strategies which will communicate to Indian students an attitude of understanding and caring while demanding high performance. The following suggestions have special significance for teachers of Indian students:

• Discuss students' learning style with them; help them understand why they do what they do in the learning situation;
• Be aware of students' background knowledge and experience;
• Be aware of the "pacing" of activities within a time framework which may be rigid and inflexible;
• Be aware of how questions are asked; think about the discussion style of your students;
• Remember, some students do not like to be "spotlighted" in front of a group;
• Provide time for practice before performance is expected; let children "save face," but communicate that it is "okay" to make mistakes;
• Be aware of proximity preferences; how close is comfortable;
• Organize the classroom to meet the interactional needs of students; provide activities which encourage both independence and cooperation;
• Provide feedback that is immediate and consistent; give praise that is specific.

No one source can provide the answers to the complex questions facing teachers of Indian students. The community in which one chooses to teach will provide the most comprehensive resource for perplexing sorts of questions. Teachers must become participants in the community; they must observe and ask questions in such a way that genuine caring and concern is communicated. Teachers must let students (and their parents) know that they, too, are learners.

-- From "The Styles of Learning are Different, but the Teaching is Just the Same" (with Donna Deyle) in Journal of American Indian Education, August 1989.