Are You Teaching Them Anything Yet? Auntie Carol’s Advice, Given in True Ojibwe Oral Tradition, As a Guide to Embedding American Indian Pedagogy into American Indian Studies Classrooms

Are You Teaching Them Anything Yet? (692 kb PDF)

By Linda LeGarde Grover

In my thirties

“What are you studying up there at college?” Aunt Carol asked me.

“History. I’m taking history.” I answered.

“White Man history? Are you teaching them anything yet?”

(How to answer this?)

“And don’t let them chase you out of there, my girl.”

In recent years, increasing attention has focused on incorporating diverse learning styles and cultural epistemologies into the postsecondary classroom (Ross–Gordon & Brooks, 2004). Instructors are offered training on a variety of subjects such as human relations, cross–cultural communications, and tools for pedagogical bridge–building between student and teacher. However, most of the research and resulting methodologies for effective intercultural teaching have been based on White American culture and worldview. The absence of diverse cultural worldviews limits, and unintentionally biases, the effectiveness, quality of instruction, and learning for teachers and students alike.

As an Ojibwe teacher of American Indian Studies, it is my belief that a classroom environment grounded in Native values, worldview, and Ojibwe teaching epistemology allows my teaching to follow the time–honored ways of the Elders who taught me. It allows for student response and reaction, valuing the integration of the indigenous learning experience into the construction of students’ own epistemologies. This article, through research and reflection, will examine the cultural values and foundation of indigenous education, Ojibwe educational epistemology, and examples from my own experience in grounding classroom climate in Ojibwe values, oral tradition and worldview.

Along the Way

As it is with every Native family I know, formal schooling caused damage and destruction to traditional ways for the LeGarde and Drouillard dynasties. The children of my parents’ and grandparents’ generations were removed from their families and communities and placed in boarding schools that suppressed and nearly decimated Native languages, religious practices and cultural traditions. This created societal and educational trauma, from which we are still trying to recover. My generation attended public schools as newcomers and foreigners, unwelcome strangers in a strange land. Most of us dropped out of school. Some of us remained but hid or compromised the practice of our values, and thus our spirits, in the attempt to achieve educational success. Academic survival came at a price, and we mourn what we gave up to do this.

In an effort to erase its failures, we now see trends in the educational system intended to enhance our formal schooling experience with a professed inclusion and celebration of multiculturalism and diversity. These efforts do not appear to have improved either the graduation rate of Native high school students or, for those who do graduate and begin college, their prospects for success. Greene and Forster (2003), in their analysis of U.S. Department of Education data which determines the number of Native high school graduates who are “college ready” (those who have graduated from high school, taken college preparation courses, and demonstrated basic literacy skills), cite a national graduation rate of 54% and estimated rate of college readiness at 14% (pp.9, 2–23). This bothers me now as it did when I watched the other Indian students who were my classmates drop, one by one, out of high school. It bothered me that I was one of a handful of Native students who graduated at all.

After high school I entered college, only to leave after one unsuccessful quarter of college studies. When I was in my twenties I became an Indian advocate in a public school system. In my thirties, I went back to college. Aunt Carol advised me to not let them chase me out of there. She knew it would be hard. Now, in the next world, she knows just how hard it was, and continues to be. In my fifties, I am a third–year tenure–track assistant professor in American Indian Studies; the historical struggles and concerns from more than a century of extended family and Native experience, dance with me from the shadows as I research and teach.

Several years ago, I made the decision as an instructor to establish a classroom climate grounded in Ojibwe history, cosmology, and traditional ways of teaching and learning. This orientation has shaped me as a human being and as a teacher. Valid in both Native and dominant society, traditional Ojibwe teaching methods can enrich and expand a student’s educational experience and worldviews.

Indigenous Education Characteristics and Construct

Indigenous education has the potential to be a controversial topic among American Indian communities: our tribes are many and diverse, each with a “specific combination of kinship, government, world view, and cosmic community” (Champagne, 2007, p. 354). Within our tribes are differences in opinions and interpretations of politics, sovereignty, tangible and corporal values, and spiritual and religious practices. All over the world, on every continent, are surviving indigenous tribes and cultures, each with its own language, cultural beliefs and practices, geography and traditional ways of teaching and learning. In the United States alone, there are more than 500 Native tribes. The two concepts, indigenity and diversity, can help us begin defining an educational system that would be more relevant to both American Indians and other cultural groups. The diversity of indigenous cultures dictates that concept and theory be defined broadly, and that methodologies maintain flexibility and adaptability.

Yet common themes emerge from research into the characteristics of indigenous education at the postsecondary level. In contrasting the hierarchical structure of western education with the oral tradition of learning he gained from Mohawk and Lakota elders, Jeff Lambe (2003) defined indigenous education as “intrinsically connected with culture, language, land, and knowledgeable elders and teachers” ( p.) Other recent publications list specific characteristics that link values and beliefs with the tangibles and intangibles of Earth and spirituality. For example, Deborah McGregor (2004) begins her course at the University of Toronto, “Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge,” with Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee Creation stories, providing her students with the conceptual framework of an indigenous people’s relationship to the Creator and the gifts of existence.

Current research and writings by Native college professors indicate that concepts of American Indian pedagogy have common connections, and that “ … all the various area of Native studies – policy, Indigenous rights, identity, health, literature, history, religion, philosophy – are intertwined” (Miesuah, 2003, p. 463). Ned Blackhawk (2007) has explored the challenges and rewards of “reconciling commonplace assumptions about America with the traumatic histories of the continent’s indigenous peoples … an exceedingly turbulent endeavor” (p. 1165), in his experience teaching an American Indian history survey course. Blackhawk (2007) has used “combinations of texts, novels, poems, oral histories, films, life histories, and other media” (p. ) to introduce students to the diversity of American Indian tribes and cultures while exploring common themes that are familiar to both Native students and those from dominant culture. Larry Gross (2005) writes about the use of a blended teaching method by the American Indian Studies program at Iowa State University. The program draws upon the experiences of majority students and relates “American Indian experiences to the lived experiences of the students while still maintaining and recognizing cultural differences” (Gross, 2005, p.122). Other Native instructors, among them Kimberly Roppolo, Chelleye Crow, and Debora McGregor, have researched, reflected upon, and written about the challenges of creating a classroom climate and academic foundation that is based upon Native worldview, values, and traditional pedagogy. McGregor’s Indigenous Knowledge (IK) pedagogy includes the “teachings, principles, values, and ethics” of Anishinaabe creation stories (McGregor, 2004, p. 387). Mihesuah (2003) stresses the importance of the preservation and protection of tradition and culture for the purpose of tribal survival through passing knowledge on the next generation. She strives to create a classroom climate that is “honest, useful and provocative” for Native and non–Native students by incorporating tribal values of inclusion and respect (Mihesuah, 2003, p.461).

In narrowing the focus of indigenous education to the values, worldview, and traditional teaching methods of the Ojibwe of northeastern Minnesota, I believe that most, if not all, tribal educational traditions and epistemology are included. Ojibwe pedagogy is a specific aspect of American Indian pedagogy, which, in turn, is a specific aspect of indigenous pedagogy.

Ojibwe Pedagogy: Values, Oral Tradition, and Ways of Teaching and Learning

The oral tradition is the bedrock of Ojibwe teaching and learning, and the heart of both traditional and modern tribal education for most, if not all, American Indians. As “part of the essence of life for many American Indians” (Cleary and Peacock, 1998, p. 46), it is the means by which knowledge (stories of origin and the creation of the world; how to act in an appropriate way that reflects the values of the indigenous culture; how to perform and master skills and work needed for the survival of the group) continues to be passed from one generation to the next. It is also the means by which American Indian peoples and cultures have continued to survive the capriciousness and convoluted intentions of government policies towards Indians over the past centuries though present day.

People are intrinsically motivated to do what they value (Aragon, 2001, pp. 3–5). The value system of American Indian people is neither identical to, nor diametrically opposed to, the value system of the majority culture. Yet westerners are, for the most part, unfamiliar with the cultural nuances in American Indian traditions that promote learning, sharing of knowledge, developing skills, and applying skill and knowledge to task (Fenwick, 2004, p. 198). “Traditional Native values include patience, nonverbal communication, indirect criticism, modesty, and emphasis on the group” (One Feather, 2003, p. 2). Other related values include respect for elders, gratitude, self–sufficiency, reflection, sense of place, and an extended view of time. The oral tradition is the manifestation of these collected values (Cleary and Peacock, 1998, pp. 45–46). Native worldview, rooted in spiritual or religious beliefs, may or not be valued in educational institutions, organizations and contexts outside of Indian Country. Although Native values often differ, and greatly, from the priorities in dominant society, values such as cooperation, modesty, respect for elders, gratitude, self–sufficiency and the sense of place (in time, in physical space, in the group) can be found in both Native and non–Native cultures. Knowledge of worldview is critical to an understanding of how members of the group acquire and use knowledge, and apply that to learning their role in society. The knowledge gained by way of the oral tradition is unique to each individual; however, the process of learning, of applying that knowledge, and of sharing and teaching that knowledge takes place on a group level. Through the classroom community, students can integrate indigenous learning into their own values and beliefs.

Although the concept of teaching and learning in the Ojibwe tradition relies on the telling of stories to gently and respectfully instruct, the oral tradition can include aspects of cultural construct beyond the spoken word. As I considered the means by which I would integrate an indigenous, Ojibwe–based teaching style into the classroom, I began to view the oral tradition as a series of four components, each modeled after the ways I myself was educated as a child, at home and in the world of Indian Country, beyond the confinements of formal schooling.

The Four Components

1. Intake of Information:

The learner observes (by listening, by watching) a role model, someone who is knowledgeable about and has demonstrated mastery of the task. Observation can take place over a period of time and repetitively. For example, an Ojibwe traditional storyteller has heard the story told many times, and has mastered sequence and concept as well as nuances integral to appropriate communication.

2. Reflection:

The learner reflects upon the task, and upon the means by which the model has demonstrated successful accomplishment as well as mastery. In Ojibwe culture, the person who thinks and considers before taking action is demonstrating an understanding of patience and the spiritually based value of waiting for when the time is right.

3. Experiential Learning:

When the learner has acquired a degree of mastery, the task is performed. Although perfection is desirable and can be pursued, it is not always expected; in fact, Aunt Carol gently reminded me from time to time “only the Creator is perfect … go ahead, keep trying, you’re doing good”. The learning of the task is experiential and ongoing; observation and reflection will continue each time the task is performed.

4. Learner Becomes Teacher/Model:

The group (family, community) recognizes that the learner has achieved a significant degree of mastery of the task. The learner is then acknowledged as the teacher and model for others, a trusted role highly respected in Ojibwe culture.

Teaching and learning have always been regarded as a sacred trust, a privilege, and an obligation, by the Ojibwe people (Benton–Benai, 1988, pp. 103–112). In traditional tribal times, the elders and models who taught others were those who met standards of performance and group expectations in both mastering the task and sharing the knowledge. Through their retention of knowledge, mastery of tasks, and wisdom gained in the process, they became models for other people who desired to learn and to become like their elders/teachers/leaders. Teaching was approached with an awareness of the needs of the collective (the group) and the future; those who were learning would themselves become those who would perpetuate knowledge and the survival of the group, making it possible for the people to survive another generation. Thus, with learning came an understanding of responsibility to the collective and the future, the sacred trust that one day the student would become the teacher to the following generation (Grover, 2003, p. 225). Children learned from extended family members and community, particularly the Elders, whose wisdom and experience was shared with an awareness of generations that would follow, thus ensuring the survival of the culture. Learning and working were a lifelong pursuit, a sacred part of the value system and integral to the development of the individual as a contributing member of the community. The community would survive only if all individuals continue to learn and to teach (Gurno, 1976, p. 39). In Indian Country today we continue this tradition: it is an honor to help and to serve.

The most respected individuals in a Native community are those who contribute to the well–being of the group. Prestige has traditionally been measured not by material wealth and power, but by generosity and service. Elders, who have attained the greatest degree of knowledge, are our educators and leaders. Their teaching is the ultimate act of generosity. Our obligation to learn is moral: the survival of our people depends upon our learning the history and ways of our people, and upon our passing knowledge to others as we become elders, ourselves.

Classroom Philosophy and Climate

American Indian pedagogy differs from mainstream American education in both worldview and application. Jeff Lambe (2003), in contrasting what is considered to have validity in both methods, cites mainstream education’s “empiricism, rationalism … the factory line metaphor and assembly line model of the industrial revolution and their influence on behavioral psychology and education evaluation” (p. 308). He contrasts this with indigenous education’s intrinsic connection “with culture, land and knowledgeable elders” (Lambe, 2003, p. 308). In deciding to implement a pedagogical method with traditional Ojibwe methods of passing on knowledge, I was not just choosing a style of teaching familiar to me and personally valued. Instead, I was deliberately and consciously honoring the past, present, and the future, acknowledging my role as a link in the chain of the generations that came before and those who will come after. At the same time, conscious of the kindness and inclusiveness of our Elders’ speech and manner, I knew that implementation of Ojibwe pedagogy would have to be based on Bimaadiziiwin, which is the living of a good life. A teacher who made the decision to instruct on the foundation of Ojibwe values would have to be continually mindful of the history, experience and worldview of non–Native students, and treat them as a good Ojibwe would treat any guest: with respect and consideration.

“Tribal cultures have their own interpretations of individual and collective good and well–being” (Champagne, 2007,p. 359). In a classroom environment based on American Indian pedagogy, it is essential that students understand the importance of the group, and the connection of group identification and support to other tribal values. Most of the students in my classes are non–Indians; most have had very little or no exposure to American Indians. The handful of Native students in the classroom often represents the diversity common in Indian country. Some Native students are from remote reservations, while others come from large urban areas; some are fluent Native speakers, and some only speak English. All of the students, particularly in my introductory classes, “each with their own set of baggage” (Mihesuah, 2003, p. 460), need to feel a commonality in order to begin a discussion of American Indian values and worldview. Similar to Lawrence Gross and the American Indian Studies Program at Iowa State, I try to “relate Indian experiences to the lived experiences of the students while still maintaining and recognizing cultural differences” (Gross, 2005, p. 123).

For several years now, I have taught our department’s introductory course as well as other courses in literature and media. Most of the students in the introductory class are there to fulfill a multicultural requirement; they are, for the most part freshmen or sophomores and non–Indian. Like Ned Blackhawk (2007), who redesigned his American History survey course “both to engage those with interest and to challenge those without” (Blackhawk, 2007, p. 1166), I do not assume that students choose my courses solely because of topic or content (or instructor). Yet, whatever the motive may be for taking my course, classroom atmosphere, instructional method and assignments promote and require an ongoing development of interest and engagement, which by mid–semester nearly all students demonstrate. It is nearly impossible for a student to not participate in class activities and discussions, which often extend far beyond the syllabus and material.

Kimberly Roppolo and Chelleye Crow (2007) have defined constructivism as how individuals view and then construct their world and knowledge, or how people build new knowledge by integrating new experience with the “multitude of diverse experiences encoded into their memories” (p. 8). Roppolo and Crow have written of specific strategies used in establishing a classroom based upon indigenous teaching and learning, particularly group–oriented activities. In preparing for an American Indian literature class for Cheyenne and Arapaho students, they created the syllabus with the values and worldview of those Native students in mind, using constructivism as a basis for assignments and classroom activities. Like Roppolo and Crow, I attempt to create a flexible and informal classroom setting, defining and living my role as member of the group who provides direction and facilitates discussion.

Ojibwe Traditional Teachings about the Individual and the Group

In keeping with the teachings of Bimaadiziwin, a conscientious member of a group knows that every other member is as important as himself. Every member of the group has value; each was created for a purpose. The Creator has given to every individual a talent or gift. Each has an obligation to use that gift in service to the group; it is one of the ways in which we express our gratitude. This way of being is valued by the Ojibwe, who view extended family and community as the most important earthly relationships.

Traditional leadership in a group is often situational, related to a particular set of circumstances as well as a person’s ability to lead with a sense of purpose. These traditional group dynamics translate well to group activity in the classroom. Every student can contribute to the small group activities and research projects; students emerge as leaders at varied times, and through particular activities and circumstances. Most importantly, for successful completion of assignments, group members must ensure that everyone has the opportunity to participate and contribute.

Classroom Application

To facilitate a connection between students and encourage learning I use “texts, novels, poems, oral histories, films, life histories and other media” (Blackhawk, 2007, p. 1165) combined with assigned individual and group activities, guided internet searches, reflective writing, and creative interpretations that allow individual students as well as groups a degree of autonomy over their assignments. In establishing a classroom climate that is based upon Ojibwe values, I am demonstrating to Native and non–Native students that I am one of “those professors concerned about tribes retaining culture” while taking care to avoid becoming one of those professors perhaps “most appealing to Native students” but “least appealing to non–Natives” because “many non–Natives feel like the professor is attacking them for past and present events” (Mihesuah , 2003, p.461). If my classroom is to be truly based on Ojibwe values, it is essential that I set the example and tone for the entire term.

My Aunt Carol had flawless Ojibwe manners. She treated everyone who came to her door as special company. She welcomed them inside, made sure that they had a nice place to sit, and offered them the best of whatever she had on hand to eat or drink. Certainly, the students in the introductory American Indian studies class, both Indian and non–Indian, are guests of our department, of Indian Country, and mine. We must offer to them the best of what we have to teach; this begins the moment they first pass through the door.

I begin the first class session by inviting the students in, and seeing that they are seated comfortably. I tell them my Zhaaganaashi (English) name, where I am from, and who my family are. I then distribute and review the syllabus, and introduce the students to the concept of group work and assignments. They are assured that although they are required to participate in group activities that are completed during class time, each student has the option of completing papers, quizzes, and the semester research project as an individual. During the six semesters that I have taught this class, only two students have chosen the individualized semester research project option, and the occasional choice for an individual quiz or paper has been dictated by the student’s illness, participation in scheduled varsity athletic event, or other obligation that cause his or her schedule to differ from that of the other students.

The qualitative case study research method that I used for my doctoral dissertation involved a series of interviews that, upon analysis and reflection, resulted in a pattern of emerging themes (Meriam, 1988, pp. 141–146). I have applied the same philosophy and methods in preparing the class syllabus. Of course, like my dissertation, the syllabus has structure and requires discipline: there are scheduled written assignments and quizzes, a midterm and final examination/research project. However, the structure of assigned work allows sufficient flexibility to accommodate individual students’ interests. Although the framework and requirements within the framework are specific, creativity is encouraged in the application of readings, research, experience and reflection. Student group interpretation of assigned work has taken the form of poetry, paintings, flow charts, symbols, cartoons, lists, musical ballads, scripted plays, and, once, a patchwork quilt. All creative projects include a written explanation of the interpretation.

I believe that the traditional Ojibwe view of time, as discussed in Wallwork’s 1997 film,, and also referred to by Cleary and Peacock (1998) as “the issue that won’t go away” (pp. 36–38), can be integrated into the structure of a college classroom. In the old days, when the Ojibwe lived in what we now call the “traditional ways”, a spirituality–based survival subsistence, work was dictated by the weather of the northern seasons, and linked to the Creator’s cycles of the earth. This required self–discipline and an understanding that certain tasks were meant to be completed during the appropriate season and at the appropriate time gifted to us by the Great Spirit (such as the ripening of wild rice and the running of maple tree sap). Although for today’s college student the threat of a poor grade is certainly not a matter of life and death, a similar self–discipline (for individuals as well as groups) emerges as course assignments and activities are planned and completed.

For many students in my classes, particularly the introductory course, the first week of the semester is their first exposure to the number and diversity of American Indian tribal and cultural groups, to migration journey history, to the effects of geography upon subsistence and worldview. For that reason, the first few class sessions include a very broad overview of American Indian history and geography. These begin as chalk–talk lectures, with questions both simple (“Who here has been to … ?” “Has anyone here seen … ?”) and open–ended (“Can you tell us what you saw in the Black Hills?”), intended to draw students into the lectures. During the second week, students are introduced by way of instructor–guided discussion to American Indian values and worldview. I begin with the simple statement that all people, from all cultures the world over, have values; this leads into a brief discussion of “what is a value?” The conclusion the students reach is that a value is a standard, a desired way of thinking, of acting, of living. I guide this discussion to the point at which I can state that if we were to ask any group of people to list their top twenty values, most lists would be very similar. The differences between cultures may just be the ways in which those common values are applied and prioritized. I lecture briefly about Ojibwe core values (respect, humility, gratitude, generosity), with an emphasis on the importance of group identification, contribution and survival. We watch a film selected for its communication of Ojibwe values called “Mino Bimaadiziwin”, the story of a year in the life of a White Earth reservation family. The students are directed to note core and related values they see in the film, and the ways in which those values are manifested. “Mino Bimaadiziwin” is paired with a reading. Because most students in the introductory class are non–Native, I often choose the first chapter from Ian Frazier’s On the Rez, in which Frazier explores Native identity as well as concepts and values that non–Native students can relate to their own experience. The film and reading will be the basis for their first of many weekly small–group discussion sessions. This will lead into their first written assignment, an individual reflection/response paper in which students reflect upon several concepts that they felt were especially demonstrated. The inclusion in this assignment of Frazier’s analysis of the history and value of freedom, sought by immigrants and already present on this continent at the time of European impact, validates the knowledge and worldviews that students have developed thus far in their lives while at the same exploring other worldviews.

The values paper will most likely be the only individual assignment during the semester, but preparation for the assignment involves interaction and exchange with other students in a small discussion group. This small–group activity, like most that will follow, consists of groups of 4–6 students brainstorming and talking, interpreting their discussions with colored markers on a poster–sized sheet of newsprint, and sharing their interpretations with the rest of the class.

The composition of groups during the first few weeks of the semester requires my guidance as the instructor and facilitator, and I will always visit each group at least once, and usually twice, during their discussion sessions. Some of the students are taking the class with friends; some know no one at all. Some are comfortable in choosing and being chosen for groups, some are not. For these reasons, I use a variety of techniques in assigning groups during those first weeks; sometimes a row of seats is designated as a group, sometimes the students number off in Ojibwe, sometimes they choose their nearest neighbors. During the discussion sessions, as I visit groups to observe and talk with the students, I ask as well as answer questions. Occasionally, if I observe in the development of group dynamics that some students are not participating fully or are dominating the group, I tactfully intervene and guide. In preparation for the permanent study and research project groups that will be determined by mid–semester, varied group composition allows students the opportunity to meet and work with a variety of people, and to find those whose interests and work styles complement their own. In–class group activities and interpretations are usually graded pass–no pass.

For the rest of the semester, I continue to revisit and integrate into lectures and in–class activities the importance of the group in Ojibwe worldview. The students discuss the traditional views on group awareness and contribution to family and community living, connecting these concepts to the group dynamics needed in the classroom in order for meaningful learning to take place.

Group Identity in Classroom Activity and Assignments

By the end of the second week of the semester, the students have been introduced to Ojibwe pedagogy through the introductory lectures, film and readings on American Indian history, culture and values. There has been in–class lecture and discussion on group dynamics, the abilities and obligations of individuals to contribute, and the obligation of group members to make sure that others are not overshadowed or squeezed out by more assertive or verbal students, but have the chance to participate.

From the fourth week through the seventh week, the class members, working both as individuals and in their varied groups, complete assignments that include readings, internet searches, and weekly in–class interpretative activities. Although in–class activities are graded pass/no pass, by mid–semester at least two assignments (one quiz and one reaction paper) have been completed by individuals and small groups, and have received letter grades. This is the point at which the members of the class are ready to form permanent working and study groups, and to begin work on their semester research projects.

The composition of research groups is determined by the students, who in turn, determine the research topics. Each group is comprised of five to seven students. The research projects do not differ based on the size of the group. Each group must submit a 5–page research paper and a display board that includes a simplified handout of the highlights of their research findings.

The selection of group is accomplished by the students signing up on the blackboard for a group they choose. The process is simple: the signup lists are color–coded. I write the words for a variety of colors on the board (red, blue, turquoise, yellow) and the students sign up under the color they choose. Some choose to work with friends with whom they have worked already during the semester, while some choose randomly. They have the option of changing groups if they wish, depending on if there is space in another group. They will work with the same group for the rest of the semester; however, they have the option of changing, if they wish, through the ninth week of the semester. It has been interesting and amusing to me that students refer to themselves and their groups by the name of the color. “The orange group is meeting in the library after class,” a student will tell me, or “Could I join the magentas? I am really interested in their topic, and they said that they have room.”

Student response to indigenous pedagogy might be termed “indigenous learning”. In a classroom climate founded on Ojibwe values, students have the opportunity to apply the values of “Bimaadiziwin”, the good life, to aspects of learning far beyond course content. On occasion, as life events happen, students learn by experience just how they must support others, or receive support. For example, one student who had to leave town for a grandparent’s funeral missed several class sessions, including an in–class activity. However, she communicated her section of the assignment to her group via email. Another, who experienced a street attack and resulting injuries, was physically and emotionally affected for several weeks. The other members of his group “carried” him, as he expressed it: their discussions, meetings, and research tasks were modified to accommodate his needs.

Groups select topics for their semester research projects by the end of the eighth week with my guidance and suggestions. The most successful and manageable projects have been biographies of American Indian people whose lives coincide with the time period the course covers, 1887 to present. One class period is reserved for an eclectic lecture on contributions on American Indians to the arts, politics, athletics, education, etc., with some discussion set aside for the groups. Although the projects will be completed outside of class, two class periods will be reserved, one during the ninth week and one during the eleventh, for in–class work.

Semester research projects are presented to the rest of the class during two days near the end of the semester. Each group brings its research paper, display and handout to class and arranges the materials for review by the class. Each group then divides in two; for the first half of the class period one half of each group stays with the display to present and answer questions while the other group members visit the rest of the displays; halfway through the class period those students exchange places.

The final examination is integrated with the semester research projects. On the last day of class the groups once again set up their displays. Each individual student is then given a strip of five colored metallic stars, which will be pasted directly onto the display boards using the following codes:

Yellow:

Most thoroughly researched project

Green:

Project that clearly communicates concepts

Blue:

Project that the student learned the most from

Red:

Most organized project

Silver:

Best in show

It is interesting to see the patterns of colors that emerge on the displays, and I take satisfaction in the care that students use in awarding their stars (Here I will share a secret that only I and a handful of students know: when distributing stars, I ask two students to be secret “star fairies”, and give them each two extra sets of stars to award to projects that are getting few, or no, star awards). The final assignment, which is due at the time of the scheduled final examination, is a three–page write–up from each individual student of the analysis as well as reasons for each star awarded.

Most groups leave their displays with me for donation to local agencies and classrooms; one or two outstanding displays I keep to use as examples for the next semester’s class. Students are aware that their projects can become part of a circle of teaching and learning that is comparable to that of the Ojibwe oral tradition. I instill a sense that their work has value beyond class, which encourages responsible and conscientious participation in class, and quality work on their research and presentations.

The Sense of Place for the Individual Student in the Classroom

In integrating methods and philosophy based upon Ojibwe values and worldview, it is my intention that students have the opportunity to learn and work in a setting that treats them as welcome guests in Indian Country. The implementation of American Indian pedagogy in classroom climate and course assignments builds a foundation of Indian Country values and worldview for students. This opportunity to develop “strong, widely shared and deeply embedded” relations (Staber, 2003, p. 413) could well be “building epistemological inclusiveness” (Brooks, 2004, p. 71) that will have a lifelong effect upon students’ approaches to their college careers, jobs and communities. For most students in my classroom, the experience is new, “like no class I have taken”, as one student expressed, “and I like it. I’m going to sign up for Ojibwe language next semester.” Native students, perhaps for the first time in their educational career, learn in a classroom climate grounded in American Indian worldview, values, and interaction. At the same time, the emphasis on inclusion, which is essential to living Bimaadiziwin, the good life, means that the students and instructor alike, continually endeavor to promote a considerate and welcome climate. This experience is often in stark contrast to their educational experiences. All members of the class are expected to implement, to their best abilities, the Ojibwe values of the Good Life, to be mindful of the oral tradition as they learn, and through observation, reflection and practice to develop an awareness of themselves and others as valued and contributing members of the group. Non–Native students do not “become” Indian, yet the practice of American Indian pedagogy gives them the gift of a looking glass into Indian Country, and what it means to be Indian. They are not “playing” Indian, yet they are in a classroom setting that allows them to practice the values that define Indian people. All learning takes place with an attitude of respect, one that would be approved of in a Native community. For non–Native students, the experience is inclusive and conducive to learning; for Native students the experience can be affirming and empowering. As their instructor, it links my experience to theirs, teaching to learning, generation to generation, the knowledge and Good Lives of my Aunt Carol and all the Anishinaabeg to the present and the future.

References

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An investigation of factors influencing classroom motivation for postsecondary American Indian/Alaska Native students. Journal of American Indian Education, 41(1), 1–18.

Benton–Banai, E. (1988).

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How to Cite this Article

APA

Grover, L.L. (2008, Spring). Are You Teaching Them Anything Yet? Auntie Carol’s Advice, Given in True Ojibwe Oral Tradition, As a Guide to Embedding American Indian Pedagogy into American Indian Studies Classrooms. Bemaadizing. Retrieved [add date of access], from http://www.bemaadizing.org/2008/03/29/are-you-teaching-them-anything-yet-auntie-carols-advice-given-in-true-ojibwe-oral-tradition-as-a-guide-to-embedding-american-indian-pedagogy-into-american-indian-studies-classrooms/

MLA

Grover, L.L. “Are You Teaching Them Anything Yet? Auntie Carol’s Advice, Given in True Ojibwe Oral Tradition, As a Guide to Embedding American Indian Pedagogy into American Indian Studies Classrooms.” Bemaadizing. Spring 2008. [add date of access], <http://www.bemaadizing.org/2008/03/29/are-you-teaching-them-anything-yet-auntie-carols-advice-given-in-true-ojibwe-oral-tradition-as-a-guide-to-embedding-american-indian-pedagogy-into-american-indian-studies-classrooms/>.