Education

Permanent URI for this communityhttps://scholarworks.montana.edu/handle/1/25

Teacher education is situated within the unit of Curriculum & Instruction (C&I) of the Department of Education, which is resident in the College of Education, Health & Human Development. The pre-service and in-service teacher education programs in the Department of Education have been designed to provide a rich, balanced education, firmly grounded in the liberal arts and contextualized in professional preparation coursework based on current educational theory and praxis.

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American Indian English Language Learners: Misunderstood and under-served
(2016-09) Carjuzaa, Jioanna; Ruff, William G.
English Language Learners (ELLs) represent the fastest growing segment of pre-K-12 students in the United States. Currently, Montana has the highest percentage of ELLs who are American Indian/Alaska Native. Although there is tremendous linguistic diversity among students, more than 80% of ELLs in the US speak Spanish as their first language. This is not the case in Montana, where 80% of ELLs are American Indians who do not necessarily speak their heritage languages; yet, their academic English skills are inadequate to support content mastery. Students whose first language is an American Indian language and who are learning English as a second language (ESL) are easier to identify as ELLs. Students who do not speak a heritage language but have not acquired academic English proficiency are harder to identify. This unique group of ELLs had their English acquisition framed by parents/grandparents or guardians themselves who were ELLs who did not fully acquire Standard English and currently speak and model a non-standard or non-academically proficient variety of English. Recommendations for how to broaden policy perspectives to facilitate comprehensive educational support for the full range of culturally and linguistically diverse American Indians in all classrooms are highlighted.
The Digital Storywork Partnership: Community-centered social studies to revitalize Indigenous histories and cultural knowledges
(2018-09) Stanton, Christine Rogers; Hall, Brad; Carjuzaa, Jioanna
Indigenous communities have always cultivated social studies learning that is interactive, dynamic, and integrated with traditional knowledges. To confront the assimilative and deculturalizing education that accompanied European settlement of the Americas, Montana has adopted Indian Education for All (IEFA). This case study evaluates the Digital Storywork Partnership (DSP), which strives to advance the goals of IEFA within and beyond the social studies classroom through community-centered research and filmmaking. Results demonstrate the potential for DSP projects to advance culturally revitalizing education, community connectedness, and identity-development. The DSP offers a model for social studies education that is not only culturally affirming and revitalizing for Indigenous communities, but also holds potential for use in all communities. We conclude with recommendations for educators, scholars, and community members engaged in similar efforts.
Metaphors University Instructional Coaches Use to Frame Their Coach-Coachee Relationships with Secondary Classroom Teachers
(International Center for Promoting Knowledge, 2022-04) Carjuzaa, Jioanna; Budak, Sevda; Sharav, Enkhchimeg
In instructional coaching, the successful collaboration of the coach-coachee dyad is critical for a fruitful relationship. In this study, we focused on what metaphors university faculty who served as coaches working with secondary classroom teachers used to describe their lived experiences. By illuminating their metaphors, it made it possible to bring their unconscious thoughts to the surface. Survey methodology was used to collect data and a reflexive iterative approach, along with a consensus coding strategy was used to analyze the data. Although the instructional coaches used different metaphors to characterize their coach-coachee relationships, they all identified and credited three salient characteristics to the success of their relationships: respect, trust, and reciprocity. The richness the findings reveal suggest value in collecting and interpreting metaphors coaches use to describe their experiences. By highlighting the inner-thoughts expressed through metaphorical language, it may help in decisions on pairing and practice of meaningful coach-coachee relationships.
Reconciling leadership paradigms: Authenticity as practiced by American Indian school leaders
(2015-01) Henderson, David; Carjuzaa, Jioanna; Ruff, William G.
This phenomenological study examined the complexity American Indian K-12 school leaders face on reservations in Montana, USA The study described how these leaders have to reconcile their Westernized educational leadership training with their traditional ways of knowing, living, and leading. Three major themes emerged that enabled these leaders to address racism in their schools and create spaces that were more conducive to the practice of culturally responsive pedagogy. The study highlights how leaders reconcile cultural clashes and confront racism by using identity, relationality, and re-normed practices.
Redefining and decolonizing philanthropy in American Indian communities
(2016) Carjuzaa, Jioanna; Ruff, William G.; Henderson, David
This review article critically analyzed patterns of American Indian philanthropy that persist in Montana to determine the meaning of doing with people as opposed to doing to or doing for people. We contextualized successful and innovative educational philanthropic efforts in Montana, a rural state in northwestern United States, by describing both the challenges and successes when American Indians and non-Natives collaborate. The basis of this review comes from a content analysis of information distributed by philanthropic foundations and organizations that serve American Indian communities in Montana and is framed by existing literature on philanthropy which includes writings by American Indian educators and social justice activists as well as social science research. Regarding author positionality, we are non-Native academics who have more than 50 years combined experience working with and learning from American Indian community members. The review explored how American Indian and non-Native philanthropic organizations have worked with American Indian communities to support decolonizing projects that facilitate Indigenous nation-building. Our recommendations highlight an acceptance that Westernized definitions of philanthropy are not universal and cultural humility is essential to the success of projects that enhance American Indian sovereignty.
Social justice leadership for American Indian sovereignty: A model for principal preparation
(2015-12) Henderson, David; Ruff, William G.; Carjuzaa, Jioanna
The Indian Leadership Education and Development project (ILEAD) at Little Bighorn Tribal College and Montana State University did not begin with an intentional focus on social justice; this article tracks the evolution of the program to becoming a model for indigenously sensitive/culturally responsive preparation for K-12 school leaders. Beginning with a U.S. Department of Education grant in 2006 and after three iterations, the program has trained over 70 American Indian school administrators serving Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota and Wyoming. Despite the program's success in preparing school leaders for historically underserved reservations and other schools across Indian country, the program has not achieved success without significant transformation from a dominant society, western academy, typical educational leadership program to becoming a program sensitive to Indigenous ways of being/ knowing but actually honoring and recognizing how these American Indian ontologies/epistemologies made the program stronger for all students - Indian and non-Indian.
When western epistemology and an indigenous worldview meet: Culturally responsive assessment in practice
(2010) Carjuzaa, Jioanna; Ruff, William G.
There exists a natural tension between standards-based assessment and a multicultural perspective of assessment. The purpose of this paper was to examine issues of culturally-sensitive assessment, specifically within the context of preparing a female American Indian doctoral candidate in Educational Leadership. How does an instructor with a Western worldview fairly evaluate a research topic proposal written from an Indigenous paradigm? A case study design bounded by a single assignment and the instructor’s reflections of that assignment provided the context for examination. When the instructor and the student operate from different worldviews, there is a mismatch in expectations. Criteria for evaluating a student’s understanding from an alternative perspective need to be explored.