Journeys of Resilience: American Indian Students with Disabilities Overcoming Barriers to Pursue Higher Education

In this study I investigated the journeys of five American Indian students with disabilities (AISD) pursuing higher education in the Southwest region of the United States. Specifically, the AISD’s journeys were examined to identify: (1) student perceptions and social and institutional conditions that served as barriers to pursue higher education; and (2) what conditions in the experiences of AISD facilitated overcoming barriers to pursue higher education. This qualitative study used critical ethnography and grounded theory methods to collect AISD stories that spanned their childhoods, transitions to college, and current placement in college. Navhongvita (Joseph & Windchief, 2015) was the conceptual model implemented to organize the data and Tribal Critical Race Theory (TribalCrit) (Brayboy, 2005) and Dis/ability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit) (Annamma, Connor, & Ferri, 2016) were the theoretical lens used to interpret findings. The role of home community and educational institutions were found to contribute to the barriers encountered and to the conditions informing resilience among the AISD. Additionally, historical implications with regards to colonization and social constructs of disability contributed to barriers experienced by AISD in their journeys to pursue higher education. The development and the practice of resilience for AISD was identified to be both an outcome and a process (Morales, 2008a) that was informed by individual life stories and shared experiences. Keywords: American Indian, higher education, resilience, disability, community, intersectionality

Strengthening STEM Teaching in Rural, Indigenous-Serving Schools through Long-Term, Culturally Responsive Professional Development

This paper describes a particular teacher professional development model offered in schools on and bordering the Navajo Nation in the southwestern United States. The Diné Institute for Navajo Nation Educators (DINÉ) offers professional development across all content areas and grade levels, but here we focus specifically on our work in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) content areas. Our work is situated explicitly within the literatures on Indigenous education, Native Nation Building, and culturally responsive schooling, but we also draw broadly on research in STEM education and teacher professional development. The research question explored in this paper is: To what extent and in what ways do teachers in the DINÉ develop STEM curriculum units that evidence culturally responsive principles and STEM education best practices? We share findings from three cohorts of teachers in the DINÉ’s STEM-focused professional development seminars. Teacher-authored curriculum units developed in the DINÉ were analyzed with two specific protocols: the CRAIS Tool, and the SCOOP notebook. Finally, we look closely at the curriculum units written by a single teacher in the DINÉ across the three years in order to get a clearer understanding of the nuances and richness of the findings and themes reported from the aggregate data