here in our communities. Giving them a sense of place, pride in where they’re from we have to tap into the resources that are here. We use the creamery, forestry areas, the local stream for water quality testing and restoration. That’s been an ongoing process. So by using the place in our stream as the living laboratory, they collect real data, do real analysis and know that they are going to present their findings to a local Watershed Council. So they go and present their findings, which means its real. So when we go out there they have to do it well.’ Max Sherman teaches Basic and Advanced Agriculture,
Welding, and Plant Science (Biology). The facility includes a greenhouse, a small computer lab for research, classroom, and a large shop area. Max incorporates metal art, hydroponics, micro- propagation, genetic research, soil sampling, and a small tissue culture lab into his classes. He tries to integrate as many content areas into his classes as possible; students actively integrate agriculture with mathematics, art, photography, and English. Sherman prioritizes project-based work because he believes ‘it allows students to express themselves, have successes, and a chance for integration of the concepts.’ As a result of doing relevant projects, he says students see how they can apply their knowledge to their future.
Ed makes the point that this problem-based, hands-on
approach encourages students who are not naturally academic to excel, and that it has improved results across all disciplines
in the national standardised tests. Of the 40 or so students who have been involved in these projects in the last three years, 92% of them passed their math test, 100% passed straight science and 90% passed English, way above most High Schools, and bringing the Tillamook HS average to 60%.
This year alone Tillamook HS students have brought $230,000 worth of student scholarships to continue with their education. Tod and Hayden are heading for Oregon State University. In early June some of the school’s pupils are about to take their projects to Amsterdam to participate in the International Environment and Scientific Project Olympiad. Ed and Hayden are part of a small outreach team that communicates the work Tillamook School District is doing to 12 School Districts in the surrounding area. In fact Ed is on his way to Seattle for a two day presentation of Tillamook SD’s work. The last word goes to Tod – “There is so much more to
these projects – they have an economic angle and benefit the community and local industry. This way gives students something to have a passion and drive for. It takes them out of the textbook/classroom setting where you read the textbook, do the assignment and get the grade. This is something they’re passionate about. We’re passionate about an actual problem that we can take our knowledge and apply it and see actual results. This is a way for us to see right now the results and see how much education is important and what it can do.”
Growing Kids Who Care
Old Skills for a New World Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative (AKRSI), Alaska
“The depth of indigenous knowledge rooted in the long inhabi- tation of a particular place offers lessons that can benefit everyone, from educators to scientists, as we search for a more satisfying and sustainable way to live on this planet” —(Ray Barnhardt in Gruenewald and Smith 2008)
“... We’ve tracked student performance in majors and have con- sistently demonstrated that students do better in standard academic terms if you start from something that they can relate to within their community and then work out. Itís not creating a parochial outlook but rather a strategy for how you get to where you want to go using the local context to widen the curriculum and give it some meaning for the students.”
(Ray Barnhardt, 29 July 2010
pers.comm)
across Alaska, set up an education system that integrates native knowledge and ways of learning into the mainstream, ëwesterní curriculum. The brainchild of Professor Ray Barn- hardt from the University of Fairbanks, the Initiative has re- stored a sense of “Place” and an awareness of environmental sustainability. It has also increased student achievement scores and the number of students going on to further education, particularly to study science, maths and engineering, and has reduced dropout rates. The lessons from AKRSI are relevant to any strong local cultural identity; in Scotland they could apply equally to gaelic, scando-scots or doric cultures. Native Educator Associations led by Elders but with a
B CLEARING 2011
etween 1995 and 2005 the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative AKRSI), involving 287 schools and around 38,000 students
broad mix of community members agree on the core educa- tional values for their region (for example, respect for nature, responsibility, spirituality, compassion, honesty, caring and hard work), and help to oversee education. The Alaska Stan- dards for Culturally Responsive Schools provide guidance for schools, parents and communities, while the Alaska Native Knowledge Network (ANKN) provides a hub for information sharing. Cultural camps and fairs provide practical training in native teaching and learning, and students can contribute their own research to a multi-media “Cultural Atlas.” Particu- larly interesting is a spiral-shaped curriculum framework in which twelve core themes (eg outdoor survival, energy/ecol- ogy, health), are underpinned by curriculum resources for each of twelve age groups, rotating in an annual cycle. The resources are available on the ANKN website and have been aligned with state educational standards. There is a strong emphasis on the participation of the community in the educa- tion of its children, and on linking the local with the global. National funding for AKRSI ended after twelve years, but the initiatives it spawned have become self- sustaining, largely because of strong grassroots support. Ray Barnhardt has also helped to develop two charter schools in Fairbanks with a strong Place and Community- Based focus. The Watershed school, a mixed school for ages 6 to14, aims to take students out into the ëcommunityí and ëoutdoorí classrooms at least 70% of the time. The Effie Kokrine school, for ages 13 to 20, with an early college ele- ment, is composed of 95% Alaska native students, and builds a strong connection to the local environment. Both schools are fully subscribed, and have out-performed their counterparts in standard tests.
www.clearingmagazine.org/online Page 21
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