teaching about american indians you

Teaching about American Indians: "You don't want us to do anything!"

I'm getting a few private replies to my post asking teachers to think

critically about using traditional American Indian stories as a model

for a writing activity. One person said that while she has learned a

lot from what I've been sharing on the blog, she is getting a little

tired of my critiques. It seems that I can find something wrong with

every lesson or activity on American Indians teachers do, or every

children's book they use. One person, in a comment, said I am losing

credibility with readers of the blog.

I can see why someone would feel that way. October and November are

months when Native American content is very visible in schools across

America. I've discussed problems in dressing up as an Indian at

Halloween and problems in depictions of characters dressing up as

Indians in favorite children's books. And, I've been critical about

the ways that Native peoples are, and are not, presented in lessons

about Christopher Columbus and Thanksgiving.

So, it seems like a bit much right now.

But maybe it is because there IS so much wrong with the way we are

teaching children about American Indians.

I don't think any given teacher is a bad (or racist) person because

their lessons provide a heroic or romantic picture of America's

history. Most likely, that teacher didn't get much in the way of

critical thinking about teaching this topic in his/her teacher

education program. Maybe there haven't been opportunities to think

about this, either, once the teacher entered the classroom.

Teachers are overworked and underpaid. They and the profession often

get little respect. Most are doing the best they can.

I'm not asking teachers to immediately drop all the lessons you've

been doing for years. Meaningful change takes time. If a teacher

elects to modify a lesson, it takes time to figure out what to do

instead. That means a lot of time for research, thinking, writing,

locating and developing new materials for their students.... Time most

don't have, because they're struggling to do a good job as it is,

given things like No Child Left Behind.

What I'm doing with this blog is offering some ideas for teachers to

think about. My hope is that this will lead to change. I know some

teachers can make changes right away, and others will modify something

more slowly, and still others will think over my input and then reject

what I offer because it is counter to the way they view things.

I have confidence in education and in educators. Teachers are caring

people. They care about the children they teach. They want to do a

good job, and if they're reading this blog, they are interested in

thinking about the ways they teach about American Indians. I offer