GUIDEBOOK
for Integrating Cup'ik Culture and Curriculum
funded through the United States Department of Education
ESEA – Title VII Special Alternative Instruction
PR / Award # T003E00134
for the Kashunamiut School District
The GUIDEBOOK was coordinated through a contract with the South East Regional Resource Center.
*Developed by Christina Reagle
*With much appreciated input from John Pingayaq
and other Kashunamiut
staff and community members of Chevak.
The purpose of Bilingual/Bicultural programs is stated in the Alaska Education Regulations, Chapter 34, 4AC34.101:
"The department believes that providing equal educational opportunity to these children through the establishment of Bilingual/Bicultural programs of education will provide more effective use of both English and the student's language, foster more successful secondary and higher education careers, facilitate the obtaining of employment, tend to bring about an end to the depreciation of local culture elements and values by the schools in solving educational problems, effect a positive student self-image, allow genuine options for all students in choosing a way of life, and facilitate more harmonious relationships between the student's culture and the mainstream of society."
It is important to remember that successful Bilingual/Bicultural Programs are supported by the people of the village, teachers, administration, and the School Board.
THE
DRUM
as experienced in the Cup'ik culture
In the Cup'ik culture "the drum" has a special significance. It represents the heart beat of a mother and the inner peace that each person seeks in life's journey. The sound of the drum is similar to the rhythm of a mother's heart while in the womb. The beating produces energy that sends blood flowing throughout our bodies creating a desire to dance and be alive. The drum also helps each person to understand the many cycles that life has in store for us.
Waqaa — Greetings
| The Kashunamiut School District believes: |
GUIDEBOOK for Integrating Cup'ik Culture and Curriculum |
| "Special programs, including, but not limited to bilingual/bicultural programs shall be developed and implemented as may be practicable to address the unique educational needs of Native American Students. These programs shall include but not be limited to an awareness and appreciation of the Native student's language, heritage, and culture as well as that of the rest of American society." I.0710.02 | The Kashunamiut School District is located in
western Alaska, one of five major regions of Alaska. Chevak was one of the
last communities to have contact with the outside world. Less than a hundred
years ago the residents were nomadic and the culture was purely aboriginal.
In the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s there was a trend toward consolidation of
communities. The original school in Chevak was built by the Bureau of Indian
Affairs in the early 50s at the current site.
GUIDEBOOK DEDICATION: School and community of Chevak PURPOSE: To establish guidelines for the staff of the Kashunamiut School District when integrating Cup'ik culture into the curriculum. OBJECTIVES: 1. To improve the self-image of students in Kashunamiut School District. 2. To teach reading and language arts more effectively. |
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3. To increase respect, appreciation, and understanding
of the Cup'ik culture.
4. To encourage communication linkage between the school and community of Chevak. |
What does
this mean for the
Kashunamiut School District?
The Cup'ik culture is an important part of the education of each student in the Kashunamiut School District. Creating inviting classrooms and a school environment for students that integrates culture into the academic curriculum helps students to succeed and feel good about themselves. The focus of this GUIDEBOOK is to utilize the Communicative Arts in assisting teachers to think about integrating Cup'ik culture with their lesson planning.
EXAMPLE:
Language Arts: students create a tour guide booklet on the Chevak community or the geographic region.
English: Interview elders, then write summaries of interviews.
Radio Broadcasting: students gather information about culture and announce it over the radio.
Avurtuq — he/she is gathering things
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WHAT WE KNOW |
A
needs assessment administered to parents, students, teachers, and community
members in the Kashunamiut School District states that preserving the Cup'ik
culture, language, cultural history, and crafts are essential elements when
planning curriculum for Kashunamiut students.Studies have shown that students
have a better chance of developing a positive, directed sense of self-esteem
when schools and communities are linked together. Chevak has developed a
tri-language system of communication, Cup'ik, English, and a combination
of the two. Students are caught in the middle of this system, challenged
by the need to be versed in both languages.
In 1988 the Alaska School Board identified 39 barriers Native students encounter while going to school. These difficulties create inner conflict for students and extra challenges as they attend school and balance the other parts of their lives. The barriers include lack of self-esteem, lack of cultural understanding by educators, lack of appropriate curriculum, lack of opportunity to develop language skills, and the school not reflecting the culture of the community. Before 1950 formal education for students in Chevak took place in the Qaygiq—the men's house, and in the homes of the people. The information taught to students in the Qaygiq included history, values, rules, regulations, and survival methods. Much of this became lost when children entered public schools. Some people in Chevak feel the school is obligated to teach what was lost through this change in the educational process. |
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| Pingnatagyarag—learning to do things yourself, work towards becoming independent |
| What can be done to help students overcome
these barriers?
Through a Title VII, Special Alternative Instruction Program, the Kashunamiut School District has evaluated the school environment and staff interactions. These evaluations have helped to determine ways to enhance the effectiveness of the curriculum and school staff. The purpose of this GUIDEBOOK is to share these ideas with you. Why integrate the Cup'ik culture and curriculum? Culture is a difficult concept. It is dynamic and constant. There are many factors that influence culture and how it affects individuals. During the past ten to fifteen years the Cup'ik culture has been impacted heavily by the Western culture. The language is spoken less and fewer students are able to speak cup'ik fluently. Sometimes these changes interfere with students' abilities to do well in school. The Kashunamiut School District applied for a special grant to help students do better in school. This Title VII, Special Alternative Instruction Grant proposed two goals:
In reaching these goals the overall strategy has been to utilize a variety of communicative arts while blending the child's history and tradition. Through the implementation of this grant, teachers, students, community members, and administrators have explored different techniques and approaches to making the culture relevant to the curriculum and meaningful to the students. aipag'luk — let's be friends |
Having
a strong
personal vision; seeing our great potential, is like an arrow, which powered by our will, always hits its target. |
| True understanding of traditional values starts with a personal vision of who you are and who you could become. | How does self esteem
fit into culture and curriculum?
How do we know when a person has high self esteem or a good self image? Self esteem is not an easily measured item that can be included on a report card or resume. Students must have high expectations of what they are capable of doing; they must feel empowered in order to take responsibility for their actions; and they must desire to make choices and take action. |
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Schools and Communities have a role in helping empower students and strengthen their self esteem. Self esteem is personal self worth. It is gathered from the many different interactions that take place throughout the day, the week, the month, the years. Judgment and values conflict can develop and create problems with students. Low self esteem, a negative self image, makes liking and believing in yourself difficult, if not impossible, and creates a vicious cycle of self doubt.
The Cup'ik
culture honors respect of each person. Respect is a part of how people liv and
interact with each other. When students feel respected they feel empowered to
demonstrate their abilities. Teachers can demonstrate respect by participating
in community events. Learn about the activities in the Community Hall, attend
a tribal or city council meeting, inquire in a sensitive way about the geography
or history of the area, find out why the other people around are Yup'ik and
not Cup'ik.
Cup'ik people see self esteem in a different way than Westerners. A person's self image is similar to a piece of driftwood. It is difficult to predict. The Cup'ik philosophy believes in observation, a piece of driftwood may look OK on the outside, but not be good on the inside or vice versa. It takes time to study the wood, to investigate the grain of wood, and determine its usefulness for a project. The same piece of wood might be evaluated differently by the more dominant culture. The Western mind usually evaluates quickly, often with limited information. Judgments can be made and restricted decisions then follow.
| How to raise the self esteem of students | Staff of the Kashunamiut School District discussed how to define self esteem. The definitions include feeling good about one's self (confident), knowing how to do a job, having a happy outlook, and looking forward to the future. They also critiqued ways to determine if a person has positive self esteem. Acknowledging self esteem includes leadership skills, demonstrating confidence, not relying on substances or external objects, willingness to try new experiences, a well-kept appearance, positive peer interaction and sincere sportsmanship. A visit from the elders The elders in Chevak were invited to the school to share their knowledge of Chevak and of the surrounding region. Their visit provided a way for educators to obtain information about the geography, history, and traditions of the Cup'ik people and to open communication between the community and the school. It is a continuous process with staff turnover and administrative changes that the community continues to feel invited into the school. The Kashunamiut School District is committed to molding the school around the community, not the community around the school.
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PARENTS' ROLE
Parents are still the most influential factor in a child's life. Western culture, TV, school, telephones, and travel in and out of Chevak are all important agents of change that impact students, but parents are the most critical. Parents of the students of the Kashunamiut School District want their children to do well in school, graduate, and become people who contribute to the community of Chevak.
Each year the community assists the school district by supporting different events, such as:
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There is a tri-language system in Chevak; English, Cup'ik, and a mixture of the two languages. This system of language is difficult for students, but can be much easier if parents and educators are working together to help students understand the extra challenges involved.
ikayukerenga — help me
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SOMETHING TO CONSIDER "Late" is a western concept. The Sioux language (Lakhota) has no word for time and, consequently, has no word for late or for waiting. What about Eskimo languages? Ask members of the community to explain why people come to gatherings at a variety of times. In the western culture, many would be considered late. |
TEACHER'S ROLE:
Students are influenced and impacted by teachers in a variety of ways. Teachers are often the first people that children interact with other than their family members. In Alaska many of the teachers come from out of the state and have limited information and understanding about rural, Alaskan communities and Alaskan Native groups. Chevak, like many communities in Alaska, is unique and has its own cultural traditions. In order for teachers to help students reach their highest potential they need to know about the environment their students live in. Despite the fact that teachers are welcomed guests in the small communities they teach in, it is difficult for them to 'reach into the community' to learn about it and become acquainted with the culture their students live in. Educators looking for resources to help them understand the new culture they are experiencing in Chevak can begin by asking others who have been in the school or surrounding communities. They can also step out into the community themselves and explore the history of Chevak by asking people they see in the store or around town. There is also information in the cultural heritage program, some written in lesson format and other less formal data in the arts and crafts items being created. |
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Creating a partnership between the school and
community is challenging. With turnover of school district staff there is
the constant element of new people to learn about the community and different
learning styles of students. Mutual respect between the school and community
sends a valuable message to students. Since the community of Chevak is different
than the examples in textbooks it is important that students understand
the connection of their culture and the western education they are learning. maligeyenga — follow me |
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THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM |
CUP'IK VALUES as shared by the elders |
| 1. A balance between learning from books and learning from life. |
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| 2. A balance between the present and the past. | |
| 3. A balance between planned experiences and the experience of planning. | |
| 4. A balance between intellectual and behavioral goals. | |
| 5. A balance between traditional school curriculum and the unique needs of Cup'ik students. | |
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Kegginaquq -- mask for Eskimo dancing
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AN INTEGRATION OF SCHOOL AND CULTURE |
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| "A person
who has been taught the Cup'ik way uses mental skills in analyzing and will
make good judgment in emergency situations."
murilkelluten — pay attention! |
Whenever possible, educators should integrate concepts from the Cup'ik culture into the school learning activities. These are just a few of the many possibilities. |
Classroom Activities
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School-wide Activities
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Cultural Heritage Week Preservation of Language & Culture A NEED FOR ACTION
Welcome to Chevak: Bethel, Hooper Bay, Newtok, Akiachak, Tuluksak, Akiak, St. Mary's, & Good News Bay What are you going to say to your parents and elders to help you know more about Cup'ik culture? |
Out-of-Class Community Activities
engakakaa — to recall or remember |
Dear Parents and Elders:
I want to remind you that our Cup'ik language and culture is almost gone. Unless we do something about it soon, there will be no Cup'ik language / culture for your grandchildren, or future children. I encourage you to speak the language to us, now, before it's too late. I'd like to tell you a story. When I was in Fairbanks, I had a chance to talk with other students. They talked about their Yup'ik language and asked about my Cup'ik language. We were comparing words that were different, then we came to a word I didn't know. One of the students called me a dumb Cup'ik. I had nothing to say back. So please start teaching the language to everyone so that no one else will be in the position I was in. I felt very bad not knowing our language, but at least I could understand some words. A Chevak Student |
LESSON PLAN
Kashunamiut staff developed several lesson plans integrating culture into the curriculum. The format used for the lesson plans was: unit, lesson, materials, preparation, objectives, introduction, activities and assessment.
Resources to Explore:
- Winds of Change Magazine
- Alaska Quarterly Review
- Alaska's Native People
- National Geographic
- Alaska Magazine
BLENDING CULTURAL CURRICULUM WITH ACADEMIC CURRICULUM
- creates an atmosphere of respect toward culture, as well as person.
- validates academic skills in partnership with cultural activities.
- assists students in seeing relationship of science, math, language arts, etc. in daily activities.
- creates comparisons / contrasts between old and new ways.
- presents opportunities for communication and interaction between generations.
- assists students in seeing their culture and environment with new perspective.
SAMPLE LESSON PLAN FOR KINDERGARTEN
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UNIT |
Animals and birds of Chevak – Social Studies, Science, Math, Language Arts |
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LESSON |
To make a book with pictures and short stories
of the animals and birds in the Chevak.
To Create a fur sample board of the animals of the area. To create a sample board of the environment that the animals and birds live within. |
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MATERIALS |
Pictures of birds and animals; Habitat and environment
posters
Fur samples; Arts and crafts materials |
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PREPARATION |
Collect fur samples; Compile Cup'ik words of
animals and birds
Gather books on animals and birds; Gather environment samples |
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OBJECTIVES |
To learn about the animals and birds in the Chevak area, and to identify the furs of the area. |
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INTRODUCTION |
Read a story about Alaska animals, Alaskan Animals ABC, Shelly Gill, and show a video of Alaska animals and birds. Ask children to name common animals and birds around Chevak. |
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ACTIVITIES |
Write stories and draw pictures about animals
and birds.
Have the Cup'ik teachers discuss and name animals and birds of tundra around Chevak. Draw and label Cup'ik names for pictures of animals and birds. Make an ABC book and/or 1 to 10 number book and illustrate with animals and birds. Make a classroom mural of animals and birds of Chevak. Go on a field trip to look for animals and birds. |
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ASSESSMENT |
Students will correctly identify and discuss 2 habitat and/or feeding characteristics of 10 animals. |
| EVALUATION | 1. Which organizational strategies do I use: | ||
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| What is evaluation? Evaluation is a careful observation and collection of information to determine whether a program is effective. Sometimes evaluation can be simple. Are students learning how to spell or how to do math problems? Other times evaluation is more difficult. Are students learning to be productive citizens or how to write an interesting story? Evaluation of school programs is a daily task for teachers. When planning strategies for evaluation it is important to step back from the daily tasks of teaching and examine the program from a variety of viewpoints. | |||
| 2. Which instructional strategies do I use: | |||
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| 3. Which instructional skills do I use: | |||
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| 4. Which strategies do I use to assess student learning: | |||
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| 5. How do the students assess their own learning? | |||
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| 6. How does the cultural component fit with the lesson? | |||
| 7. Do I allow for cultural differences in the presentation and participation of the lesson/unit? | |||
| 8. Do I invite or seek our community members who could assist with the lesson/unit? | |||
| Kasugluku — all the way to the end | |||
CONCLUSIONS
Integrating culture into the academic curriculum is a challenge. It requires
each teacher to incorporate information that they are not familiar with in educating
the students in their classroom. The ideas in this GUIDEBOOK will help every
student in Chevak to receive a more rewarding and comprehensive education.
The activities in this GUIDEBOOK will help teachers seek out new resources in providing education to the students of Chevak. The parents and community members of the Kashunamiut School District will become participating partners in the teaching process, which raises the self esteem of everyone involved.
Bilingual education has taught us that you don't learn a language by learning the language, but you do learn a language by learning ideas and by learning to think in a language. Students can then acquire skills, knowledge, and an attitude that blends culture and the academic school program together. Any learning that takes place becomes an added piece of knowledge.
GOOD LUCK with the risks you take in reaching into the community and seeking new information.
Piuraa ! — See you later or good bye
