This study aims at describing the self-knowledge of students and their ongoing development as Anishinaabe (Ojibway), Ininiw (Cree), Oji-Cree, Saulteaux, Dene, or mixed Indigenous nation adolescents who left their homogenous home communities during a crucial time in their social, emotional, and cultural development to attend high school. The study…

The vision of this doctoral project was to document Native educational leaders who center their school leadership in ancestral knowledge and the cultural practices of their communities as they lead from the middle. Leading from the middle acknowledges a cultural lens to compare that approach to the indigenous. Leading from the middle acknowledges…

This multiple case study focused on three Native American women superintendents' self-efficacy beliefs and the impact of the Indigenous culture on their decision making as they led their school district through the COVID-19 pandemic. Albert Bandura's self-efficacy theory served as the underpinning theory of this study. The qualitative research…

This qualitative study explored leadership in higher education through the perspectives of six Native American women faculty at a southwest university. The study utilized a Dine informed conceptual framework incorporating the Dine Philosophy of education, the Dine philosophy of life (Sa'ah Naaghai Bik'eh Hozhoon - SNBH), and the Dine ceremonial…

An ancestral skill is a "first" skill that may have originally been used for survival purposes but is no longer considered by Western culture to be required knowledge for human survival. Ancestral Skills Education is a method of sharing this ancestral knowledge through participatory, informal learning practices, in non-competitive…

In the US. Indigenous youth in particular have poorer health and educational outcomes than any other culturally diverse group face racial violence, are historicized and dehumanized creating a litany of health and educational related problems in a time that is critical to identity development. While resources are dedicated to addressing disparate…

People in Indigenous communities tell stories to share knowledge. As a member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, I understand the significance of stories for our knowledge system. The purpose of this research was to understand how eight Lumbee students at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke transitioned to college and the role of…

This dissertation begins with a description of the territory that lies between sociocultural theory, education, and the natural world. It consists of three separate studies that all focus on moments of science teaching and learning that are intentionally situated outdoors. The second, third and fourth chapters are written as somewhat independent…

The focus of this dissertation is an analysis of how two pre-service mentor teachers described and practiced good mentoring. The mentor teachers were associated with the English language teacher education program at Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal. The findings suggest that good mentoring practice required a complex set of skills and…

How did colonial linguistic exchanges between Amerindians and Europeans shape early modern conceptualizations of language itself--its locus and limits, its ideological plasticity or inflexibility? While oral traditions are persistent objects of scholarly attention, the concept of orality in itself has often been taken for granted, receiving less…

Nana i ke kumu refers to the Hawaiian practice of returning to traditional knowledge and resources to understand the underlying cultural roots of everyday words and actions used in contemporary Hawaiian settings. In this strengths-based research project, videotaped lessons in four classrooms at a Native Hawaiian-serving school were viewed and…

In doing a grounded theory study, the researcher does not identify a hypothesis, formulate research questions, or state a specific problem at the beginning of the research. Grounded theory research begins with data collection, minimizing preconceptions about outcomes to the greatest extent possible. I began my research with this attitude of not…

This study explored the perceptions of disability from the perspectives of Ethiopian immigrant parents who have children with disabilities. The study was guided by the research question: How do Ethiopian immigrant parents from the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, who have children between the ages of 7-17 identified with disabilities and…

Observation is a traditional form of learning and a scientific practice, and as such it plays a significant role in teaching and learning both inside and outside of schools. Recently, educational researchers and philosophers have called attention to the role of observation in scientific knowledge building (Brayboy & Castagno, 2008; Cajete,…

The purpose of this ethnonursing research study was to discover, describe, and systematically analyze the care expressions, practices, and patterns of Alaska Native nurses within the context of their nursing school experience. The goals of this study were to identify generic and professional care factors that promote the academic success of Alaska…