In the same way that indigenous peoples of Latin America inverted the symbol of the cross, how did, or did, Native American students invert or reinscribe what they were taught (what is "good," what is "civilized") to re-appropriate their own identities?
How can we read between the lines of their own narratives? For instance, in one, an Indian student wrote: “The white man has been a great help by sharing his knowledge with us." Is this a facetious statement?
How did this interaction impact the community identity?
In what ways were students aware of the intentions of the school? Did they recognize the chasm between their own conceptions of identity and history, and what was being imposed when the school "taught" them their history? For example, one eighth grade student wrote a short story about a graveyard being haunted by the children who had been massacred there. Although the perpetrators of the act go unmentioned, what is being alluded to? And how does this interact with/shed light on the authenticity of the claim: “The white man has been a great help by sharing his knowledge with us"?
What type of discourse is being created (in resistance) to the discourse imposed by the school? Were they creating their own constructions, different both from their families' and from the school's?
What is the process of developing an identity? Did their identities withstand assimilating forces? Did it exist separate from it? Could it?
What connections can we draw, or see exhibited, between Wiggin's analysis of the dynamics between black students and white faculty, as between indian students and the school?
2 comments:
An interesting set of questions. Nicely done. I got your email about submitting it late. I appreciate you doing that within the time-frame so I could be informed about what was happening.
You seem to have two sets of questions, with subdivisions within them. I see thematic and methodological questions. What I mean by thematic is probably obvious. Methodological maybe not as obvious.
Here are 3 questions you crafted that get to methods and theory, they ask about you YOU will work as inquirers:
1 "How can we read between the lines of their own narratives?"
2 "What type of discourse is being created (in resistance) to the discourse imposed by the school?"
3 "What connections can we draw, or see exhibited, between Wiggin's analysis of the dynamics between black students and white faculty, as between indian students and the school?"
The first question is amplified by questions 2 and 3. If you can read between the lines, these are the kinds of questions grounded in theory that might help you do it.
Another type of question links to native communities outside the school:
"Did their identities withstand assimilating forces? Did it exist separate from it? Could it?"
You would need information from communities to answer this--"data" of "outcomes" so to speak. This could be something you visit the archive for. Gathering those documents in one or two concentrated days of work would be a challenge and would therefore require planning.
A good beginning. We'll talk more. But make sure you begin to read the background readings available on ANGEL for ths project.
slim
Oh! and you may have noticed David Reker's comment "Stealing (health, we hope)." Please read and respond. I am going to as soon as I finish with the student posts.
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