sherman indian school

During the early phase of the Sherman Indian School, administrators ran the school on a very authoritarian model. For example, there was involuntary enrollment. Native languages, native dress, or other aspects of native culture were strictly prohibited. In addition, there was a rigid system of discipline centered on military-esque techniques and practices such as the requirement of uniforms, officers, united marching, etc. The video clip of a large group of students dressed in uniform simultaneously sitting down to eat lunch at the exact same moment captures the essence of the spirit of the school during its early years.

We could use the theory of Faucault or Freire to analyze the school’s operation during this initial period of its operation. Faucault would most likely emphasize the way that strict time schedules and special dimensions served to enforce discipline and power relations in the school. His arguments in Discipline and Punish describe connections between systems of discipline and obedience across the history of a variety of institutions such as the military, the hospital, and the school. Therefore, his analysis would investigate the manner in which the regulations and operations of the school and those of other authoritarian systems of discipline and behavior work in similar ways.

Freire would focus more on the fact that, initially, the cultural capital of the Native American students was not included in the classroom. In the early years, the school prohibited any artistic or intellectual expression of native culture. Rather, by the means of Freire’s banking model of education, school officials created a curriculum of vocational trades for students to learn that would prove useful in their assimilation into mainstream American culture. However, over the course of the century, the Sherman Institute began to allow expressions of Native culture. For example, one teacher named Robert Levi initiated a history class that taught history from the Native American perspective. Similarly, another teacher created a Native American literature class based on themes of native government, native crafts, and other aspects of native culture. The schools also began to sponsor intertribal Pow Wows and Indian Day celebrations.

We can view these events as an implementation of Freire’s proposal to structure education in way that utilizes students’ own cultural capital. One teacher described the school’s approach aptly; they focus on not only teaching the white man’s way, but also the native way. The students are then free to, based on their own discretion, choose a combination of values, ideas, and outlooks that will allow them to stay connected with traditional culture while at the same time provide the opportunity to engage with mainstream culture if they wish to do so.