Matching Items (5)
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- All Subjects: Language Revitalization
- All Subjects: Leadership
- Creators: Appleton, Nicholas
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
Description
Career and technical education was founded on the common practice of apprenticeships integrated into the public schools at the beginning of the 20th century as manual arts, which continued to evolve into a culture and practice of its own as vocational education, and into what is now career and technical education,with an evolving focus on college and career readiness. This study sought to collect and compare the perceptions of superintendents, principals, assistant principals, and deans who were affiliated with ten Northeastern Arizona high schools, which were members of Northern Arizona Vocational Institute of Technology (NAVIT) to seven similar sized high schools in rural Arizona, which were not affiliated with NAVIT. The NAVIT schools were members of the Joint Technological Educational District. The member schools were required by intergovernmental agreement to operate their career and technical education programs by specific guidelines and curriculum.This study also compared the combined average academic achievement of the 2011 CTE concentrators of the NAVIT high schools, the non-NAVIT high schools, and all Arizona statewide CTE concentrators. Both NAVIT and non-NAVIT administrators were administered a survey, designed to measure perceptions of college/postsecondary preparation, career guidance and counseling,academic tracking, and curriculum. Results revealed that both NAVIT and non-NAVIT administrators were supportive of career and technical education, but for different reasons. The NAVIT administrators tended to view students in career and technical education programs as more mainstream, with college opportunities. The non-NAVIT administrators supported career and technical education as a system of programs that offered students opportunities for success, whether college bound or not. A significant number of NAVIT and non-NAVIT administrators opted for no opinion responses for several potentially controversial survey questions, which suggested discomfort with the topics. The academic achievement of the NAVIT, non-NAVIT, and statewide CTE concentrators as measured by the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards pass rates were marginal between groupings. The statewide average was highest, followed by NAVIT, and non-NAVIT. Recommendations for further research include conducting personal interviews of administrators to better assess leaders' perceptions of career and technical education and their influences on the academic and postsecondary career successes of students.
ContributorsHaussman, Charles E (Author) / Spencer, Dee Ann (Thesis advisor) / Appleton, Nicholas (Committee member) / Mckinnon, Jeri (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
In 2005, the Navajo Sovereignty in Education Act was signed into law by the Navajo Nation. Like the No Child Left Behind Act, this Navajo Nation legislation was as much a policy statement as it was a law. It marked the first time that the Navajo Nation linked sovereignty with education by expressing its intent to control all education within its exterior boundaries. The objective of the law was to create a department of education that would resemble the states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah in which the Navajo Nation resides. Through their department of education, the Navajo Nation would operate the educational functions for its populace. This study looked at the implications and impact that perspectives of this law would have on public schools within Arizona from the perspective of five superintendents in Arizona public schools within the Navajo Nation were gained through open-ended interviews. It examined the legal, fiscal, and curricular issues through the prism of sovereignty. Through the process of interviews utilizing a set of guided questions in a semi-structured format, five superintendents in Arizona public schools within the Navajo Nation shared their perspectives. Analysis of the five interviews revealed curriculum, funding, jurisdictional, and fear or mistrust as problems the Navajo Nation will need to overcome if it is to begin full control of all aspects of education within its boundaries. There is a strong need for the Department of Dine' Education to educate public schools with regards to the Navajo Nation Sovereignty in Education Act of 2005. Administrators need more training in tribal governments. Like the constitution, the Navajo Sovereignty in Education Act will be interpreted differently by different people. But, without action, it will be ignored. Within the Act's pages are the hopes of the Navajo Nation and the dreams for our young Navajo students.
ContributorsRoessel, Karina A (Author) / Appleton, Nicholas (Thesis advisor) / Spencer, Dee Ann (Thesis advisor) / Wauneka, Jacquelyne (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Throughout the course of the Honors Thesis/Creative Project, the intent was to gain knowledge regarding national, state and community initiatives regarding Indigenous Language Revitalization and Maintenance (ILRA). For over a year, I had the opportunity to visit a total of five indigenous communities, including Pine Ridge, SD, Gila River Indian Community, AZ, White Mountain Apache, AZ, Cochiti Pueblo, NM and Santo Domingo Pueblo, NM. The goal was to learn about the status of their language, current ILRA initiatives as well as challenges and successes that face American Indian nations. During each visit, key elements to successful language revitalization initiatives were identified that could benefit those continuing their effort to reverse language loss as well as those looking to enter in the field of language revitalization.
ContributorsHutchinson, Jenna Michelle (Author) / Romero-Little, Mary Eunice (Thesis director) / Begay, Jolyana (Committee member) / Sims, Christine P. (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / American Indian Studies Program (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
Although there are millions of Nahuatl speakers, the language is highly threatened. The dominant language of Coatepec de los Costales, a small village in Guerrero, Mexico, was historically Nahuatl, a Uto-Aztecan language, referred to by some as “Mexicano” (Messing, 2009). In the last 50 years, there has been a pronounced shift from Mexicano to Spanish in the village, and fewer than 10% of the residents currently speak Mexicano. Without intervention, the language will be lost in the village. The ultimate cause of language shift is a disconnect in transferring the Indigenous language from the older to the younger generations. In Coatepec, older Nahuatl speakers are not teaching their children the language. This recurring theme appears in case studies of language shift around the world. Using a conceptual framework that combines (1) a critical sociocultural approach to language policy; (2) Spolsky’s (2004) definition of language policy as language practices, ideologies or beliefs, and management; (3) the ethnography of language policy, and (3) Indigenous knowledges, I collected and analyzed data from a six-month ethnographic study of language loss and reclamation in Coatepec. Specifically, I looked closely at the mechanisms by which language ideologies, management, and practices were enacted among members of different generations, using a combination of observation, archival analysis, and in-depth ethnographic interviews. Seidman’s (2013) three-part interview sequence, which includes a focused life history, details of experience, and reflections on meaning, provided the framework for the interviews. What are the language ideologies and practices within and across generations in this setting? What language management strategies – tacit and official – do community members of different generations employ? This in-depth examination of language ideologies, practices, and management strategies is designed to illuminate not only how and why language shift is occurring, but the possibilities for reversing language shift as well.
ContributorsLagunas, Rosalva Mojica (Author) / Mccarty, Teresa L. (Thesis advisor) / Romero-Little, Mary Eunice (Thesis advisor) / Brayboy, Bryan McKinley (Committee member) / Coronel-Molina, Serafín M. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
This study investigated the limitations of Navajo language teaching in Navajo Head Start immersion centers. The research questions asked what did Head Start teachers perceive as barriers to Navajo children successfully learning the Navajo language, what skills and knowledge did Head Start teachers have that were relevant to teach Head Start children the Navajo language, what Head Start teachers perceived as their strengths and weaknesses of the language immersion program, and what program and instructional qualities promoted and restricted the success of the language program? Two males and six females who resided in the western part of the Navajo Nation wee interviewed as to their teaching experiences. All of the interviewees were between the ages of late 40's to mid-60's and all spoke Navajo fluently. They had been employed with Head Start for more than 10 years. They came from families who had strong beliefs in the Navajo culture and language, and believed all teachers should take Navajo language and culture classes to teach in Head Start. The interviews revealed the participants use their traditional language and culture skills to teach Navajo, but they had limited knowledge as how to use the curriculum provided by Division of Dine Education. The English curriculum was accessible and easy to follow, but did not adhered to President Hale's Executive Order to perpetuate the language. It was recommended that Head Start administrators and support staff review the Navajo language policies and regulations, train teachers how to write a lesson plan that was simple and teacher friendly, revamp the curriculums, and train teachers how to critique, analyze and develop lessons from the Navajo Curriculum. In addition, administrators, should monitor and provide technical assistance to ensure teachers are implementing Navajo language instruction according to Navajo Standards and monitoring each child's progress according to developmental domains and assessment.
ContributorsClauschee, Jefferson (Author) / Appleton, Nicholas (Thesis advisor) / Spencer, Dee (Committee member) / Duplissis, Mark (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015