{"id":3734,"date":"2020-12-14T12:15:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-14T20:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/ltc\/?p=3734"},"modified":"2021-11-12T13:46:36","modified_gmt":"2021-11-12T21:46:36","slug":"want-to-promote-diversity-critical-reasoning-and-collaborative-learning-look-at-the-enduring-legacies-native-cases-collection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/ltc\/2020\/12\/want-to-promote-diversity-critical-reasoning-and-collaborative-learning-look-at-the-enduring-legacies-native-cases-collection\/","title":{"rendered":"Want to Promote Diversity, Critical Reasoning, and Collaborative Learning? Look at the Enduring Legacies Native Cases Collection"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is the first in a series of short writings by current and retired Evergreen faculty with insights about highly effective Evergreen teaching practices and resources past and current.  <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Barbara Leigh Smith<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are looking for interdisciplinary curriculum about\nthe lived experiences and real-world issues of contemporary Indigenous peoples,\nthe Enduring Legacies Native Cases Projects has developed over 130 case studies\non a rich diversity of topics, from arts to activism, environmental studies to\nhuman services, entrepreneurship to government relations\u2014and many more.  Best of all, they are all available at your\nfingertips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Linda Moon Stumpff and I founded the Enduring Legacies Project in 2005, and Rob Cole and Jovana Brown later joined our team. Our aims were straightforward: to research and write original teaching cases on contemporary issues in Indian Country and offer workshops where faculty could learn how to use them. Now 16 years later we have developed the largest Native Cases collection in the US, with detailed teaching notes. We have also held 15 annual summer institutes for educators to learn how to use them. [1]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[1] Many people and organizations made this happen. The Lumina Foundation, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, National Science Foundation, and many tribes, especially the Nisqually Tribe and San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, funded our endeavor.  Partner colleges include Salish Kootenai Tribal College, Northwest Indian College, Grays Harbor College, Peninsula College, and University of Alaska at Fairbanks and Anchorage, the National Indian Child Welfare Association and the Office of Native Education at the Washington Office of the Superintendent of Public Education.  The tribal colleges wrote many of our cases which helped address their curricular needs. And most important are the many contributions from the participants themselves.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we established Enduring Legacies, there was a void in\nthe literature on contemporary Indigenous issues, especially about Northwest\ntribes, many of whom were (and remain) national leaders in a number of areas of\nconcern affecting Native peoples. Linda cofounded and was teaching in the\nrecently established Master of Public Administration Tribal Governance program.\nIn her pre-Evergreen days she worked for the Native American Fish and Wildlife\nAssociation developing cases out of indigenous \nknowledge and storytelling traditions for youth program and for the Aldo\nLeopold Institute at the University of Montana. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had retired in 2004 but continued to work part time with\nEvergreen\u2019s Reservation-Based, Community Determined program (RBCD, now called\nNative Pathways Program). I wrote and won a large grant from the Lumina\nFoundation to build a lower-division bridge program with Grays Harbor College and\ndevelop curriculum resources. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I became a fan of case-based learning after attending\nHarvard University\u2019s Institute for Educational Management when I first came to\nEvergreen. Housing arrangements were very purposeful for the five-week summer\nprogram for upper level administrators. Since I was from an \u201cunusual\u201d college,\nI was given a roommate from another unusual institution\u2014Empire State College. We\nhad a lot in common as recently established alternative colleges. The institute\u2019s\ncurriculum was terrific and entirely based on using cases to explore important\nissues in college administration and leadership in many different\norganizations. Some years later, after we established the Washington Center, we\ndeveloped some cases on building learning communities and critical moments in\ndiversity that were very helpful in our Evergreen and inter-institutional work.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cases are interdisciplinary and cover a wide range of academic disciplines. They could be used in nearly every part of Evergreen\u2019s curriculum. We also welcome and work closely with aspiring case writers. The cases are open source and available on our website (http:\/\/nativecases.evergreen.edu<\/a>). More than 100 current and former Evergreen faculty and staff have attended our annual summer institutes and many use the cases. The cases have also become an important resource for the K-12 schools, especially since teaching Native history and culture is now required in Washington and a few other states, including Montana and Oregon. A 2014 article, \u201cAll Indians are dead? At least that\u2019s what most schools teach children<\/a>\u201d by Alysa Landry, points to recent research findings by Sara Shear that \u201c87 per cent of references to American Indians in all 50 states\u2019 academic standards portray them in a pre-1900 context.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some typical questions raised in our cases include: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the prospects for\ntribes in energy production? How is climate change impacting tribes and what\nare they doing about it?  Should tribes\nshare casino revenues? Should tribes legalize marijuana? How are tribes\npursuing economic development? Should Indian mascots be repealed? How can\nsalmon runs be restored and protected? How can health disparities be addressed?\nHow can Native student success be enhanced? Whose history should we teach?\nWhose story should be told in public art? And many more<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Effective cases are readable narratives that involve controversy, unresolved issues, and puzzling situations that can trigger curiosity, debate and further research and discussion.  The cases and accompanying discussion prompts students to explore multifaceted puzzles and questions and develop problem solving skills as they work through the case, usually in small groups.  Cases also align with the storytelling traditions in many communities, which often promotes intergenerational learning <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Native Cases Project focuses on both producing significant new curriculum on important contemporary issues in Indian Country and enhancing student learning through a highly interactive teaching approach whose cornerstones are collaborative learning, place-based learning, and the kind of problem-based learning endemic to case studies. A fairly well developed literature on all of these educational approaches is emerging. Our project is unique in marrying these three teaching approaches and grounding it in Native American issues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We hope you will be inspired to look at our website and try\nsome of the cases.  Students are very\nenthusiastic. As one said: \u201cThese cases have lit a fire among the faculty and\nstudents.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Students discussing cases <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

If you wish to respond  to this, ask questions  or share your experience with cases contact\nBarbara Leigh Smith, (smithb@evergreen.edu<\/a>)\nDirector Native Cases Initiative, or look at our website http:\/\/nativecases.evergreen.edu<\/a>.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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