In light of attempts to build a stronger appreciation for knowledge that is often constructed by the dominant Western culture's standards, this article focuses on the efforts to create agency among classroom teachers who teach in rural Alaskan schools. In discussions around the theories of assessment--the focal point of a summer course examined…

In the author's first three years of teaching in Tununak, a Yup'ik Eskimo village of approximately 350 people on the southwest coast of Alaska, there is no question that she has learned just as much, if not more, from her students and this community than her students could ever learn from her. Learning about and getting involved in the local…

Describes a pilot program in Alaska (in six remote rural schools from highly diversified regions) that attempted to train high school teachers to teach journalism as they established classes to produce school newspapers as a unit in an English class. (SR)

Describes a writing project developed in Alaska, called the Chukchi News and Information System, in which basic writing students (primarily Eskimos, Indians, and Aleuts) are given an outlet to publish their work in various periodicals across Alaska. Argues that such outlets provide students with valuable real world writing experiences. (HB)

Presents model for developing localized district computer software targeted to Native American students from particular language communities. Describes process through which Yukon/Koyukuk School District developed computer software for Athabaskan students. Emphasizes software as one tool in teacher-directed language arts program, not replacement…

Relates some of the challenges involved in teaching English to Yup'ik Eskimos in the rural areas around Bethel, Alaska. Focuses on problems of student attrition, uninformed attitudes of white instructors, and the operations and failings of the delivery system, which employs itinerant field concept coordinators and campus-based instructors. (AYC)