A white male professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks taught an experimental section of a composition course with a reading list composed almost entirely of American Indian and Alaska Native authors. Vocal controversies about the readings were attributed to fundamentalist views, lack of experience in reading literature, sensitivity about…

Since its beginnings in 1970, a field-based teacher education program aimed at preparing certificated Alaska native teachers has graduated 80 teachers. Until then, the University of Alaska's teacher training program had been a traditional campus-based program aimed primarily at preparing teachers for urban schools, with no course that reflected…

This book compiles the best selections from the Chukchi News and Information Service, a University of Alaska project that for the past decade, has published the writings of Native college students from rural and remote regions of Alaska. The writers are primarily nontraditional older students who are Inupiaq, Yup'ik, or Siberian Yup'ik Eskimos or…

A personal narrative documents the struggle of an Alaska native teacher through her years in school and in the teaching profession. The article discusses the difficulties students face when they are native Yup'ik speakers but are taught in English; demonstrates how recent bilingual and Yup'ik programs have increased students' success rates. (SM)

In this anthology, rural Alaskan English teachers in the Bread Loaf Rural Teacher Network describe their experiences implementing new state education standards while continuing their commitment to learner-centered and place-based practice. The book presents narratives about teaching grounded in knowledge and understanding of students and…