This article describes how a preservice early childhood program collaborates with a local agency in a community engagement project. The project was implemented in a family-community partnership class for preservice teachers. There were three purposes for this project. First, to build a partnership between the University of Alaska Anchorage…

The reflective inquiry approach to teacher preparation is based on analysis of teaching "cases" and is particularly relevant for teachers in Alaska's rural multicultural schools. Students learn to ask ethical as well as pedagogical questions and to reflect upon larger issues imbedded in the details of school life. (Author/SV)

The reflective inquiry model of teacher education uses case methods to develop a particular professional way of thinking characteristic of expert teachers. Teaching cases play an important role in preparing teachers emotionally as well as intellectually for the problems of multicultural classrooms, and in legitimizing the discussion of crucial…

Examines the experiences of Native and non-Native Alaskan teacher educators in rural Alaska, describing opportunities for capitalizing on field settings available to faculty at any university. Discusses reasons for putting faculty in the field, looking at field-based training for Native teachers, the "ivory tower" versus the real world,…

Teachers for Rural Alaska is a fifth year program leading to secondary teacher certification and focusing on preparation for teaching in small village high schools with predominantly Native populations. Emphasizing a reflective inquiry orientation, the program aims to develop teachers who (1) can identify crucial problems and dilemmas in rural,…

A summary is presented of findings from a survey that sought to record the opinions of teachers and administrators in the Alaskan schools on key educational issues. Results of previous nationwide surveys are synthesized on the topics of teacher education programs, teacher certification, inservice teacher education programs, and incentive programs.…

A project was conducted to develop an interagency consortium for Alaska for the purpose of annually identifying and updating the preservice training needs for Alaska vocational educational personnel and to prepare a report on the recommendations from the consortium to be issued to institutions of higher education offering one or more preservice…

This article discusses preparing teachers to teach in rural Alaska. An anecdote illustrates how outsiders who come to work in rural Alaska get into trouble because they are unprepared for conditions unique to the North. These conditions end up being viewed as impediments rather than opportunities. The same is true for the field of education. Of…

These guidelines address issues of concern in the preparation of Alaska teachers who will be expected to teach students from diverse backgrounds in a culturally responsive and educationally healthy way. Special attention is given to the preparation of Native and non-Native teachers for small rural schools in Alaska. To assist personnel associated…

Reviews programs and policies developed for college students from diverse cultural backgrounds, discussing Alaska Native students at one institution. The article examines tensions between university and indigenous student cultures, noting changes and accommodations negotiated to help develop environments to promote student success and maintenance…

This paper discusses issues involved in teaching culturally diverse students and questions current practices in multicultural teacher education. The central portion of the paper describes and discusses an alternative approach to multicultural teacher education through the Teachers for Alaska program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Teachers…

This paper focuses on standards-based teacher licensure in Alaska. Section 1, "Introduction," examines the history of schooling in the United States, noting different periods of reform. Section 2, "School Reform Since 'A Nation at Risk,'" discusses how that report shifted the focus for reform. Section 3, "Education…

This brochure presents the teacher education standards adopted by Alaska's State Board of Education. The standards are as follows: (1) a teacher can describe the teacher's philosophy of education and demonstrate its relationship to the teacher's practice; (2) a teacher understands how students learn and develop and applies that knowledge in the…

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)

This document traces the activities and timelines that led to two Deans' Forums on integrating technology into preservice teacher education programs. These forums were organized by the Northwest Educational Technology Consortium, which is comprised of state education agencies in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming, as well as…