1981 Good advice for teaching ALL children

Do's and don't for teachers of Indian students

By Jane Vanderpoel

1981 Dec 11, Argus Leader 

      Teachers: don’t use alphabet cards that say A is for apple, B is for ball and I is for Indian.

      That’s first on a list of 10 don’ts for teachers who have Indian students in their classes, said Gene Fracek, state Indian education coordinator, to Axtell Park Junior High School teachers at a workshop..

      “Naming a Chevy a Cheyenne doesn’t do lots of honor to the Indian people,” he said.

      It helps if teachers have an unprejudiced concept of Indians, he said, and they shouldn’t allow their students to believe television stereotypes of Indians.

      “For many people, especially if they’re from the East, the only true Indian is the Hollywood Tribe. If you don’t look like that, you’re not an Indian.”

      Don’t lump all Indians together, either, because they aren’t alike, Fracek told the teachers. Just as American Easterners are different from Westerners, tribes from different areas aren’t alike and often don’t get along.

      “There has never been a President of the Indians. It’s never been a tradition and there has never been a single spokesman for the Indian people,” he said.

      It’s not a good idea to refer to “them” and “us” in social studies or history lessons, Fracek said, because then youngsters get the impression that Indians are the bad guys or different from them.

      Teachers shouldn’t assume that Indian children are well acquainted with their heritage, Fracek said, “Nobody teaches it to them, how can they be?” he asked.

      Fracek also listed facts from research in the field: 

Facts and information alone won’t automatically change children’s stereotypical attitudes about Indians.

• Prejudice among economic classes might be even stronger in America than racial or religious prejudice is.
• “If you feel good about yourself, you’ll feel good about other people, too.”
• Classroom films and other media impress children. “They can have a fantastic impact whether they’re well-used or not,” he warned.
• Close association with Indian children will make other children lose their prejudice, so don’t allow the class to isolate Indian students.

“It’s not pupils’ backgrounds that determine their performances in school,” Fracek said, “it’s the school’s response to them that determines their performances.” 

1981 Dec 11, Argus Leader 

1981 Jan 11, Ukiah Daily Journal