U & D

This fairly heady image illustrates a “tranformative schools model” proposed at a recent conference by EduCon participant Dennis Richards, an ed. guru and school administrator from Andover, MA. My purpose is not to have you think about Native Studies in terms of this model – but to have your think about this model in terms of Native Studies.

Ignoring the outter ring of educational jargon, does the rest of the wheel remind you of anything?

It seems to me that the “new thinkers” who are seeking for ways to transform education (public and private schooling) have hit upon a great solution: give our educational systems the core structure of Native society and culture.

This wheel is a representation of the teaching and learning continuity that 300 years of history have interrupted and broken down.

It seems to me that the NCAI and other organizations might do well to bring this wheel to conversations about economic recovery plans supporting Native educational systems.

Think also, before you become too sarcastic, of the collaboration it took between EduCon, David Warlick (who initiated the submission of such schema), Dennis Richards, and me to bring you this image. The Internet is a powerful tool for change, and information and resources can flow powerfully from and to unexpected directions.

If I were a HS teacher in Maine, I would teach this wheel along with the Cornelius All-Cultures pie.