Alaska Standards for Culturally Responsive Curriculum

Culturally Responsive Curriculum Standard A: A culturally-responsive curriculum reinforces the integrity of the cultural knowledge that students bring with them.

A curriculum that meets this cultural standard:

1. recognizes that all knowledge is imbedded in a larger system of cultural beliefs, values and practicIMG_0534es, each with its own integrity and interconnectedness;

2. insures that students acquire not only the surface knowledge of their culture, but are also well grounded in the deeper aspects of the associated beliefs and practices;IMG_0532

3. incorporates contemporary adaptations along with the historical and traditional aspects of the local culture;

4. respects and validates knowledge that has been derived from a variety of cultural traditions;

5. provides opportunities for students to study all subjects starting from a base in the local knowledge system.


Culturally Responsive Curriculum Standard B: A culturally-responsive curriculum recognizes cultural knowledge as part of a living and constantly adapting system that is grounded in the past, but continues to grow through the present and into the future.

A curriculum that meets this cultural standard:

1. recognizes the conteIMG_0529mporary validity of much of the traditional cultural knowledge, values and beliefs, and grounds students learning in the principles and practices associated with that knowledge;

2. provides students with an understanding of the dynamics of cultural systems as they change over time, and as they are impacted by external forces;

IMG_05333. incorporates the in-depth study of unique elements of contemporary life in Native communities in Alaska, such as the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, subsistence, sovereignty and self-determination.

 

 

 


Culturally Responsive Curriculum Standard C: A culturally-responsive curriculum uses the local language and cultural knowledge as a foundation for the rest of the curriculum.

A curriculum that meets this cultural standard:

1. utilizes the local language as a base from which to learn the deeper meanings of the local cultural knowledge, values, beliefs and practices;

IMG_05282. recognizes the depth of knowledge that is associated with the long inhabitation of a particular place and utilizes the study of “place” as a basis for the comparative analysis of contemporary social, political and economic systems;

3. incorporates language and cultural immersion experiences wherever in-depth cultural understanding is necessary;

IMG_05274. views all community members as potential teachers and all events in the community as potential learning opportunities;

5. treats local cultural knowledge as a means to acquire the conventional curriculum content as outlined in state standards, as well as an end in itself;
6. makes appropriate use of modern tools and technology to help document and transmit traditional cultural knowledge;

7. is sensitive to traditional cultural protocol, including role of spirituality, as it relates to appropriate uses of local knowledge.


Culturally Responsive Curriculum Standard D: A culturally-responsive curriculum fosters a complementary relationship across knowledge derived from diverse knowledge systems.

A curriculum that meets this cultural standard:

IMG_05311. draws parallels between knowledge derived from oral tradition and that derived from books;

 

2. engages students in the construction of new knowledge and understandings that contribute to an ever-expanding view of the world.
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Culturally Responsive Curriculum Standard E: A culturally-responsive curriculum situates local knowledge and actions in a global context.

A curriculum that meets this cultural standard:

1. encourages students to consider the inter-relationship between their local circumstances and the global community;IMG_0536

2. conveys to students that every culture and community contributes to, at the same time that it receives from the global knowledge base;

3. prepares students to “think globally, act locally.”

 



WWII in Alaska

Here is the lesson I developed for a unit on WWII.

The National Park Service has lesson plans on Attu and Kiska during WWII. I used parts of their lesson including their photographs (link 1, link 2, link 3)

Here is a Time article with a variety of pictures from the Aleutians during WWII. I used this as a transition activity for students who finished the reading/ group discussion early.

Aleut Story is a documentary on the Aleut relocation/internment. In class I used the following youtube clips:                                                                    -Aleut Story 2, minutes 1-3                                                                             -Aleut Story 3, minutes 7:20-8:40                                                                  -Aleut Story 4, minutes 5:50-7:18                                                                   -Aleut Story 5, minutes 1:30-6:20

I also brought in the book Aleutian Sparrow, which could easily be incorporated into this lesson.

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