Healing: the stories of academic successes and barriers faced by Lumbee tribal young adults

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Leslie A. Locklear (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Silvia Bettez

Abstract: Culturally relevant teaching has been a hot topic word in the world of education for many years. However, for the Lumbee Tribe, best practices for working with American Indian students are frequently based on studies done with Southwestern tribes. This dissertation presents the stories of twelve Lumbee Tribal young adults and their kindergarten through twelfth grade educational experience. Through their stories, I explored the barriers they faced as well as the successes they achieved. I also explored the ties between the students’ Lumbee tribal culture and their success within the classroom. Data for this study was collected through face-to-face interviews with the participants as well as a focus group. The stories told throughout this study suggested that Lumbee tribal students found support through various aspects of Lumbee tribal culture, one of those being the power of relationships with American Indian and non-American educators and community members. This work also suggested that there is a lack of cultural understanding and knowledge as it relates to Lumbee culture within the classroom thus giving birth to stereotypes that damage the positive identity development of Lumbee tribal students attending schools with low populations of Lumbee students. In turn suggesting an increased need of cultural integration within the curriculum as well as a need for educator understanding as it relates to the culture of Lumbee tribal students.

Additional Information

Publication
Dissertation
Language: English
Date: 2017
Keywords
American Indian, Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, Culturally Revitalizing Pedagogy, Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy, Lumbee Tribe
Subjects
Indians of North America $x Education
Lumbee Indians $x Education
Culturally relevant pedagogy
Multicultural education
Academic achievement

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