NM's Dysfunctional Education System

Some aspects of my identity are more concrete than others, and the separation of these parts of identity could be described through a concept in “Sharing One Skin” by Jeannette Armstrong. She defines our identity as being in 4 parts, which are the “physical self, emotional self, thinking-intellectual self, and the spiritual self.” (p. 6) She defines these 4 identities separately: Physical self - Our literal physical self. It shows our connection to the Earth; Emotional Self - How we connect with others and share our feelings and love; Intellectual Self - The part that “ignites” our brain into thinking about things; Spiritual Self - How we finally come to conclusions about the world and what it ultimately means to ourselves.

Furthermore, I shall discuss another aspect of my identity called “Place Identity”. In another article I read called, “How place names impact the way we see landscape,” by B. Toastie, the idea of identity being associated with specific locations was described. An association between ourselves and our environment is incredibly important in helping us understand our heritage and our physical/spiritual identity.

Finally, I also read an article titled “And Then I Went to School,” by Joe Suina. It was a story about the contrast between the two worlds that many of us exist in today. Joe was an Indian kid who lived with his grandmother in a one-room adobe house and was a part of the cultural celebrations and ceremonies of his community. However, his family ushered him to get a Western education because it was necessary for surviving in the new world that the community had found itself in. At this school, he was scolded and embarrassed for showing any resemblance to what was normal in his home community. This story was about Joe surviving in this strange new world and the effects it had on him afterward.

In the article, “UNM Professor Recruiting Native American Teachers to Work in their hometowns,” the idea of teachers who are from the same local communities being the ideal teacher is pushed. Glenabah Martinez created a program to encourage this for Native-Americans. “Native teachers from your own community, they know you, they advocate for you, they support you.”

In the article “Tribal Education is a Matter of Survival,” Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren and former Tesuque Governor Mark Mitchell addressed the New Mexico legislature in hopes of getting House Bill 140 to pass. This bill would increase funding to Tribal Education Departments under the State’s Indian Education Act. Nygren emphasized the positive work being done for Native Americans in recent decades but said the issues are still far from being completely addressed.

After reading “Ainu Education and Restoration in Japan”, I learned that there was an indigenous population in Japan! Similar to the problems here, they face poverty and discrimination on higher levels compared to the majority population of Japan. This, in turn, created a lack of Ainu population within the education system. 6 years ago, in 2019, the Japanese government finally recognized the people and their disproportionate opportunities. So, they created the Ainu Retoration Act, which spread awareness of their existence to the general Japanese population and people around the world. It’s not a ton, but it’s a great foundation towards creating a movement that will help lift the Ainu out of poverty and give them better representation in the population.

Next, I read an article called “Sami Learning and Education”. This article discusses the indigenous people of Scandinavia, which includes Finland, Sweden, Denmark, etc. Once again, they too have had a past that is very similar to ours as indigenous people. They were conquered by a Western society and were forced to abandon their language and culture through a mandatory assimilation process. This included boarding schools and laws forbidding them to practice their culture. However, this is not the case anymore, and efforts are being made to reteach their culture, even through these boarding schools where they were once forced to never speak of their culture. 

Finally, I analyzed the Finnish education system through the article “Why are Finland’s Schools Successful?” Finland has been consistently ranked in the top 5 for Math, Science, and Reading. They rank so high because of a high quality and equal education system. Teachers are highly qualified, and there aren’t set-in-stone curriculums they must follow because no single class of students is the same. There’s no competition and comparison, and facilities are made so students can genuinely enjoy school. The idea of one-on-one tutoring is very supported so no student is left behind.