Native American Pedagogies
American Indian students make up 1% of the total population in the United States. Despite 85% of Native students attending public schools, these students have the highest dropout rate of any racial or ethnic group at over 65% (Shield, 2004). A recent study revealed that faculty support is one of the most significant factors in increasing student success. The data shows that faculty support increased Native students' GPA by .13 whereas solely institutional support only garnered an increase of .10 (Marroquin & McCoach, 2017). Critical theory is crucial to understanding the relationship and influence higher education has on Native Americans; a population with 566 tribal entities recognized and eligible for funding by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (Grande, San Pedro & Windchief, 2015).
What are Native American Pedagogies?
Place-Based Learning
Place-based education promotes learning experiences that are rooted in the cultural, historical, environmental, economic and literary contexts of students. As such, it is critical to understand the ways that culture and place are intrinsic to the experiences of Native students and other populations. This framework provides faculty with an applicable set of best practice strategies to incorporate into the classroom and serve an array of students (Conti, 2013).
All-Senses Experiential Learning
Experiential learning in the Alaska Native way uses all the senses: sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell, plus intuition and gut feeling. This framework recognizes that young people learn through engagement in activities that support their community in cooperative, collaborative and intentional ways that increase memory and skill development (Merculieff & Roderick 2013).
Storytelling
Storytelling is central to the learning of indigenous peoples. Stories convey information about history, survival, culture, and are used as a formative corrective method when an individual creates disharmony in the community. In this latter example, Elders may choose to tell a corrective story without criticizing, singling out or disciplining an individual knowing that lessons will be remembered better if they are conveyed in an animated style (Merculieff & Roderick 2013). Consider how you might incorporate case studies, biographies, fiction, and oral history in your course.

