Effective Framework for Indigenous Youth, Families and Communities

USING THE FRAMEWORK FOR EFFECTIVE PRACTICE WITH INDIGENOUS YOUTH, FAMILIES, AND COMMUNITIES

On February 12, 2016, I attended USING THE FRAMEWORK FOR EFFECTIVE PRACTICE WITH INDIGENOUS YOUTH, FAMILIES, AND COMMUNITIES at 2016 NASP Convention in Louisiana, New Orleans.  The training was organized by the Indigenous group under NASP and School Psychology, Elvina Charley from Kayenta Unified School District from the Navajo Reservation presented.  

This topic was very interesting to me.  Since I am Dine, I wanted to learn appropriate ways to work not only with my Native youth but also with other indigenous youth, including their families and communities.  Often, indigenous youth’s culture is always a mis-match with the mainstream culture and behavior(s) are often misinterpreted, for example, indigenous youth are taught to respect elders or educators in which you are to just listen and pay attention but to mainstream educators this would be seen as not actively participating or shy.  We need to understand the youth’s cultural teaching and practices before we make assumptions yet we can begin to understand through asking ourselves questions such as “what might be the cause of this behavior?”  We need to begin looking at the whole child including their culture and identity.  The following counseling techniques are appropriate for indigenous youth of all ages, gender, grade level, and issues.  This theory is linked to Cartesian logic and adoration of the scientific method.  This technique is not evidenced-based although elders, healers, and indigenous scholars say working from traditional knowledge is practice-based evidence.  This technique can be replicated and used in different context because I believe other youth can benefit from this technique as well as school counselors and school psychologist.  We can use these techniques to have a different or holistic view in working with indigenous youth.  I like to share a snapshot of cultural mis-match that Carol Robinson-Zañartu shared:

“Many Native American children are expected to engage in meaning-centered tasks at home under adult supervision, and never display knowledge before the child determines it is ready for display (Deyhle, 1987).  Yet, in most public school classrooms, Native American children are expected to work out of cultural context, and to display their work while it is in progress.   Traditionally, sharing and generosity are expected, competition is discouraged and the Native American student would not compete if it would shame another person.  Non-Indians may misinterpret helping each other or not competing as being poorly motivated or lazy.  Traditionally, respect for elders and teachers is shown by humble acceptance, e.g., not looking directly at the person and not questioning.  The Native American child demonstrating such respect for a teacher may be described as withdrawn, shy, or having low self-esteem (Yates, 1987).”

These are some caveats to know and understand when working with indigenous youth.  With that, we need to ask our self, is this behavior(s) that I view based on my values?

Native American students’ worldviews support their sense of belonging. When their “reality” is confronted with a worldview that differs, they may struggle to belong, and respond to the incongruence with behaviors that don’t match the setting.  Likewise, school psychologists (SP) work in educational systems that often reflect a western worldview that is linear and hierarchical. Each SP brings a worldview that reflects his or her own background, values and experiences. It is through this personal lens that the individual begins to attempt to understand the student in the educational setting.

At the center is culture and identity.  The core of the model, represented in yellow (the sunrise – the beginning), guides the directionality of life as well as what is life sustaining.  This is the foundation and beginning that provides both the child and the professional the foundation for understanding and informing practice.   Culture and identity provide the power to sustain through the navigation of two culture (if the school psychologist is non-native) – for both the child and the school psychologist.   It is where to begin to inform service delivery because it influences all other aspects of the model.  Therefore, conceptually it is infused in all other parts.  Without knowing this core, which frames the child’s worldview, you cannot serve the child effectively.  And if the SP does not know their own culture and identity they cannot understand how it influences their worldview and how it influences their perceptions of the students with whom they work. With a recognition of our culture and identity, we can feel safe, welcome, and validated in education (Robinson-Zanartu et. al).

The following key questions needs to be considered when implementing this counseling intervention technique(s).

Culture and Identity: The Core of the Framework

• Who am I to me?
• Who am I to this student that is sitting across the table from me?
• Who am I to the family of this student?
• Who am I to the community in which this person and family live?
• To what extent is the traditional culture practiced and kept alive in the community? How much does that vary, even within the community’s membership?
•  What are the celebrations of the community and how are they celebrated; are these celebrations evidence of contemporary adaptions of culture?
• How do the people in the community view their own Native American identity?
• What has been the impact of acculturation in the community?

The Red Star: Four Aspects of the Human Being

Spirituality: 

• What questions might school personnel consider about spirituality?
• Do I acknowledge and accept the student’s and family’s expression of spirituality as part of their life?
• What impact does this acceptance seem to play in this relationship with the student and family?

Note: Direct questions about a family’s spirituality are not appropriate; however, family members or students may raise these issues in response to generic questions about their family life and experiences.

Cognitive and Academic:  

• What questions inform us?
• What experiences does the child bring to school from their home and culturally based experiences that demand problem solving and other cognitive skills? 
• Do I recognize the cognitive skills the student expresses outside of the context of a testing repertoire that I may administer? 
•  Can I accept this culturally embedded knowledge as a facet of the student’s cognitive skills?
•  How will I assess the academic skills of the student to best represent their mastery and growth?

Social-Behavioral: The following questions may be instructive:

• If the student is referred because they are exhibiting behaviors that are of concern to the school, how can I determine what is culturally appropriate and what is unacceptable in both the mainstream setting and this Native American community?
• Are the behaviors of concern exhibited by the person based on my own values?
• To what can I attribute behaviors of concern; what might be the cause?
• What do I understand about the history of cultural disruption in the community?
•   If the cause might be the effects of cultural disruption (or intergenerational trauma), what might I do to assist this recognition for the family, school, and community? 
• What resources should I pursue to strengthen the resilience of the person? 

Physical:  Consider the following questions: 

• How do the student and family present themselves relative to their physical well-being?
• What part does wellness and physical health seem to play in their lives?
• What wellness programs exist in the community to support the student?
•  Does the school environment include visual representations of Native culture and people?
•  How do cultural reflections in hair and appearance influence my perceptions of the student?
• Because there are significant health problems in most Native American communities, what might I think about relative to this student?

The Black Star: Concepts Central to Building Healthy Relationships

Intentionality:  Questions school personnel might ask to further explore intentionality:

• What do I bring to this relationship?
• What do I expect from this relationship?
• What will result from this relationship? 
• What can I do to facilitate my own recognition of the culture and identity presented by this person and family?
• What does the community expect of my psychological services?
• What are my goals as a psychologist as I enter this Native American community?

Sovereignty: Consider the following questions:

·         What do I know about the concept of sovereignty?

·         Whether I am performing an assessment, parent interview, consultation, or intervention with a youth from a tribal community, how do I understand the importance of the concept of sovereignty to the person sitting across from me?

·         What impact does sovereignty have on Native American child’s identity?

Language:  As school personnel, consider these questions: 

• What exposure does the student have to his or her native language?
• What language differences do the student, family, and community exhibit?
• Is English the first or a second language?
• What language is spoken in the home?
• What percentage of the child’s schooling has occurred in the native language?
• Does the student exhibit language concern that may be attributable to generational English language learning?
• Does the medical history of the student indicate otitis media, a common occurrence among Native children, which can have significant effects on hearing and language acquisition?

Reciprocity:  Consider the following questions:

•  Have I shared my own story and identity sufficiently to engage reciprocity with the student and family?
•  Have I developed a respectful relationship with the student, family, and community through my intentionality, recognition of sovereignty, and understanding the issues presented?
• Does the student, family and community seem to reciprocate this respect toward me?

Blue Background:  Elements of NASP Professional Practice Model

Learning about this framework and being accepted by NASP was very touching to me because it really hits home for me.  Many services and systems on reservations are linear and culture and identity are overlooked and our indigenous potentials are always undermined.  What’s even more sad is the cookie cutter systems due to the historical traumas.  I’m just glad I will have a framework to work with and bringing it back into my community for our youth and families.  And to share that this framework is available for school psychologists as well as school counselors.

Where are you at with your culture and identify?  For me, incorporating this framework into my counseling practice, I need to know and understand my own stance of identity as well as be well-grounded in my own culture.  First and foremost, I need to provide service with intentionality and build respectful relationship.  I know “spirituality and traditional practices and beliefs are the cornerstone of wellness in indigenous communities” which I need to keep at surface as I work with indigenous youth.  I have to be transparent, be cognizant of cultural and traditional practices (such as ceremonies which varies across families), the impacts of acculturation in the community, language differences and language loss, recognize the child’s cognitive skills and strengths outside of school, the effects of cultural disruption (or intergenerational trauma) of the child, family, and community, knowledgeable about the resources available in the community, types of supports provided or available to students and families, build healthy relationship with the child and their families, understanding sovereignty, ecosystem of the child, ecological practices, sharing my own story, understanding the problems of the child, the family, and the community, and many others to know and understand but above all to remain humble and keeping an open-mind.  Bring Harmony and Balance back to the reservations.  Nora Neztsosie

Reference:

National Association of School Psychologists (2012). Effective service delivery for Indigenous children and youth [Position statement]. Bethesda, MD: Author.

Robinson-Zanartu, C. et al. (2015).  Using the NASP framework for effective practice with indigenous youth, families, and communities.  National Association of School Psychologists. Communique, 44(4), 1 & 20-22. Retrieved from  https://www.mcgill.ca/connectionslab/files/connectionslab/cq_44_4_1_0.pdf