Transforming Diné Education: Innovations in Pedagogy and Practice

Edited by Pedro Vallejo and Vincent Werito
University of Arizona Press (2020)
215 pages

Review by Miranda J. Haskie

In this new book from the University of Arizona press, the editors present the transformative praxis of Diné educators who rely on traditional principles as they successfully Indigenize their curriculum. Their lessons value the knowledge and experience Diné students bring to their classrooms, helping them create meaningful curricula that achieves culturally responsive teaching.

At the outset, the editors contrast Western and Navajo definitions of education. A discussion of how each author’s pedagogical application transformed Diné education follows in the succeeding chapters. In the conclusion, the editors appreciate the cultural resilience of each Navajo educator and their resolve to attain a Diné-centered pedagogy.

Diné educators infuse their teaching with traditional values, principles, epistemology, and language. In mathematics, for example, Henry Fowler discusses how the Navajo principle of hozho mandates the natural order of the universe and, accordingly, how this perspective helps Navajo students understand the order of operations in mathematics.

Shawn Secatero introduces the “Corn pollen Model: A path to Leadership, Education, and Well-Being.” He recalls the simple yet powerful custom of a morning prayer with corn pollen, a daily Navajo practice since time immemorial. In the Corn pollen Model, there are four stages—nitshakees (thinking), nahat’a (planning), iina (living), and sihasin (assuring). This model continually evolves toward well-being in education and leadership. Secatero recognizes the sacred symbolism of corn, referencing the roots, the cornstalk, the corn leaves, and the corn tassel and how they holistically symbolize student success.

Kelsey Dayle John is reminded of the valuable connections in our relationships to family, language, land, community, and horses. She ponders what it means to be educated and challenges us to rethink education, making it our own.

Berlinda Begay’s discourse on the home language acknowledges the abundant resources, both intellectual and socio-linguistic, that 21st century Navajo language learners bring to the classroom. She evaluates the approach of the Eva B. Stokely School’s Navajo dual-language immersion program, which has the expressed goal of focusing only on Navajo oral language development. Begay professes how the holistic education of students strengthens their Navajo identity.

In efforts to revitalize Diné bizaad, k’é (kinship) serves as an effective practice to teach the whole student. Tiffany S. Lee recounts how k’é emanates in all aspects of Diné life and exemplifies the care and love for one’s family and community. K’é forms the basis of heritage language learning. Lee focuses on the school mission of the Native American Community Academy and their relationship-based approach in what she calls a transformative language education program.

Several authors boldly envision schools centered on Diné culture, language, and identity for Indigenous communities. Quintina Deschine calls for the professional development of educators that includes Indigenous scholarly research in the delivery of an Indigenous-based education. Lyla June Johnston examines community-led education, Diné Bina’nitin Dóó O’hoo’aah, as continually existent, undeterred, and viable across time, provoking readers to engage in a paradigm shift toward holistic education. She challenges educators to evaluate the success of Diné education based upon the standards of our ancestors. By doing so we can attain educational sovereignty.

Accomplishing an Indigenous education involves the reimagination of schools that foster Diné education reminiscent of ancestral ways of knowing in efforts to reclaim the education of our children—an education that perpetuates traditional lifeways and heritage language while preparing a new generation of Navajo students. Each of these Diné educators adds to the growing cadre of Indigenous scholars emboldened to transform Diné education.

Miranda J. Haskie (Diné), EdD, is a professor of sociology with the School of Business and Social Science at Diné College.