Conflicting Landscapes: Clif Bates

In Conflicting Landscapes: American Schooling/Alaska Natives, Father Michael Oleksa and Clifton Bates look at the dire need for truly culturally responsive schooling for Alaska Native students.

"Judging from how well the western education system has adapted to meet the needs of Alaska Native students in rural Alaskan villages, I can only surmise that if we were to superimpose this same system on a population whose five year olds were over six feet tall, we would unquestionably continue to equip the classrooms with the regular kindergarten desks we find in schools all over America. The students would be forced to squeeze into these seats and the schools would march on oblivious to this mismatch. Undoubtedly consultants would be hired to fly in from California to provide staff training on a special program designed to ease the unusual amount of fidgeting of these students when they are seated."