Huffman's work provides a comprehensive, yet concise approach to examining theoretical approaches to American Indian education. What's more, the text surveys years of research and theoretical frameworks from a variety of disciplines. Because of this, the book will serve as an invaluable resource to scholars, educators, and others who seek to broaden their own horizons regarding American Indian education. Ultimately, Huffman's work opens new doors in the understanding best practices in both examining and addressing the needs of American Indian students, teachers, and communities.
Ronald Ferguson, Ridgewater College Huffman (George Fox Univ.) discards the older "cultural deficit" explanation used to explain the academic performance of American Indian students and examines newer cultural discontinuity, structural inequality, interactionalist, and transculturation theories. Four chapters describe, critique, and comprehensively examine the research supporting each theory follow an overview of American Indian education scholarship in chapter 1....This book gives few specific examples of how educators can improve the academic performance of American Indian students in the classroom, though all four theories along with the emerging approaches have implications for making classroom curriculum and teaching methods reflect and support the cultural/tribal background of American Indian students. A major researcher and proponent of the transculturation theory, Huffman supports the idea that American Indian students entering college with strong tribal identities can draw strength from those identities, enabling them to persevere and be successful students. Summing Up: Recommended.
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