Indigenous Children’s Survivance in Public Schools

by Leilani Sabzalian

Indigenous Children’s Survivance in Public Schools examines the cultural, social, and political terrain of Indigenous education by providing accounts of Indigenous students and educators creatively navigating the colonial dynamics within public schools. Through a series of survivance stories, the book surveys a range of educational issues, including implementation of Native-themed curriculum, teachers’ attempts to support Native students in their classrooms, and efforts to claim physical and cultural space in a school district, among others. As a collective, these stories highlight the ways that colonization continues to shape Native students’ experiences in schools. By documenting the nuanced intelligence, courage, artfulness, and survivance of Native students, families, and educators, the book counters deficit framings of Indigenous students. The goal is also to develop educators’ anticolonial literacy so that teachers can counter colonialism and better support Indigenous students in public schools.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction, Indigenous

268 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 19, 2019

Reviews

[Sierra Luce · Rating 5 out of 5]

BRILLIANT. will be rereading many times. just incredible. lots to think about and reflect on!!

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Indigenous Children's Survivance in Public Schools by Leilani Sabzalian is a powerful book that sheds light on the experiences and challenges faced by Indigenous children within the public school system. She highlights the resilience and agency of Indigenous youth, emphasizing the concept of survivance—the stories of survival of oppression and resistance to that oppression—as a crucial framework for understanding their experiences. By doing so, she challenges dominant narratives and offers a more nuanced understanding of Indigenous education, and of developing curricula for marginalized students generally.

This book has particularly changed my thinking about building classroom and school cultures in order to foster sense of belonging and building respectful curricula with regard to explorations of identity and culture. I now know to ask myself when I am starting a project: "Do I have the proper community context for that?" "Have I done enough research and made space for student counternarratives and storytelling in each lesson?" I want to make sure I am contributing to a culture that disrupts stereotypes and surface-level, "boutique multiculturalism" in the classroom. There is a much deeper, more complex, and more meaningful connection being built when students have a real community connection to place, to the culture being taught, to the languages spoken, etc. Maybe it's about bridging that "intended audience" piece. I think when it comes to learning about culture, all curricula needs to come from a place where the intended audience is students within that culture, not outsider students. If we keep that analytic lens on what we are teaching and how that might be perceived by students who truly live it, we might be able to make more respectful content that authentically and truthfully educates outsiders as well. This book has given me further ideas for incorporating social issues into my science class through student-led projects, and how to engage with and collaborate with Indigenous communities to strengthen the lessons I develop for the classroom.

Indigenous Children's Survivance in Public Schools is an essential read for anyone interested in education, social justice, and Indigenous rights. Sabzalian's work is a beacon of hope, which is a theme carried through to the conclusion of the book, reminding us of the resilience and strength of Indigenous children, while advocating for transformative change in our educational institutions. This book has the potential to spark meaningful conversations and inspire action towards a more equitable and inclusive future.

[Regena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly informative, important, and a must-read for anyone connected to education.

[M Weir · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read this for a class. I can see that it is an important thing to read for educators. Critical, in fact. I learned a lot from it. It is, however, very dry.