Life on the Reservation: Cross-Cultural Field Experiences and Student Learning

Twenty-first century classrooms are filled with increasingly diverse student populations. Effective teacher preparation programs must include explicit course work in culturally responsive pedagogies and field experiences that place educators in new sociocultural contexts. Field experiences in cross-cultural, place-based settings have the potential to help educators recognize injustice and develop empowering practices (Baldwin, Buchanan, & Rudisill, 2007; Greenwood, 2008; Smith, 2007; Smith & Sobel, 2010). In this article, we describe our recent collaboration with Oglala Lakota College (OLC) and the Center for American Indian Research and Native Studies (CAIRNS) to provide both undergraduate teacher candidates and graduate students with rich, field-based cross-cultural experiences. We discuss the research and theories shaping this collaboration and describe the formation of these partnerships. Student learning in both the undergraduate and graduate field experiences indicates how spending intensive time in a unique cultural setting can promote critical thinking about the self, the world, and the role of educators in creating change.