Date of Award
7-18-2024
Access Restriction
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctorate in Education
Department
Education
School or College
School of Education
First Advisor
Yvette Lapayese
Abstract
The Office of Head Start has prioritized holistic quality education services for children and communities in greatest need. First, since 1965, the federal government has funded, regulated, and publicly aided over 38 million children through Head Start programming, including AIAN and Migrant programs (Administration for Children and Families, n.d.). In 2019, over $10 billion was budgeted for the program, resulting in 1,047,000 low-income children and their families receiving services (Office of Head Start, 2022a). In addition, the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation has funded research to improve quality and child outcomes, with research recommendations that significantly guide state and local early childhood policy (Kooragayala, 2019). The Office of Head Start noted programming should be shaped based on research that meets Head Start’s definition of “principles of scientific research” necessary to be considered for policy (Head Start Act, 2007, Sec 637). Lastly, updated in 2023, the multicultural principles have served as a resource to improve programming and service delivery for children and families. Unlike the Head Start performance standards, the multicultural principles are not attached to funding or performance reviews. Still, they are instead considered best practices for the programs. These principles do not do enough to support Indigenous pedagogy outside of tribal reservations (Administration for Children and Families, 2010). The Office of Head Start can recognize the potential and necessity for Indigenization in Head Start by amplifying the voices of Indigenous teachers already weaving and making their way into classrooms. The disconnect between research, policy, and the lived experiences of Indigenous teachers can only be bridged through meaningful collaboration and acknowledgment of the unique ways of knowing and teaching that Indigenous educators bring to Head Start spaces. Through Survivance, Indigenous teachers continue to reclaim what colonization has attempted to erase. The journey toward Indigenization and Survivance must be guided by an understanding of Indigenous practices’ holistic and sacred nature, creating spaces honoring diversity and defying the limitations of a Eurocentric education system.
Recommended Citation
Xet Smith, Liza, "Indigenous Practices in Head Start Classrooms— Toward Survivance and Indigenization in Policy and Practice" (2024). LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations. 1303.
https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/etd/1303
