True Story 4.02
How best to discipline Native Alaskan students
The setting for this story
How to discipline students is a perennial question that faces educators everywhere. Here’s how it played out at one school in Alaska where many students were Alaska Natives. Many teachers also were Alaska Natives, including Dyani, but the principal, Robert, was an Anglo from the “Lower 48.”
A story of misaligned minds2
Early in the school year, Dyani happened upon two Native Alaskan male students who were fighting, which she stopped. Aware of the consequences of their actions, the boys asked Dyani if she intended to report them to the principal, as mandated by school policy. Dyani bowed her head and replied, “I’d be ashamed to.”
Weeks later, Robert learned of this incident. He portrayed Dyani’s failure to report the fighting as “a major breach of professional conduct.” He reprimanded Dyani, claiming that in abdicating her role, she had placed the school’s management system at risk. However, Robert took no further action in relation to this incident.
Meanwhile, the two boys refrained from fighting throughout the remainder of the school year.
Robert’s question
How did Dyani manage to persuade those boys to behave properly throughout the rest of the year?
Critique of story 4.02
Despite their superior–subordinate relationship, Dyani and the boys shared a set of communitarian values derived from their living in the same proud, close-knit Native Alaskan community. Had the boys’ fighting become known within their community, they and their extended families would have suffered shame and loss of respect. By saying “I’d be ashamed to,” Dyani indicated that she did not want their extended families to suffer loss of respect from their community or from Robert, one of the most prominent Anglos associated with the community. The boys were embarrassed by the realization that their actions could have brought disgrace upon their extended families and their community.
What might have occurred if Dyani had reported the boys’ fight to Robert? Would the fact that these specific boys had been fighting in school have become known within their community? We can’t be sure, but the possibility of that happening was dreaded by the boys. It’s likely, however, that if Robert had asked the boys’ parents to meet with him about this incident, they would have felt deeply humiliated. As it turned out, none of this came to pass.
The answer to Robert’s question is that Dyani appealed to the values, norms, and proud heritage that she and the boys shared as members of a cohesive, mutually supportive Native Alaskan community.
For thought
Suppose Robert had happened upon the two fighting boys. Further suppose he had said to them something like this: “I know that, if your fighting were to become known within your community, your extended families would be deeply embarrassed. So I’m not going to say anything to anyone about this fight – unless it happens again.” Would that have worked?
Related stories
Story 4.19, set in Zimbabwe, describes a completely different way of disciplining students.
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Endnotes:
2 Delpit, 143.
Full citations are available at misalignedminds.info/References.