| Summary: | This study explores the relationships between the Alaska Native leadership,
its interests in and impacts on higher education in Alaska, and the ways in which
the University of Alaska responded to Alaska Native educational needs and
initiatives, especially during the period from 1972 and 1985. The major question
explored is why and how the University of Alaska system failed to adequately
address the educational needs of Alaska Natives, especially given the level of
political acumen of the Alaska Native leadership, their awareness of the
importance of higher education as a means to control the land base “acquired”
through the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, the mission statements of the
University concerning the education of Alaska Natives, and the abundance of
petroleum dollars available to the University during that period. While the Alaska
Native leadership was requesting that “appropriate” educational programs be
designed and delivered to rural Alaska Native students, the University of Alaska’s
response to these requests took the form of structural changes within the
institution, rather than substantive change in the content of educational
programs. The study demonstrates that the discrepancy between Alaska Native
requests for substantive educational change and University of Alaska responses
in the form of structural alterations is attributable, in large part, to the opposing
world views of the two sets of actors, and thus to different perceptions of the
nature and role of education in general. === Education, Faculty of === Educational Studies (EDST), Department of === Graduate
|
|---|
