Cultural Perspectives: reading and writing on the reservation

Chris Pepple | 

Rockyford School, located on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, opens its doors annually to over 350 students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. Over 98 percent of the students come from the Lakota people inhabiting the reservation. Although Pine Ridge is the eighth largest reservation in the United States, it is also the poorest. With over 97 percent of the Lakota tribe living below the poverty level and teen suicides 150 percent higher than the national average among this group, providing an education and offering hope to the Rockyford students can be challenging. The teachers elaborately celebrate eighth grade graduation knowing that many of the students will not return for high school.

It is in this setting that Lipscomb’s department of education exposes their students to a culture other than their own and raises their awareness of the needs of all children in the classrooms around the nation. Teachers often come from different social and economic classes than their students. Exposing education students to varying cultural perspectives opens their eyes to differences they may encounter in the classrooms once they begin their careers.

“When we go to Rockyford, it’s a very different culture we expose our students to, but it is also a similar poverty that many students face nationwide. The Rockyford students come to the school facing the challenges of alcoholism, drugs, unemployment and poor healthcare in their homes.  They lack opportunities that many other students take for granted. These students deal with daily survival and try to fit school in,” said Junior High, director of graduate studies and associate professor of education.

The students who travel to Rockyford from Lipscomb University for two weeks must participate in classroom activities once in South Dakota, journal about their experiences and attend daily debriefing sessions with the other students. At the school, they assist teachers with daily lessons, help chaperone end-of-the-year field trips and join in extracurricular activities. They also have a weekend to tour South Dakota and explore national monuments and scenic sites in that area.

“I just finished my fifth trip. It is a wonderful experience as a professor to see your students growing personally and bonding with each other. The goal of the trip is for students to open their eyes to diversity in the United States and to introduce them to ways of dealing with diversity in the classroom,” said Coby Davis, assistant professor of education.

“Even the weekend touring South Dakota brings a lot of growth for our students. When we visit Mt. Rushmore, the Crazy Horse memorial and Wounded Knee, students begin to see history from a different perspective. They spent the previous week hearing the voices of the people whose ancestors lived the stories on that land that is now our national monuments. When you experience their lives and hear their stories, you look at history a little differently. It changes your outlook on life. What we think of as reality is not necessarily reality for everyone,” Davis added.

Students agree that this was a life-changing trip. From their time in the classroom to their hike up Harney Peak, they saw people and places that they normally would have never experienced. They brought back more than pictures and souvenirs. They brought back teaching techniques that will enhance their careers. They brought back team-building skills that will carry over into their work and personal lives. They brought back a new way of seeing the larger community that we all inhabit.

“I tried to soak up every opportunity I had on this trip,” said Meredith Thornton, a Lipscomb junior from Cary, N. C. “I know I will be a better teacher because of this trip. I also grew a lot personally during my time in South Dakota.  I worked with the secondary students at the school and saw the cycle of poverty they were stuck in. Some of the students were disrespectful and had no motivation or means to break out of that cycle. Other students were not aware of the strengths of their own heritage, but they also didn’t fit fully into another culture. But I saw the hope in individuals. I talked to students one-on-one and heard the hopes of getting a higher education and setting goals for their lives. I realized that people can make a difference one student at a time. I don’t know what God has planned for my future, but I know I will take with me what I learned from this trip.”

Thornton realized that her role as a teacher will at times be the role of an encourager. She will find herself in situations that may seem hopeless overall, but she will now have the eyes to see the individuals in her class and have the tools to encourage them to reach for hopes they may never have known were possibilities.

“I would recommend this trip to all students,” said Cody Dale Harris, a Lipscomb senior from Lebanon, Tenn. “It will change your life. You don’t go there to just do student teaching, you are touching lives. One child in the kindergarten class I worked with really touched me. He had some learning problems and needed a lot of attention, but he had the biggest heart. He changed my perspective on how I look at life. I was so far away from home, but I found someone I could relate to. He listened to me, and I realized I really cared about his future.”

“If I could go back, I wouldn’t change any part of the trip,” said Jake Morgan, a Lipscomb senior from Charlotte, Tenn. “This was a very unique and profound opportunity for me. I worked with a fifth grade class that had finished most of their requirements for the year. I helped them review their work, but I also had the chance to just hang out with the kids when we went outside for free time. The kids were really warm and open to us. They accepted us despite our differences. This experience helped me see many things from a different perspective.”

The Lipscomb students found themselves immersed in an unusual learning experience one evening. They were invited into the tepee that belonged to the family of one of the fourth grade teachers. Her husband talked to them openly about their religious heritage, their culture and their history. He explained the structure of the tepee and its significance in their culture. He told stories that had been passed down through several generations of the Lakota tribe. These Lipscomb students will now have their own stories to pass along to the next generation that they will be teaching in our classrooms.