Formal Education in Barrow: Is this the best answer?

(You may have noticed that my Monday blog went up today, so to make up for it, I'm asking for your opinion on a problem I'm thinking about.)

Especially last week during hall monitoring time, Molly and I were talking about education here. Attendance is a struggle for many students. Being awake and alert is another big step. Once you have students here and awake, your job as a teacher has only just begun. Students are also passed from grade to grade—there is no retention, and kids go on even if they fail a grade (at least in these elementary and middle school years). Apparently, some kids only come a few times each semester. This is a problem. Students are well below grade level, an average of at least 2 years behind with a high-level class. Some of my 8^th grade students are reading at a 2^nd grade reading level. Second Grade!!! This limits what I am able to teach in terms of content, because the reading level and vocabulary abilities are not there. It's safe to say that school is a struggle in Barrow.

Then, I wonder why they are allowed by their families not to come. Unfortunately, some students’ parents don’t value education. Many families don’t. This is partially because of the experiences of the parents’ and grandparents’ generations, who were ripped from their families here to go to far away American boarding schools and were forced to speak English (and were reprimanded for speaking their native Inupiak language). I have heard that some families now make up medical excuses and call their students in even when there is not a real reason for them to skip school. So parents are actually helping their students to not come to school. Although I understand why they would have a bad view of formal education, and feel badly for their heart-wrenching experience, it is sad that this conflict exists.

Then my question becomes: what evidence is there that they should go to school? I must be able to give a good and convincing reason, if I am planning to be an educator. My reason is usually that these skills learned in school are essential for surviving and participating as a citizen of the community. In the lower 48, skills like reading and writing English, communicating with peers and adults, holding a job, learning to problem-solve, and doing math are all essential skills. But here, I wonder if formal education is really the best answer. Can't lifelong skills also be learned outside the classroom?

Their ancestors have lived here for many years without the US and thrived. They learned to hunt and cook and sew seal skin boats and stay warm and live off the land and to speak their native language, and they did it without formal education. The children would learn by doing, and by spending time with their elders and parents. They learned many important skills for surviving here in this unforgiving arctic that we just don’t teach in school. They do have an Inupiak class here, one of the "Encore" classes, but it only touches on the native language and traditional skills that they need. What if they miss those critical teaching moments because they are here in school, asleep, trying to do both? What if they lose touch with their elders and forget the language? What if they never learn to hunt for survival and use all parts of the whale, and whales become extinct? Or if they never learn how to avoid dangerous ice conditions? The kids really are missing out on the whole process of whaling right now, and all of the traditions it involves (or are participating, but are sleeping through class here).

I'm not saying to tear down the schools in Barrow, but this situation really makes me question what the goal of Education is or should be and if we're reaching it with these students. I wonder if formal education here really is beneficial, or if it may be doing the students and the community/culture more harm than good. What thoughts do you have, readers?

-Rachel