Educating the Educators: Making Workforce Education Successful Through Understanding and Respect for Indigenous Cultures

Since the inception of Indian reservations, the education of American Indians­has­failed­(Adams,­1997;­Provenzo­&­McCloskey,­1981)­in­many­ respects because it has been approached as a missionary effort or government mandate rather than a respectful collaborative endeavor. Because so many efforts to help Indians have harbored ulterior motives, “including the government’s ‘futile and destructive efforts to annihilate Indian cultures’ ” (Edwards, 2012, para. 3), any attempt to approach a workforce education plan for American Indians must involve the re-education of any non-Indian policymakers, counselors, instructors, and/or corporate trainers involved in such­a­plan-if­it­hopes­to­succeed.­This­directive­includes­those­workforce­ education programs already under way.