Class 7 Indigenous language revitalization workshop to be held in March
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Tribal leaders and language immersion educators will convene in Missoula on March 8 and 9 for a Class 7 professional development training and language revitalization workshop.
The Class 7 Indigenous language and culture specialist license allows experts in Native languages and cultures to teach in K-12 public schools in Montana.
Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, and Jonathan Eagleman, Indian education director for the Chippewa Cree Tribe, organized the event, which is intended to be a learning opportunity for Class 7 educators, teachers working with Indigenous languages and all tribes working to advance language immersion.
Windy Boy said the workshop, which is open to the public, will "promote tribal-based pedagogy, tribal epistemology and Indigenous heritage."
The class will also be offered on Zoom, and the workshop is co-sponsored by the Chippewa Cree Tribe Department of Indian Education, MSU Center for Bilingual and Multicultural Education, Fort Peck Tribes Language and Culture Department and Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.
During the 1800s and 1900s, Native American children were forced to attend boarding schools, where they were physically and emotionally abused for speaking Indigenous languages. The consequences of the boarding school era transcend generations – many survivors stopped speaking their Indigenous languages and felt disconnected from, or ashamed of, their culture. But through various language preservation and revitalization efforts, tribes in Montana aim to change that.
Attendees will gain an understanding of:
Classroom empowerment through culturally responsive pedagogy
Increasing tribal language contact time in school
Indian language immersion laws
Tribal language government records and research methods
The Indian Education for All Act
Tribal language curriculum, tribal language standards and tribal classroom management strategies
Class 7 tribal language workshop details
When: March 8 and 9, 2022
Where: Alice Lund Instructional Auditorium and the University of Montana University Center from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. Also offered on Zoom.
Who: Open to the public.
For more information, contact Mike Geboe at (406) 399-3385 or email mgeboe@chippewa-cree.org.
This article originally appeared on Great Falls Tribune: Class 7 Indigenous language revitalization workshop to be held in March
