People of the Legends
Indigenous People of North America - Navajo
Life at Home - Going to School
Early Navajo children learned the skills they needed for their way of life by watching their parents and other adults each day.
Later the US government tried to introduce European style schools for Navajo children, but people resisted.
They thought their children would begin to forget their own culture and that what they learned would not be useful for their way of life.
Against the wishes of many of the Navajo, some children were sent to boarding schools and were taught to speak and dress like Europeans.
For a while the Navajo accepted the idea of going to school and learning subjects that were not part of their life skills.
Then they thought about the types of schools they wanted for their children for the future.
Today the Navajo Nation has state schools for kindergarten up to 12th grade. There are about150 primary and high (secondary) schools on Navajo lands and children can also choose to go to schools outside. Classes are taught in the traditional Navajo language as well as English and computers are used to encourage Navajo culture – for example, computer programming linked to traditional arts and crafts skills.
The Navajo Preparatory School at Farmington New Mexico, teaches subjects like science, maths and computers to students who want to go on to college or university.
It is a residential school and young people from other Native American tribes and nations can attend. The school aims to train and encourage students to become leaders in all aspects of life and its motto is “Leading into the future.”
At the Navajo Technical College at Crownpoint New Mexico, teaching is based on the Dineh philosophy of education.
Students can complete a certificate or degree, or transfer after two years to other colleges or universities.
The Dineh College at Tsaile Arizona, has two main campuses and six community centres.
It offers programs at tertiary (college) level to about 2,000 students and prepares them for life and work in the modern world.
The Navajo language, culture and history are taught at the Preparatory School, the Technical College and the Dineh College.
