Des Jarlais, Cheryl Woolsey. (2008). Western Structures Meet Native Traditions: The Interfaces of Educational Cultures. Reviewed by Linda R. Vogel, University of Northern Colorado

Des Jarlais, Cheryl Woolsey. (2008). Western Structures Meet Native Traditions: The Interfaces of Educational Cultures. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc. Pp. 95         ISBN 978-1-59311-930-0 Reviewed by Linda R. Vogel University of Northern Colorado August 20, 2009 In Western Structures Meet Native Traditions: The Interfaces of Educational Cultures, Cheryl Woolsey Des Jarlais provides a thorough yet concise overview of the differences in values and epistemologies between traditional Western and Native educational systems. After examining core values of both systems and their origins, she explores efforts around the globe to combine the two views for the benefit of Native people and presents a compelling argument to build upon and extend these efforts. The first chapter explains the development of individualization, bureaucratization, homogenization, universalism, meritocracy, and rationalization in Western educational systems in response to social and economic needs. The views and actions of Catholic and Protestant groups regarding the control of knowledge and power are examined, as well as the influence of the ideas of Locke, Rousseau, Weber, and Dewey, as well as others. The goal of education as the control and domination of the environment for economic gain is finally contrasted with a call for a new, explicitly moral, critical dialogue to guide educational leadership in respectfully and appropriately serving diverse populations. The roles of nature, spiritual development, mentoring, relationship building, and the oral tradition of Native people are discussed in the chapter entitled “Native Ways of Knowing.” The value of experiential knowledge and the use of knowledge to promote positive relationships among others and the environment are explained, highlighting the difference between Native knowledge that seeks to find connections among all things and the compartmentalization of Western knowledge systems. The chapter ends by pointing out that harmony and balance are the goals of Native education rather than the economic success promoted in Western education. The impact of Western values on Native education is explored in the third chapter, supported with a wide range of examples from around the globe, including South Africa, Kenya, Peru, Hawaii, and Thailand. The immediate and long-range impacts of the intersection of Western and Native cultures on indigenous communities are discussed regarding both negative and positive outcomes. The tension between the promotion of the English language to open economic opportunities to Native communities and the sublimation of Native languages which are uniquely designed to express Native ways of knowing and serve as a social bond within Native cultures are well presented. The competitive, individualistic Western design of education is contrasted with the relational, webbed value system of Native wisdom, and Western education clearly emerges as a vehicle of ethnocentric colonialism. Epistemological differences ground the fourth chapter, as Western and Native views of technology and economic and political structures are compared. The failures and limitations of Western systems which had previously been presumed to be superior to indigenous systems are explored. A persuasive argument is developed in support of a new dialogue that bridges the linguistic and cultural divide between the two views in order to create a fulfilling and effective harmony from the best of both for local people. Alternatives to Western educational systems, such as home schooling, “free” curriculum private schools, Indigenous-influenced or controlled schools, are presented in chapter five, followed by a concluding summary of the limitations and negative repercussions that have resulted from the unilateral adoption or imposition of Western educational values and structures on Native people in the final chapter of this book. The author advocates the selective adoption of Western educational elements in a moral, thoughtful manner so that the resulting educational system provides experiences that are useful and meaningful for Native learners in the pursuit of the goals valued by their culture. This book is an excellent primer for Western educators who intend to work with indigenous people. It provides clear grounding in historical social contexts for the development of Western educational systems and cites influential Western thinkers who have both shaped and crystallized Western values. The global examples are useful in conveying the common impact and response to Westernization among Native people, as well as the contextual differences. Insights on the role of higher education are particularly succinct and thought provoking. Western Structures Meet Native Traditions provides an understanding of the impact of Western values on Native educational systems and cultures in a clear and easy to read format and raises significant questions regarding how knowledge should be defined and by what authority in Native communities. About the Reviewer Linda R. Vogel, Associate Professor and Native American Innovative Leadership Project Director in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies program at the University of Northern Colorado.