[Reading-hall-of-fame] Re: Alice Paul and Parent Education

[P Pearson]

Thank you for this lovely tribute to an exceptional educator, Tom!
David

On Wed, Jul 14, 2021 at 9:32 AM Thomas Sticht <tgsticht at gmail.com> wrote:

> July 14, 2021
>
> Alice Paul and Parent Education in Native American Early Childhood
> Education
>
> Tom Sticht, International Consultant in Adult Education (Ret.)
>
> On July 14, we  celebrate the birth and life of Dr. Alice S. (Narcho) Paul
> (1930-2005), the first Native American from the Tohono O’odham Nation to
> receive a Ph. D. from the University of Arizona, where she went on to work
> as a professor of early childhood education for over three decades.
>
> I first encountered Paul’s work when she presented a paper on early
> childhood education programs (Head Start; Follow Through) for the 1988
> Conference on The Intergenerational Transfer of Cognitive Skills (Paul,
> 1991a). As an adult educator I was especially interested in her paper in
> which she referred to the importance of education for parents and noted
> that “Over the years of intervention, both Head Start and Follow Through
> have demonstrated that parents are their children’s first teachers” (p. 38).
>
> Paul’s beliefs in the importance of parent’s education in the development
> of children’s education was documented further in a paper for the Indian
> Nations at Risk Task Force (Paul, 1991b). Here she argued, “Finally, it
> seems that not only do preschools and public schools have to successfully
> solicit parent involvement, but they must also offer the parents
> educational and self-improvement opportunities…Many early education
> literacy researchers are pointing to the critical factor of parent literacy
> level in predicting the literacy success of the child as support for parent
> literacy school programs….The Colville Tribes of Washington State have used
> Title V funds to increase their parents literacy skill levels and also to
> train the parents in specific strategies for helping their children with
> schoolwork. This has helped them bring many of their students up to grade
> level” (p. 5).
>
> Following Alice Paul’s passing in 2005, the University of Arizona noted
> that she, “… lived in two culturally defined worlds. In one, her parents
> brought her up understanding Tohono O'odham practices, which included her
> grandmother's knowledge of herbal remedies. In the other, she traveled
> across the nation to educate parents and teachers with the mindset to
> create a world full of possibilities for children. Paul noted, 'It's been
> like walking a fence to live in two different worlds. I can understand the
> view on one side as well as the other’. She interlinked both cultures in
> her day to day life, her work and in her many published works such as,
> 'Cultural Aspects that Affect the Indian Student in Public Schools' written
> in 1983 and 'Early Childhood Education in American Indian and Alaska Native
> Communities' written in 1992.”
>
> On May 5th, 2005 the United States Congressional Record published a
> statement by the Hon. Rau L.M. Grijalva entitled HONORING DR. ALICE S. PAUL
> in which he recounted many of Paul’s achievements: “Mr. Speaker, I rise
> today in honor of Dr. Alice S. Paul, an exceptional citizen of my
> community, our country, and the Tohono O’odham Nation. Dr. Paul’s life,
> which unfortunately ended too soon on May 3, 2005, exemplifies the impact
> of public education at a time when we need to speak about its power. Dr.
> Alice Paul is a product of public education and leaves a legacy of its
> worth. As a life-time educator, she extended the power of public education
> far beyond her own experience. Her focus was early childhood education, and
> she traveled widely helping communities improve their early childhood
> educational systems. Her work had direct impact on the lives of young
> children and their families throughout the United States, from rural Alaska
> to urban New Jersey. After her retirement she even served as a consultant
> to the Taiwanese educational system.”
>
>
>
> The Women's Plaza of Honor publicly and permanently celebrates women who
> have made significant contributions to the history of Arizona or whose
> lives have otherwise enriched the lives of othersBeyond  her many
> achievements at the University of Arizona and with the Follow Through
> program , Paul devoted herself to Native American education and helped
> create the Tohono O'odham Community College, and served on the board of
> Trustees for the College, she supported the National Museum of the American
> Indian (NMAI) in Washington D.C. and served on the board of the Arizona
> State Museum concerning Indigenous cultural matters. She also worked on
> Tohono O'odham Nation committee on the Association of the Education of
> Young Children, which went on to honor her contributions.
>
>
>
> The Winter 2020 edition of the University of Arizona Alumni Association
> news has an article Katy Smith (2020) entitled “Inspiration that
> Persists: The Enduring Legacy of Alice Paul the first Tohono O’odham member
> to earn U Arizona Doctoral degree. Karen Francis-Begay, the university’s
> assistant vice provost of Native American initiatives discusses the impact
> that Paul had on her and others from Native American background and said,
> “Once you have the degree, many more opportunities and doors open. Then
> this lightbulb sort of goes off, and you think, ‘That’s what people like
> Alice Paul and others have done for me.’ So I’m going to continue that.”
> May we all!
>
> References
>
> Paul, A. (1991a). Two decades of early childhood intervention. In: T.
> Sticht, M. Beeler, & B. McDonald (Eds.). The Intergenerational Transfer of
> Cognitive Abilities: Volume 1: Programs, Policy, and Research Issues.
> Norwood, New Jersey, Ablex Publishing Corporation. (pp. 32-40)
>
> Paul, A. (1991b). Childhood Education in American Indian and Alaska
> Native Communities. Paper for Indian Nations at Risk Task force. U. S.
> Department of Education, Washington, DC.
>
> (Available online using a Google search)
>
> Smith, K. (2020, Winter). Inspiration that Persists: The Enduring Legacy
> of Alice Paul the first Tohono O’odham member to earn U Arizona Doctoral
> degree. https://arizonaalumni.com/article/inspiration-persists
>
>
>
>
> <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail&utm_term=icon> Virus-free.
> www.avast.com
> <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail&utm_term=link>
> <#m_4798074296605060400_DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>
>
> This message and any attachment are intended solely for the addressee
> and may contain confidential information. If you have received this
> message in error, please contact the sender and delete the email and
> attachment.
>
> Any views or opinions expressed by the author of this email do not
> necessarily reflect the views of the University of Nottingham. Email
> communications with the University of Nottingham may be monitored
> where permitted by law.
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Reading-hall-of-fame mailing list
> Reading-hall-of-fame at lists.nottingham.ac.uk
> http://lists.nottingham.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/reading-hall-of-fame
>


-- 
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"There are always flowers for those who want to see them." - *Henri Matisse*
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
P. David Pearson
Evelyn Lois Corey *Emeritus* Professor of Instructional Science
Graduate School of Education
University of California, Berkeley

email:  ppearson at berkeley.edu
other e-mail:  pdavidpearsondean at gmail.com
website for publications:  www.pdavidpearson.org
*******************
*Please use HOME ADDRESS for responses*
Home:  851 Euclid Ave
Berkeley, CA  94708 -1305
iPhone:  510 543 6508
****************************************
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.nottingham.ac.uk/pipermail/reading-hall-of-fame/attachments/20210714/f958911a/attachment-0001.html>