Talk part of series that will focus on educational inequities, injustices
Sept. 17, 2020
Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) will sponsor a lecture on culturally-responsive curriculum as part of its September series meant to acquaint the public with culturally-responsive education in Southeast Alaska.
The lecture, Culturally Responsive Curriculum: From Governance to Classroom, by education consultant Peggy Cowan will showcase a systemic approach to developing a districtwide, culturally responsive curriculum initiated for the North Slope Borough School District ten years ago.
Through her presentation, Cowan will explain the roles and responsibilities — from the school board to the teachers — and reflect on lessons learned in sustaining this work in the context of this rural school district.
“The effort included developing an Inupiaq learning framework that articulated standards valued by the community and pairing these expectations with state and national standards in academic areas in locally relevant lessons,” Cowan wrote in an abstract for the talk.
The lecture will run from noon-1 pm, Tuesday, Sept. 22, and will be streamed on SHI’s YouTube channel. People may submit questions via YouTube comments and staff will read them to speakers during the events. After the live streams, all lectures will be posted on a YouTube playlist for later viewing.
Cowan will give a preview of her talk on Monday, Sept. 21, as a guest on KTOO’s Juneau Afternoon radio program, which airs from 3-4 pm weekdays.
About the Lecturer
Cowan is currently an educational consultant working with professional organizations and the University of Alaska Southeast. She was superintendent for the North Slope Borough School District. Prior to living in the Arctic, she was an administrator and then superintendent of the Juneau School District. She first came to Juneau as an administrator at the Alaska Department of Education. Her career in Alaska began in Fairbanks at the University of Alaska at the Sea Grant College Program and then the School of Education.
Sealaska Heritage Institute is a private nonprofit founded in 1980 to perpetuate and enhance Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian cultures of Southeast Alaska. Its goal is to promote cultural diversity and cross-cultural understanding through public services and events. SHI also conducts scientific and public policy research that promotes Alaska Native arts, cultures, history and education statewide. The institute is governed by a Board of Trustees and guided by a Council of Traditional Scholars, a Native Artist Committee and a Southeast Regional Language Committee.
CONTACT: CONTACT: Amy Fletcher, SHI Media and Publications Director, 907.586.9116, amy.fletcher@sealaska.com
