Indigenous American Samoan educators' perceptions of their experiences in a National Council of Accreditation for Teacher Education (NCATE) accredited program

• Main Author: Zuercher Friesen, Deborah K
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Subjects: education, teacher training
• ISBN: 9780549074984; 0549074988

This study documented indigenous American Samoan educators' perceptions of their experiences as participants in a National Council of Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) program in American Samoa. Genuine educational efforts often fail where an external imposition of standards is done without due consideration of local cultures. For over 100 years, American Samoan education has been dominated by United States' policies while the indigenous voice has mostly remained silent. Since 1979, the NCATE-accredited university teacher education program has been the only on-island Bachelor of Education degree-granting institution in American Samoa. Thus, national U.S. education standards were a key element in the development of teacher education and resultant education on the island. An insider's perspective was needed to understand the influence that standardization has had and continues to have on American Samoan educators and school culture. In particular, analyses of interviews demystified aspects of the colonial teacher education program that were assimilated and resisted by indigenous American Samoan educators. Participants' perceptions of stress and growth experienced in the program were also disclosed. Perceived attributes of American Samoan Department of Education, traditional Samoan, and NCATE-accredited university teaching philosophies were compared. Indigenous recommendations for improving the teacher education program in American Samoa were made public.
The researcher utilized aspects of critical ethnographic methodology (Carspecken, 1996). Data was collected through 2 years of participant field observation plus 21 individual in-depth interviews with indigenous American Samoan educators. Transcriptions of audio taped interviews were coded using reconstructive analysis (Carspecken, 1996) and ethnographic domain analysis (Spradley, 1979). The nonindigenous researcher incorporated collaborative bicultural member checks and peer debriefings in this study to diminish cultural bias. An indigenous educator conducted repeat interviews with five respondents to validate research findings. Three indigenous American Samoan educators independently coded transcripts to member check the validity of the researcher's analysis.
This study has situated participants' experiences within the unique historical, cultural, political, and economic context of American Samoan education. A significant finding is that American Samoan educators are influenced by three different forces: (a) a colonial progressive constructivist university culture, (b) a colonial didactic department of education culture, and (c) traditional Samoan culture.