Learning From Students About Representation, Identity, and Community

In this article, students from a small, predominantly Navajo high school speak for themselves about their lives, their educational experiences, their culture, and their hopes for the future. They demonstrate clearly their desire to maintain close allegiance to their home language and culture, while finding ways to achieve success in the wider world. The article also demonstrates that how these youth see themselves is frequently different from how educators represent them. Thus, in the interface of competing allegiances, perceptions, and understandings, are clues for creating school communities built on difference rather than homogeneity.