In this podcast conversation, two Diné educators share their journeys, experiences, and wisdom around youth literacy. Together representing several decades of experience teaching English to middle and high school students in Arizona and New Mexico, Angela Barker and DeLyssa Begay now work together at Rehoboth Christian School, where Angela serves as librarian and DeLyssa teaches high school English and Social Studies. The two women share their own experiences with becoming literate and then reflect on what they have learned about youth literacy as teachers. Finally, they share some of the books and other resources that they have used and found helpful in their work.
Series Introduction
This 3-episode podcast series features two Diné educators sharing wisdom and stories around the theme of literacy. DeLyssa Begay currently teaches high school English and Social Studies, and Angela Barker currently serves as a school librarian.
Indigenous Peoples have a right to education and literacy resources that are in line with their own Languages and Cultures (see UNDRIP link below), but historically both schools and libraries in Canada and the United States have failed to provide this (see the TRC report link below). One important way that non-Indengous educators and librarians can move forward is to listen, to seek direction from Indigenous Communities. Conversations like this one are therefore important.
I am very grateful to DeLyssa and Angela for taking time to share their stories and wisdom. A note here that these three episodes have been slightly edited for length, and DeLyssa and Angela have okayed these edited versions of our conversation that appear here to ensure that they are in control of the stories and wisdom they shared (see the CFLA statement linked below; although it was written in a Canadian context, the principles apply to our U.S. context as well).
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP): https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2018/11/UNDRIP_E_web.pdf
Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada: http://www.trc.ca/assets/pdf/Honouring_the_Truth_Reconciling_for_the_Future_July_23_2015.pdf Canadian Federation of Library Associations (CFLA) Position Statement on Indigenous Knowledge in Canada’s Copyright Act: http://cfla-fcab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/CFLA-FCAB_Indigenous_knowledge_statement.pdf
Episode 1
In episode 1, DeLyssa and Angela share stories from their own literacy journeys as they grew up in Diné families and communities. They reflect on the role that learning, language, and reading played in their families, and in their own lives.
Books and authors mentioned in this episode:
- The Encyclopedia
- The Bible
- House Made of Dawn, by N. Scott Momaday
- Ceremony, by Leslie Silko
- Popcorn Party, by Trudy Boyles and Louise Macmartin
- Blue Willow, by Doris Gates
- The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan
- For Whom the Bell Tolls, by Ernest Hemmingway
- Moby Dick, by Herman Melville
- Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- The poetry of Alfred Lord Tennyson
- Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurty
The theme music is “Happy Day” by Migfus 20, licensed under a Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution license.
Episode 2
Episode 2 show notes:
In episode 2, Angela and DeLyssa share some of their experiences and wisdom from their many years of teaching English. They reflect on approaches they have learned are effective for the literacy development of Diné children and teens, and on perspectives that non-Indigenous teachers sometimes bring to the classroom that aren’t conducive to literacy development.
Books and authors mentioned in this episode:
- The Giver, by Lois Lowry
- Rick Riordan
- The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
- The Warriors series by Erin Hunter
- The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan
- Bighorse the Warrior, by Tiana Bighorse
- Joseph Bruchac
- Moby Dick, by Herman Melville
- Sing Down the Moon, by Scott O’Dell
The theme music is “Happy Day” by Migfus 20, licensed under a Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution license.
Phil Neilson has been teaching English to middle school students for nearly a decade. His work as a teacher has helped him understand how complicated and critical adolescent literacy is, and he is passionate about connecting students with literature and information resources that will spark growth in literacy. He has also come to appreciate the powerful role that libraries can play in this, especially in marginalized communities. As a white person of settler descent, he is an outsider and learner among the Diné people, on whose historic homelands he gratefully acknowledges that he lives and works. has been teaching English to middle school students for nearly a decade. His work as a teacher has helped him understand how complicated and critical adolescent literacy is, and he is passionate about connecting students with literature and information resources that will spark growth in literacy. He has also come to appreciate the powerful role that libraries can play in this, especially in marginalized communities. As a white person of settler descent, he is an outsider and learner among the Diné people, on whose historic homelands he gratefully acknowledges that he lives and works.