IINII

Cultural Discontinuity Harms Native Youth (www.iinii.org)

Scholars claim that American Indian children experience bullying at significantly higher rates when compared to other youth (Carlyle & Steinman, 2007; Melander, Sittner Hartshorn, & Whitbeck, 2013). Scholars note that as a result of oppression and its ensuing influences on the internalized process of oppression, Indigenous people suffer a wound to their soul. Mistakenly, American Indian caregivers get trapped into believing that their children escape oppression and the insidious effects of internalized oppression—but Native children do suffer the ill effects of internalizing oppression; and as a result of lacking the outlets or processes to overcome the difficulties associated with internalizing oppression they struggle even more than adults resulting in cultural discontinuity (Gonzales, Simard, Baker-Demaray, & Iron Eyes in Davis, 2013). Scholars indicate that cultural discontinuity is “the violence in all forms: lateral violence, sexual violence, physical violence, emotional or character assassination, bullying, intimidating, and so on” (Gonzales, Simard, Baker-Demaray, & Iron Eyes in Davis, p. 46, 2013).

Children that encounter bullying, experience a diminished self-worth (Perren, Ettakal, & Ladd, 2013), damaged self-esteem (McDougall and Vaillancourt, 2015) and oftentimes experience suicidal ideation (Schreier et al., 2009; Gini & Espelage, 2014; Arango, Opperman, Gipson, & King, 2016; Gunn, & Goldstein, 2017). Youth su***de is one of the most daunting crises facing American Indian communities (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013; Wexler et al., 2015), which are often located in rural areas that lack culturally sensitive intervention services (Leavitt et al., 2018).

IINII uses a revolutionary Design Thinking process to help your school community gain an understanding of one’s sense of self, as well as developing an understanding of students’ and parents’ values; having an understanding of one’s values matters because research has shown that it is linked to better well-being, less stress, and increased confidence in one’s ability to succeed. IINII has extensive experience in building and using an Indigenous research paradigm.

Understanding students’ values can be developed with culturally sustaining practices that reflect a student’s identity and experience. Particularly helpful is focusing efforts on cultural competence and relevance and providing opportunities for students to practice bridging differences between diverse identities in a safe environment. To learn how you can create a dynamic youth-centered environment that honors the unique values of your students and parents, visit our website at www.iinii.org, or contact us at [email protected] or 1800-507-2502.

Teacher Relatedness Helps Adolescents (www.iinii.org)

Relatedness is the felt sense of closeness and of being valued by another individual. Relatedness is determined, in part, by the security youth experienced in early caregiver-child relationships, and relatedness predicts the degree to which youth will seek interpersonal connection in later relationships with peers, friends, and teachers (Kuperminc, Blatt, & Leadbeater, 1997). Hagerty et al. (1993) suggest that relatedness is a “functional, behavioral system rooted in early attachment behaviors and patterns” such that “affiliation or exploration are activated only after the attachment behavioral system" (p. 292). Breaks in relatedness, such as through forced separations, undermine connectedness by lessening youths’ willingness to invest time and energy in relationships with others (Richters & Martinez, 1993; Kuperminc et al., 1997). For example, Midgley, Feldlauffer, and Eccles (1989) reported that students who moved from elementary classrooms where they experienced high teacher support to middle school classrooms where they perceived less teacher support showed decreases in their interest in learning. In short, undermined relatedness creates a lapse in connectedness. When teachers do not provide consistent sources of empathy, praise, and attention, as well as a clear, consistent structure, youth will become less involved in school and will become less inclined to establish conventional school-based relationships (van Aken & Asendorpf, 1997).

When relatedness occurs in groups of people or in defined contexts, the result is the experience of belonging. Belonging is of paramount importance to adolescents. The need to belong is defined, not as the need to be the passive recipient of supportive relationships, but as the need for “frequent [positive and pleasing] interaction plus persistent caring” (Baumeister & Leary, 1995). Hagerty et al. (1993) describe connectedness to others, as well as to organizations and their activities, as a reciprocation of experienced belonging and relatedness that has, directly or indirectly, primary attachment relationships at its source. How accepted and valued a youth feels by a particular group, shapes how connected—involved and concerned—that youth will be with people and activities in that organization. This is because youth confirm and acknowledge their experience of belonging by becoming connected through increased interaction and caring for other people and places

IINII uses a revolutionary Design Thinking process to help your school community gain an understanding of one’s sense of self, as well as developing an understanding of students’ and parents’ values; having an understanding of one’s values matters because research has shown that it is linked to better well-being, less stress, and increased confidence in one’s ability to succeed. IINII has extensive experience in building and using an Indigenous research paradigm.

Understanding students’ values can be developed with culturally sustaining practices that reflect a student’s identity and experience. Particularly helpful is focusing efforts on cultural competence and relevance and providing opportunities for students to practice bridging differences between diverse identities in a safe environment. To learn how you can create a dynamic youth-centered environment that honors the unique values of your students and parents, visit our website at www.iinii.org, or contact us at [email protected] or 1800-507-2502.

The Origins of Adolescent Connectedness (www.iinii.org)

Connectedness has several likely precursors, including attachment to caregivers, relatedness to others, and feelings of belongingness within social groups. Karcher (2004) proposed that connectedness develops in reaction to (a) attachment, (b) interpersonal social support, and (c) group-level experiences of belonging. Defined as active involvement and caring for other people, places, and activities, connectedness is the reciprocation of the support and positive affect that other people, in specific
places, have provided youth, which works to support the youth’s social development. This reciprocal process reveals an opportunity for structuring programs and experiences in schools that aim to promote connectedness.

Connectedness is not a feeling of belonging or relatedness; rather connectedness reflects a continuation and reciprocation of basic attachment and bonding processes into the adolescents’ widening social ecology. Like indicators of attachment, connectedness reflects proximity seeking (i.e., movement towards) and positive affect for people, places, and activities in the adolescent’s life. This is an important distinction. Connection is not a bond that is felt, but is a volitional, active “bonding” with other people, places, and activities. In this way, promoting connectedness in schools does not only mean “helping students feel supported,” but also creating supportive conditions, such as through groupwork, activities, and collaborative learning, which acts to foster connections in the form of action-based, attitude-driven involvement in school.

Connectedness has, as its source, positive relationships and experiences with others, and more specifically, relationships and experiences from which youth garner esteem and competence. Early in life, primary experiences of relatedness with caregivers result in positive attachments with caregivers and provide children with their initial sources of support, esteem, and praise (Ainsworth, 1989; Kohut, 1977). Later, other forms of social support build upon these early experiences, and provide interpersonal relatedness outside the family (e.g., teachers, peers, and friends) and experiences of group belonging beyond the family unit (See Figure 1). These socially supportive interactions result in positive feelings of relatedness and belonging. Youth reciprocate these feelings by “connecting” with others by assigning them positive affect and seeking continued interaction with them (Baumeister & Leary, 1995). This reciprocation is similar to that of plugging in a power cord whereby one actively seeks out the source of connectedness (relatedness and belonging). Connectedness is not synonymous with relatedness and belonging; connectedness is a behavioral and attitudinal response to those feelings.

IINII uses a revolutionary Design Thinking process to help your school community gain an understanding of one’s sense of self, as well as developing an understanding of students’ and parents’ values; having an understanding of one’s values matters because research has shown that it is linked to better well-being, less stress, and increased confidence in one’s ability to succeed. IINII has extensive experience in building and using an Indigenous research paradigm.

Understanding students’ values can be developed with culturally sustaining practices that reflect a student’s identity and experience. Particularly helpful is focusing efforts on cultural competence and relevance and providing opportunities for students to practice bridging differences between diverse identities in a safe environment. To learn how you can create a dynamic youth-centered environment that honors the unique values of your students and parents, visit our website at www.iinii.org, or contact us at [email protected] or 1800-507-2502.