This ethnography of my first-year teaching experience takes you on a journey through two different school sites with contrasting school environments as a critical social justice educator. As a Native American Fellow, I analyze the prospects of teaching Native American children with love and the knowledge of my own cultural background. My three focus students help me connect to the experiences of the wide variety of students that make up our classroom communities. Focus student 1 is a shy and quiet English Learner who is also an asset to the classroom. Focus student 2 has a vivid imagination but has a difficult background. Focus student 3 is a bright individual who adds to the liveliness of the class community. Toward the end of my experience, I look at the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic with my students, their community, the Native American community, the LGBTQ+ community, and myself regarding distance learning. Though the pandemic did not allow me to realize my full potential as an educator, I concluded that I have grown into a more confident and capable educator with the skillset, vocabulary, and drive of a warm demander who identifies as critical social justice educator. How can I translate my teaching experience to teaching children in a community with a rich cultural heritage?
","abstract_html":"<p>This ethnography of my first-year teaching experience takes you on a journey through two different school sites with contrasting school environments as a critical social justice educator. As a Native American Fellow, I analyze the prospects of teaching Native American children with love and the knowledge of my own cultural background. My three focus students help me connect to the experiences of the wide variety of students that make up our classroom communities. Focus student 1 is a shy and quiet English Learner who is also an asset to the classroom. Focus student 2 has a vivid imagination but has a difficult background. Focus student 3 is a bright individual who adds to the liveliness of the class community. Toward the end of my experience, I look at the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic with my students, their community, the Native American community, the LGBTQ+ community, and myself regarding distance learning. Though the pandemic did not allow me to realize my full potential as an educator, I concluded that I have grown into a more confident and capable educator with the skillset, vocabulary, and drive of a warm demander who identifies as critical social justice educator. How can I translate my teaching experience to teaching children in a community with a rich cultural heritage?</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Montes, Michelle"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Teacher Education Internship Program (MA/Credential)","degree_level":"Restricted to Claremont Colleges Master's Thesis","degree_discipline":"School of Educational Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Danielle Centeno","Claudia Bermudez","Andre ChenFeng"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2020,"date_issued":"2020-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2020-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:40:36Z","subjects":["Native American","Kitanemuk","social justice educator","boarding school","COVID-19","Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education","Curriculum and Instruction","Curriculum and Social Inquiry","Early Childhood Education","Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research","Educational Leadership","Educational Methods","Educational Psychology","Elementary Education","Elementary Education and Teaching","Gifted Education","Humane Education","International and Comparative Education","Online and Distance Education","Other Education","Other Teacher Education and Professional Development","Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education","Vocational Education"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/186","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Danielle Centeno","Claudia Bermudez","Andre ChenFeng"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Montes, Michelle"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2020-07-27T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["School of Educational Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Restricted to Claremont Colleges Master's Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Teacher Education Internship Program (MA/Credential)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Native American","Kitanemuk","social justice educator","boarding school","COVID-19","Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education","Curriculum and Instruction","Curriculum and Social Inquiry","Early Childhood Education","Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research","Educational Leadership","Educational Methods","Educational Psychology","Elementary Education","Elementary Education and Teaching","Gifted Education","Humane Education","International and Comparative Education","Online and Distance Education","Other Education","Other Teacher Education and Professional Development","Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education","Vocational Education"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/186"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This ethnography of my first-year teaching experience takes you on a journey through two different school sites with contrasting school environments as a critical social justice educator. As a Native American Fellow, I analyze the prospects of teaching Native American children with love and the knowledge of my own cultural background. My three focus students help me connect to the experiences of the wide variety of students that make up our classroom communities. Focus student 1 is a shy and quiet English Learner who is also an asset to the classroom. Focus student 2 has a vivid imagination but has a difficult background. Focus student 3 is a bright individual who adds to the liveliness of the class community. Toward the end of my experience, I look at the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic with my students, their community, the Native American community, the LGBTQ+ community, and myself regarding distance learning. Though the pandemic did not allow me to realize my full potential as an educator, I concluded that I have grown into a more confident and capable educator with the skillset, vocabulary, and drive of a warm demander who identifies as critical social justice educator. How can I translate my teaching experience to teaching children in a community with a rich cultural heritage?
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A Journey Into Teaching: Through an Indigenous Lens"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Danielle Centeno","Claudia Bermudez","Andre ChenFeng"],"dc:creator":["Montes, Michelle"],"dc:date.available":["2020-07-27T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This ethnography of my first-year teaching experience takes you on a journey through two different school sites with contrasting school environments as a critical social justice educator. As a Native American Fellow, I analyze the prospects of teaching Native American children with love and the knowledge of my own cultural background. My three focus students help me connect to the experiences of the wide variety of students that make up our classroom communities. Focus student 1 is a shy and quiet English Learner who is also an asset to the classroom. Focus student 2 has a vivid imagination but has a difficult background. Focus student 3 is a bright individual who adds to the liveliness of the class community. Toward the end of my experience, I look at the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic with my students, their community, the Native American community, the LGBTQ+ community, and myself regarding distance learning. Though the pandemic did not allow me to realize my full potential as an educator, I concluded that I have grown into a more confident and capable educator with the skillset, vocabulary, and drive of a warm demander who identifies as critical social justice educator. How can I translate my teaching experience to teaching children in a community with a rich cultural heritage?
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgu_etd/186"],"dc:subject":["Native American","Kitanemuk","social justice educator","boarding school","COVID-19","Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education","Curriculum and Instruction","Curriculum and Social Inquiry","Early Childhood Education","Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research","Educational Leadership","Educational Methods","Educational Psychology","Elementary Education","Elementary Education and Teaching","Gifted Education","Humane Education","International and Comparative Education","Online and Distance Education","Other Education","Other Teacher Education and Professional Development","Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education","Vocational Education"],"dc:title":["A Journey Into Teaching: Through an Indigenous Lens"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["School of Educational Studies"],"thesis:degree_level":["Restricted to Claremont Colleges Master's Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Teacher Education Internship Program (MA/Credential)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:40:36Z"}