Two Policy Approaches to Native Education: Can Reform Be Legislated?.
The evolution of Canadian federal policy for Native elementary and secondary education has followed a pattern remarkably similar to that in the United States. A significant difference in the provision of educational services to indigenous peoples is, however, that whereas the United States has historically attempted to regulate and reform Native education through federal legislation, Canada has generally eschewed such a proactive strategy in favour of what Hall (1992) refers to as the “No Policy-Policy.” In this article I examine the evolution of Native education policy in both countries to determine which approach has brought Native people closer to their desired goal of having control over their children’s education. La politique federale canadienne d’enseignement primaire et secondaire destinee aux autochtones suit une evolution semblable a celle des Etats-Unis. ll existe toutefois une difference significative dans la prestation des services educatifs aux peuples autochtones: les Etats-Unis ont toujours tente de reglementer et de reformer l’education des autoch- tones par le biais de lois federales tandis que le Canada evite, en regle generale, ce genre de strategie proactive et prefere ce que Hall (1992) designe comme une “politique de non-politique.” Dans cet article, l’auteur analyse l’evolution, dans les deux pays, de la politique en matiere d’enseignement aux autochtones afin de determiner quelle approche permet aux peuples autochtones de se rapprocher de leur objectif, qui est de controler l’education de leurs enfants.
Financing Self-Determination: Federal Indian Expenditures, 1975-1988.
The self-determination of American Indian communities has been federal Indian policy since 1975, when Congress enacted the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, Public Law 93-638. In sections two and three of the act, Congress stated its finding that federal domination of Indian affairs had deprived American Indians of leadership skills and had denied Indians an effective voice in planning and implementing programs. “True self-determination,’’ the Congress concluded, would depend upon an “educational process” which the act was intended to initiate. In initiating a new policy in Indian affairs, Congress stated its commitment to maintain the unique relationship which the United States has with Indian people, often expressed as the trust relationship.’ Title I of the act, which was denoted the Indian Self-Determination Act, directed the Secretaries of the Interior and of Health, Education, and Welfare (now Health and Human Services) to contract with Indian tribes, at the tribes’ request, to plan, conduct, and administer programs provided to tribal members under the authority of the Snyder Act of 1921, the Wheeler-Howard Act of 1934, and the Transfer Act of 1954.2 In addition, Title I authorized grants for strengthening tribal government, for training personnel, and for planning.
Efficacy for Dealing With Terrorism Precautionary Behavior: Laying the Groundwork for Communication Effectiveness
In order to formulate effective communication and intervention strategies to respond to the widespread lack of preparedness for public health crises resulting from natural and human-made disasters, researchers have developed models describing the interrelationships between factors associated with emergency preparedness decisions. Empirical research has generally assumed that two key elements of most health behavior theories—self-efficacy and response efficacy—additively influence the decision to prepare, despite compelling theoretical rationale for an interactive relationship. The few studies that have investigated interactions in preparedness outcomes have not tested the Social Cognitive Theory prediction that non-zero levels of both efficacy types are required before individuals will engage in any preparedness behavior. Based on the responses of 3,101 participants in the National Survey of Disaster Experiences and Preparedness, this study tested additive, interactive, and conditional main effect hypotheses about the influence of self-efficacy and response efficacy for dealing with terrorism on preparedness due to terrorism six years after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. A significant self-efficacy × response efficacy interaction effect on preparedness was found, in addition to a significant response efficacy effect when perceived self-efficacy was zero, contrary to the expectation from Social Cognitive Theory. These results offer insights into the cognitive processes underlying individuals’ decisions to prepare for disasters such as terrorist attacks, and highlight the importance of considering more complex theory-based cognitive interaction models in designing effective communication strategies to facilitate individual emergency preparedness.