Dr. Diane Hirshberg was the keynote speaker for the Alaska Historical Society Conference held at the Kenai Peninsula College and nearby locations Oct 5-8, 2023. The conference was titled “Connections and Disconnections in Alaska History” and is connected to a larger set of discussions on enhancing Alaska Civil Discourse.
From Sheldon Jackson to the Fight for Tribal Schools: The Unfinished History of Colonization’s Impact on Alaska’s Schools and Students
Diane Hirshberg, Photo: James Evans UAA
Across Alaska, students, especially Indigenous and rural youth, struggle to succeed in school, as measured by (admittedly flawed) standardized measures of proficiency such as graduation rates, dropout rates, and achievement test scores. Many factors are blamed for this, from high rates of teacher turnover to poor school facilities to inadequate teaching methods and curricula. However, too many policymakers, researchers, and educators fail to critically examine how historic colonization and assimilation efforts in Alaska created and propagated the current situation. Hirshberg discussed the history of the schooling system in Alaska including its intended purposes from early territorial days through the residential schooling era to the present, and traced how the contemporary education system continues to reflect and suffer from this oft-unexamined history. A recording of Dr. Hirshberg’s talk with be posted on the conference website in a few weeks https://alaskahistoricalsociety.org/2023-conference-information/ .
Please see the Anchorage Daily News article OPINION: Let’s improve civic discourse in Alaska for more information on the Alaska Historical Society Conference 2023.
