Case Report
A New Mentorship Model: The Perceptions of Educational Futures for Native American Youth at a Rural Tribal School
Crystal Aschenbrener1*, Sherry Johnson2 and Marlene Schulz31Department Chair of Social Work, Alverno College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
2Director of Tribal Education with the Sisseton Wahpeton Tribe, United States
3Instructor at South Dakota State University, South Dakota, United States
- *Corresponding Author:
- Aschenbrener C
Department Chair of Social Work
Alverno College, Milwaukee
Wisconsin, United States
Tel: (414) 382-6000
E-mail: crystal.aschenbrener@alverno.edu
Received date: Jun 29, 2017; Accepted date: Jul 11, 2017; Published date: Jul 20, 2017
Citation: Aschenbrener C, Johnson S, Schulz M (2017) A New Mentorship Model: The Perceptions of Educational Futures for Native American Youth at a Rural Tribal School . J Child Adolesc Behav 5: 348. doi: 10.4172/2375-4494.1000348
Copyright: © 2017 Aschenbrener C, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
A case study utilizing a mixed methods design concluded that a nontraditional-style mentorship intervention model for at-risk, Native American youth at a tribal school in South Dakota has positively impacted the youths’ perspectives of their educational futures. The mentorship intervention model was social work-rooted, theory-driven, and culturally-sensitive. The literature review discussed the lack of research for this oppressed group with mentorship programming and provided comprehension to advance mentorship program in rural reservation settings. Research knowledge of this at-risk group's social problems, historical trauma experience, and mentorship programs advanced the success of this intervention. By focusing on the strengths and needs of the tribal school, a partnership between a tribal school and two universities formed to establish a non-traditional mentorship program that positively impacted the youth and benefited the school’s strategic goals. Comparing the mixed method data of the Native American tribal rural school target youth group to a non-Native American, non-tribal, rural school youth group, findings justified the need for this intervention as well as supported the positive impact that the intervention has had on the Native American youths' educational perspectives.
