Tools for Iina (Life): the journey of the Iina curriculum to the glittering world.

Publisher: National Center for American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 100970957 Publication Model: Print Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1533-7731 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 15337731 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Am Indian Alsk Native Ment Health Res Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: [Denver, Colo.] : National Center for American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research,

Adaptation, Psychological* ; Culture* ; Curriculum* ; Interpersonal Relations* ; Resilience, Psychological* ; Social Identification*; Indians, North American/*education; Child ; Community-Based Participatory Research ; Humans ; Narration ; United States

This article presents the participatory curriculum development process and foundational Diné (Navajo) concepts that inform the Tools for Iina (Life) curriculum, designed for grades 4-6 by a group of Diné educators to strengthen resiliency by addressing children's health, relationships, identity, and sense of the future, utilizing core concepts from Diné oral tradition. Rather than develop a curriculum relying only on experts, and rather than utilize existing American Indian curricula addressing specific risk behaviors or diseases, we facilitated a dialogue with a range of community members to identify core concepts from Diné oral tradition that could provide young people with a perspective on life and its conflicts and challenges, tools for building respectful and supportive relationships, and stories to inform their sense of themselves, the Diné People, and their shared future. The Ways of Life: Iina Project will make the curriculum available in 2012. We offer reflections for other tribes interested in adopting a similar curriculum development process.

Date Created: 20120510 Date Completed: 20120830 Latest Revision: 20181023

20231215

10.5820/aian.1901.2012.124

22569728