Article Review 2

Toth, Christie. "Beyond Assimilation: Tribal Colleges, Basic Writing, And The Exigencies Of            
            Settler Colonialism." Journal Of Basic Writing 32.1 (2013): 4-36. ERIC. Web. 18 Sept. 2016.

            Toth describes a pedagogical and personal journey, unique and rich with discovery, in this article. Her argument, implied rather than explicit, is that the role of first year composition as taught at a tribal college is distinct and deserving of its own voice in the discourse community of rhetoric. While success in first year composition is intrinsic to overall collegiate success for many students, regardless of their institution of choice, Toth clearly illustrates that students at tribal colleges bear a unique cultural, political, and social burden.

            Toth here chronicles her 2012 experience teaching basic composition (English 100B) at Diné College, the first and largest tribally controlled college in North America. Prior to her arrival at the college, Toth investigated the research on pedagogy and the Native American student but found that research to be scant and, in her opinion, unsettling (6). She briefly reviews and highlights articles that emphasize the “otherness” of the Native American learner, an emphasis Toth views not only as unhelpful in creating a successful pedagogy but also diminishing in respect to the diversity of Native Americans (6).

            To construct a meaningful pedagogy for her English 100B students, Toth looked to the Diné College mission statement, as printed in the 2011-2012 Catalog which pledges to:

            [A]dvance quality student learning in three areas:

·         In study of Diné language, history and culture

·         In preparation for further studies and employment in a multi-

cultural and technological world

·         In fostering social responsibility, community service and scholarly

research that contribute to the social, economic and cultural well-

being of the Navajo Nation. (qtd. in Toth 12)

            Toth thus realized that students at Diné were not just engaged in building writing skills but also in building their nation. She discovered a mistrust of the written word present in Native American cultures, a mistrust cultivated by many drafted and dishonored promises by United States government. This knowledge gathered, Toth formed her English 100B curriculum around the concept of U.S. settler colonialism, an approach that resonated with her students. Toth helped her students see how the written word had been used to take power away from Native American peoples but could be used also to take power back. Throughout the semester, Toth saw her students’ motivation to improve their language skills increase and also saw them acquire a new respect for their own translingual/multilingual status.

            I would recommend Toth’s article, which she describes as “a narrative of pedagogical reasoning,” to my peers and scholars in the field. The studied way in which Toth shaped her pedagogy to her students’ specific needs, backgrounds, and responsibilities is a solid model worthy of examination. Her approach is not just a lesson in how to help Native American students in the composition classroom but can also be viewed as a guide to creating a “locally responsive pedagogy” (6), a pedagogy valuable in the mosaic of diversity that is the college composition classroom.