The Impact of an Immersion Experience in Alaskan Native Community Cultural Life on Pre-service Teachers

This paper reports on the changes in understandings and appreciations of pre-service elementary (K-8) teacher education students who participated in a week-long cultural immersion experience in Alaska Native communities and their schools. For this group of pre-service teachers, the experience developed new and deeper understandings about the challenges and realities of living and teaching in rural Alaska Native community schools.