Wounspekiya Unspewicakiyapi
Nunpa
Native Teacher Education Program
2024-2027
About The Program
The Wounspekiya Unspewicakiyapi Nunpa Native Teacher Education Program supports engagement with tribal college and university (TCU) partners to build the capacity of their Elementary and Secondary Teacher Education degree programs, facilitate the transition of students from the pre-Education work to becoming teacher candidates, as majors during the junior and senior years, and improve outcomes on licensing of teacher candidates.
The term Wounspekiya Unspewicakiyapi can be translated from Dakota to “teaching teachers.” Its meaning conveys that those involved in the programming are preparing themselves and their Native teacher candidates for excellence in their studies and in working with future students. Current TCU Teacher Education Faculty are preparing a foundation for the advancement and future of Native Teacher Education by preparing Native teacher candidates who honor culturally responsive, place-based teaching and successfully complete their degrees, teacher licensure, and move to employment as teachers.
Through generous funding from Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies, this three-year $2.25M program, built upon the success of its two-year pilot program, provides the opportunity for TCUs to enhance and strengthen culturally responsive teacher education pathway programming.
Grantees
College of Menominee Nation
Diné College
Oglala Lakota College
Sinte Gleska University
Sitting Bull College
Turtle Mountain College
United Tribes Technical College
CoP Grantees
Salish Kootenai College
Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College
Related Blogs
Native Teachers Vital for Community Success
Emily White Hat shares how the American Indian College Fund’s Wounspekiya Unspewicakiyapi Native teacher education program at tribal colleges and universities will recruit, develop, and retain skilled K-12 teachers in Indian Country.
American Indian College Fund Launches $2.25 Million Wounspekiya Unspewicakiyapi Native Teacher Education Program
The American Indian College Fund is launching a two-and-a-half-year Native teacher education program at tribal colleges and universities serving Native communities across the country to support teacher recruitment, development, and retention. Funding for the program is provided by Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies.
American Indian College Fund Awards Four Tribal Colleges with Four-Year Computer Science Initiative Grants
Computer science education provides today’s college students the necessary skills and opportunities to thrive in today’s world. Yet American Indian and Alaska Native peoples are still and have been historically underrepresented in the computer science fields. To remedy that, the American Indian College Fund launched its Tribal College and University Computer Science Initiative to create new and expand existing computer science programs at higher education institutions serving American Indian and Alaska Native students to meet the community and workforce needs of Indigenous communities and to provide career opportunities for Native students in computer science fields.
