Executive Officer, and such had baggage and memories for the Hopi people that were negative. They chose the title of Facilitator for the school leader, indicating that the job was to bring things together and make it work for everyone.
As far back as 1942 (Dennis, W. (1942), the performance of Hopi children on the Goodenough Draw-a-man Test. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 34(3), 341–348.) tests and observations have shown that Hopi people and Hopi children are of at least average intelligence and are artistically inclined. Other research done for the Center for Applied Research in Denver, Colorado, in 1999 indicated that 80-85 percent of Hopi adults do arts/crafts at least part of the time. The Hopitutuqaiki Board determined that the arts should be the center of the educational process for the school and that the learning process should not be limited to children. As in Hopi culture, anyone may learn something at any age. The Board was also aware that several traditional Hopi art processes were endangered, so the school started as an art school.
The Board determined that the instructional model should be apprenticeships rather than classroom instruction, again keeping to Hopi tradition. That is, there would be a mentor who would be a recognized expert in an area of art and up to six apprentices who would learn the craft. That way each student would get one-on-one time with the master as well as interaction with the other students as they learned. The students learn by doing. Each was expected to complete at least one project during class time. The product was expected to be of useable or saleable quality. Most often the student would make an article of regalia that could be used by the student themselves or a family member. That gave an incentive to produce a quality product.
In practice, the mentors have determined the maximum number of students they can handle, up to six, and the amount of time the class will run for students to complete a project. Classes have been as short as one day and as long as four weeks. Mentors are also available to students after the classes are done to provide additional assistance.
Math can be taught with weaving, anatomy can be taught with doll carving, chemistry can be taught with pottery clays and glazes, wheel throwing in pottery is a lesson in physics, and so much more. Those ideas and awareness were to become a part of the classes at Hopitutuqaiki. Students are learning to weave a ceremonial kilt, but the discussion is about culture, shapes, counting, the history of the kilt, dyes, ceremonies, master weavers, and more. Students observed other weavers and historical weavings in the Museum of Northern Arizona and read about weavings and weavers. It was similar for the clay classes, the basket classes, and the painting classes. Academics were woven into the processes and students were not aware that they were learning things other than just weaving, basket weaving, or making a pot. The instruction to the teachers/mentors was to incorporate Hopi language and culture as appropriate and as much as possible, while keeping the atmosphere like an uncle or aunt teaching a skill to his/her relatives.
The ages of the students played a part also. Student ages were limited by the instructor, but most often students had to be initiated into Hopi society (about 10-12) so that the class could discuss ceremonies freely. (At Hopi children are initiated into Katsina Society or Powamu Society at about puberty and given knowledge about Hopi that is not available to younger children.) There was no upper age limit for most classes. Sometimes there were two to three generations in a class, with the younger students helping the older ones with manipulation (many older students had arthritis) while the older students told the younger ones how things used to be on Hopi in the past. The exchange was wonderful to watch and gave the classes a historical and cultural aspect that was important.
Initially, students were hesitant to voluntarily jump into a “school” and “schooling.” Their
perception was shaped by their experience.
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