两种文化之间:美国印第安寄宿制学校教育评析

Between Two Cultures: Evaluation on American Boarding School Education

美国寄宿制学校教育对印第安人生存发展产生了深刻影响。文章认为无论是早期实施的军事化管理,亦或是中后期加强职业技能培训,寄宿制学校强制同化的教学核心理念从未发生改变。历经近半百年的教育制度最终瓦解了印第安人原有的部族群居社会体系,摧毁了他们的价值观念和文化信仰,却没有真正有效地帮助印第安人融入主流社会。印第安人沦为被两种文化撕裂的"边缘人",无法平衡民族认同与国家认同之间的关系。

American boarding school education had great impact on the survival and development of Native Americans. The paper argues that no matter the militarized administration of early period, or the vocational trainings of later period, had never changed the fact that assimilation was the core concept of American boarding schools. The half-century long education system disorganized Native Americans tribal community, destroyed their cultural values and beliefs, and failed to integrate them into the mainstream. Marginalized by two cultures, Native Americans cannot strike a balance between ethnic and national identity.