All inquiries can be directed to the INE Director:
Institute for Native-serving Educators (INE)
The Institute for Native-serving Educators (INE) is a collaborative initiative to strengthen schools across Indian Country. Housed in NAU’s Office of Native American and Indigenous Advancement (ONAIA), we partner with Native Nations, Indigenous-serving schools, and public school districts on and bordering reservation communities to develop professional development opportunities that meet community needs. We do not have a one-size-fits-all approach to professional development. Instead, we build a unique professional development experience based on the goals of the community and based on research and best practices in culturally responsive schooling.
Our story
A group of Navajo K12 teachers approached the Office of Native American and Indigenous Advancement (ONAIA) in 2016 to invite NAU to partner with them in building a professional development program modeled after the Yale National Initiative. This led to the development of a partnership between NAU and Navajo-serving schools, called the Diné Institute for Navajo Nation Educators (DINÉ). The first DINÉ cohort launched in 2018. From these first planning conversations, we envisioned one day expanding out to additional Native Nations. After securing a grant from the National Science Foundation that proposed this expansion, we launched the Institute for Native-serving Educators (INE) in 2021. The DINÉ is now one of many programs that fall under the INE.
Our mission
The goal of INE is to reduce educational inequities impacting Indigenous youth and communities, and to be the premier preK-12 professional development institute of choice for Native Nations in the United States.
By developing and supporting high quality, culturally responsive preK12 educators in Native-serving schools, we can address years of educational neglect and radically improve teaching and learning, thus preparing Indigenous students to thrive in higher education and beyond.
INE Professional Development Programs
We are no longer accepting applications for our 2024 professional development seminar cohorts. If you are interested in INE’s 2025 professional development seminars, please fill out this form and we will contact you when 2025 applications are available.
Diné Institute for Navajo Nation Educators (DINÉ) Accordion Closed
The Diné Institute for Navajo Nation Educators (DINÉ) is a partnership between Northern Arizona University and Navajo schools aimed at strengthening teaching in K-12 schools serving Diné and other Indigenous students. The DINÉ began with 9 teachers in 2018, and we have had approximately 85 teachers complete the program since then. In 2022, we have about 45 teachers participating in the DINÉ. Each teacher in the DINÉ writes a robust curriculum unit that we publish online so that other educators can access, adapt, and use them in their own classrooms. There is a clear need and interest in sustaining and growing this program in the coming years.
Indigenous Early Childhood Educators (IECE) Accordion Closed
Building on the DINÉ model, and leveraging financial support from a Kellogg Foundation grant, INE partnered with the College of Education to launch a new professional development institute in 2021 specifically targeted to preschool teachers. The inaugural 2021 cohort included 8 preschool teachers from Hopi, Navajo, Salt River, and Gila River. The goal is to support these teachers in learning culturally responsive approaches to early childhood teaching and learning. Similar to the DINÉ, each teacher writes a curriculum unit that is published online for broad accessibility. In 2022, we have about 15 teachers participating in the IECE.
Teacher Leadership Shiłgozhóó Institute (TLSI) Accordion Closed
Modeled after the DINÉ, this partnership began with the San Carlos Unified School District and later opened up to include teachers in any Apache-serving school. This professional development program is focused on growing teachers’ content knowledge, ability to write culturally responsive curriculum, and leadership skills. This program began in 2022 with support from both the San Carlos Apache Nation and the San Carlos Unified School District.
Culturally Responsive Schooling (CRS) with/in Indigenous Communities Accordion Closed
This is a 6-month professional development institute for preK-12 educators that will grow their capacity and effectiveness in working with Indigenous students. Open to educators in a variety of roles (i.e., teachers, paraprofessionals, principals, residential coordinators, etc.), the program focuses on increasing educators’ knowledge of key ideas/issues, and also educators’ ability to use and apply that knowledge to their everyday work with students. We launched this program in 2022, with enough interested applicants to offer two cohorts in our first year!
Indian Country School Counselors Institute (ICSCI) Accordion Closed
This is an 8-month professional development institute for School Counselors to grow their capacity and effectiveness in working with Indigenous students. Members of the ICSCI cohort will build their capacity to support student wellbeing and success in culturally responsive ways. The program culminates with each cohort member writing a guidance curriculum unit on a topic of their choosing, which they can use in their schools and which is published online as a resource for others. This program began in 2022 with about 18 participating School Counselors.
Indian Country School Leadership Institute (ICSLI) Accordion Closed
School leadership is a critical component of an effective school, district, and community. The Indian Country School Leadership Institute (ICSLI) is designed to help build capacity amongst school and district leaders serving Indigenous communities. The ICSLI program will help school and district leaders develop and enhance leadership skill sets to effectively work with Indigenous students, staff, leaders, and community members.
Culturally Sustaining and Investigative STEM (CSIS) Accordion Closed
The Culturally Sustaining and Investigative STEM (CSIS) professional development program is focused on growing teachers’ content knowledge, ability to write culturally responsive curriculum, and leadership skills. Modeled after the DINÉ and TLSI, this initiative started in 2023 when the Institute for Native-serving Educators met with several administrators from Hopi community schools expressing their desire to offer professional development opportunities for their educators.
The Indigenizing Approaches for Teaching Chemistry (IATC) Accordion Closed
The Indigenizing Approaches for Teaching Chemistry (IATC) is accepting applications from full-time, certified, K-12 classroom science/chemistry teachers in middle and high school settings. The IATC is a professional development program focused on growing teachers’ content knowledge, ability to write culturally sustaining/responsive curriculum, and leadership skills. Modeled after other Institute for Native-serving Educators (INE) seminars, the INE has partnered with the Cultural and Academic Research Experience (CARE)to sponsor the IATC for teachers.
NEH-funded Teacher Institute: Indigenous Histories of the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands Accordion Closed
The NAU Department of History and Institute for Native-serving Educators (INE) are proud to host the NEH-funded Teacher Institute Indigenous Histories of the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands.
Week 1 (online): July 7-10, 2025
Week 2 (NAU Mountain Campus, Flagstaff, Arizona): July 21-26, 2025
Twenty-five educators from across the nation will learn with leading historians specializing in borderlands and Native American history, tribal members, and experts in culturally sustaining pedagogy. Participants will explore primary source materials and collections from the Museum of Northern Arizona, visit significant historic and cultural sites such as Montezuma’s Well, Sunset Crater, and Wupatki National Monuments, and spend a day in Tuba City on the Navajo Nation.
The two-week institute will delve into the histories of Indigenous communities throughout the American Southwest and Mexico, spanning from the 11th century to the present. Participants will engage with the histories of various groups, including the Navajo (Diné), Hopi, San Carlos Apache, Yavapai-Apache, Yaqui, Tohono O’odham, Pueblo, Sinagua, Hualapai, Havasupai, and Mayo peoples, among others. Ultimately, this program will empower teachers with the knowledge and skills necessary to prioritize Indigenous histories, themes, and ways of knowing in their middle and high school U.S. and World History classrooms.
Applications open December 8th, 2024 and close March 5, 2025. Click here for more information about how to apply! All applicants receive a $2,200 stipend to attend.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The Indigenous Histories of the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands K-12 Teacher Institute has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.
Would you like to stay up-to-date on all things related to the Institute for Native-serving Educators? If so, please subscribe to our email list! We will periodically send out updates and announcements through this system. Click here to subscribe to INE’s email list.
NAU’s Office of Native American and Indigenous Advancement will be the home for all of our efforts that aim to strengthen schooling across Indian Country through INE. If you are interested in developing a partnership through INE, please email us at NativeServingEducators@nau.edu!