The Diné Institute for Navajo Nation Educators (DINÉ)

1. Diné and other Indigenous youth, teachers, elders, and communities are rich sources and sites of knowledge.

2. Culturally responsive schooling is a best practice, and the DINÉ integrates Navajo traditional knowledge throughout all aspects of our teaching, learning, and leading.

3. Initiatives that strengthen teaching through culturally responsive professional development will in turn improve the educational attainment of Diné and other Indigenous youth, which is a necessary component for tribal nation (re)building goals of sovereign Native Nations in the U.S.

In 2025, the Institute for Native-serving Educators is sponsoring two DINÉ seminars.  Teachers accepted as Fellows into the DINÉ program will receive a certificate of completion indicating up to 65 hours of professional developments, will complete a culturally sustaining and responsive curriculum unit to implement in their classrooms, and will receive a stipend to supplement costs not covered by the INE (i.e. travel/lodging/ meals).

Engaging Our Ways of Knowing with Forests and Global Change (Pete Fulé, Professor, School of Forestry & Jonathan Martin, Director, Ecological Restoration Institute)

This seminar will explore the effects of global change on forests through the lens of Traditional Ecological Knowledge, a body of knowledge, belief, and practices handed through generations about the relationships between people, animals, plants, and the environment, and Western Science. Global change refers to the impacts of climate change, global movement of plants, animals, and people, environmental degradation, and other agents of transition. These changes affect forest ecosystems which are critically important in the Southwest, especially for Indigenous people who rely on the water, habitats, medicines, ceremonies, and forest products such as firewood and pinyons. Our seminar will engage K-12 teachers in discussing local to global examples, with readings, videos, field trips and invited guests. Teachers will identify teaching topics and develop a practical curriculum unit to implement in their classrooms.  

DINÉ Seminar schedule 2025 Fulé & Martin*

Downloadable PDF above *please share with your administrator

Ethnoecology of Indigenous Foods: Re-learning our Local Food Systems (Armando Medinaceli,  Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology)

This seminar will focus on an ethnoecological approach to Indigenous food systems. Ethnoecology is the field of study that focuses on how people understand and relate to their natural environment. In this seminar, we will focus on a culturally sustaining and responsive approach to the conservation of Indigenous food systems while also supporting the sustainable management of the environment by studying and learning the ethnoecology of different local animals and plants traditionally used as food (each teacher fellow will be able to focus on their particular cultural region). This module will aim to respond to current trends regarding healthy, culturally relevant, and environmentally sound approaches to food and the revalorization of traditional cooking techniques and preparations. The seminar will be composed of readings, videos, discussion, guest lectures, and hands-on activities to help us properly engage and understand the human-environment interactions as well as the chemical processes (boiling, frying, baking, etc.) when preparing a healthy, traditional, and Indigenous meal. During the module, participants will develop curriculum materials tailored for Indigenous students interested in healthy and culturally appropriate pathways to understanding our relationship with the local environments through food.   

DINÉ Seminar schedule 2025 Medinaceli*

Downloadable PDF above *please share with your administrator

Benefits of the program

• Increased knowledge of best practices in culturally responsive curriculum development
• Completion of a published, self-authored curriculum unit for use in your classroom
• Access to colleague’s self-authored curriculum units for use in your classroom
• Networking and learning from other educators in Native-serving schools
• A stipend provided upon program completion

Applications due: Friday, February 14, 2025

Application Process

Step 1: Get your principal’s support.

You will need to confirm that your principal supports your application. Please discuss this with your principal before you apply. 

Step 2: Confirm your eligibility

Please carefully read the “Eligibility criteria” and “Time Commitment” sections to confirm your eligibility. This includes ensuring that you can attend ALL in-person and virtual meetings. 

Eligibility criteria

• A full-time, fully certified K -12 teacher in a grant, BIE, or public school on or bordering the Navajo Nation
• Be willing to pair your educator experience and expertise with new content knowledge to develop and write a culturally sustaining and responsive curriculum unit to implement in the classroom
• Be willing to embed Diné culture and/or language within your curriculum
• Ability to attend ALL in-person and online meetings (See 2025 DINÉ Program Calendar here)
• *Garner support from your school principal to participate in the program by providing them with a copy of the seminar description and schedule to ensure they understand the level of commitment asked of you to participate. Please have this conversation prior to applying to the DINÉ.

Fellows must also commit to remaining in the classroom in their current district or school on the Native Nation for at least three years. Due to the workload, first-year teachers are not typically a good fit for the DINÉ.

Time Commitment

Through successful completion of DINÉ, you will earn up to 65 Seat Hours for Professional Development which entails:

• (1) 2.5-hour online seminar meeting
• (5) 1.5-hour online seminar meetings
• (1) 4-day in-person summer residency at NAU’s Flagstaff campus
• (3) 1-day Saturday seminar meetings (1 at NAU’s Flagstaff campus, 2 on Navajo Nation)
• Attend the American Indian/Indigenous Teacher Education Conference
• Attend 1-day in-person Showcase in November at NAU’s Flagstaff campus
• Scheduled time for reading/writing each week

Step 3: Submit your application

The application is completed via Google forms, which requires you to complete and submit the entire application at one time. Please be sure you allow sufficient time to do this; we recommend approximately one hour. 

The application includes two questions that should be answered in 300-600 words. The questions are, “Part of the DINÉ Institute’s mission is to work with teachers who are leaders in their schools or communities. How do you demonstrate leadership in your role as a teacher?”

&

“Please explain why you are interested in your FIRST choice seminar topic, and describe a specific way you could integrate this seminar topic into your teaching.”

It may be helpful to draft your response in a Word/Google Document (or something similar) then copy and paste your response into the application when you are ready to submit. 

Step 4: Notification of acceptance

The Institute for Native-serving Educators will inform you of your application status by March 3, 2025. If you are selected to be a fellow of DINÉ in 2025, you will receive information about this year’s seminar topics. Please be ready to choose your top two choices of seminars and a short explanation of why you are interested in those seminar topics. 

Ready to get started?

Apply to DINÉ!

Click the link above to be taken to the application page.