Cooperative Extension in Indigenous Communities: Characteristics of Successful Educators

Katherine Hartmann

doi:10.5032/jae.v66i1.2572

Authors

Katherine Hartmann University of Minnesota Crookston https://orcid.org/0009-0000-0502-1271

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5032/jae.v66i1.2572

Keywords:

Cooperative Extension, Indigenous communities, allyship, Extension educators

Abstract

Land Grant Institutions (LGIs) and Cooperative Extension were founded to bring educational access to the states they serve. In contrast to this mission and the ubiquitous nature of Extension services in US counties, Extension offices can only be found in a small number of indigenous communities. Despite these inequities, there are Extension educators collaborating with indigenous communities to provide agricultural and community development programming. To understand the characteristics of successful collaborations, this project investigated educators in the Western Region of Extension to learn about their lived experiences. This investigation was done through a transformative convergent mixed methods study utilizing a survey and interviews. Participants revealed characteristics that make educators successful which include being involved in their communities, building long-term and trusting relationships, developing academic and contextual understanding of the communities they serve, being willing to learn, and developing allyship. Recommendations include how Extension can better support educators and the tensions between Extension’s and educator’s definitions of “success” in their work. Only by understanding and supporting collaborations between educators and indigenous communities can Extension hope to encourage these collaborations and fulfill their mission of equity and inclusion.

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