Paying-it-forward: Indigenous leadership in American higher education

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study focuses on Native American experiences of senior leadership in higher education, presenting a paradigm of Indigenous leadership based on the principle of paying-it-forward. The qualitative study, underpinned by Indigenist methodology, centers the responses of four Native American senior leaders in mainland America and Hawai´i who have strategically designed community-building policies and practices to counter ongoing isolation in higher education. Findings detail place-based leadership paradigms and practical strategies derived from Native American leadership rationales, showing the power of Native American leadership to challenge systemically biased perceptions, policies and practices that endeavor to isolate Indigenous peoples from each other, culture, language, and ways of being knowing and doing. The study is part of the international phase of an Australian-based project not only gives insight into higher education internationally, but also creates opportunity for consideration of what we can learn to our advantage in other colonized contexts.