College of Education Ho'okulāiwi cohort receives international recognition

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Jennifer L. Parks, (808) 956-0416
Communications Coordinator, College of Education
Posted: Apr 16, 2012

The UH Mānoa College of Education Hoʻokulāiwi cohort will be recognized by the American Educational Research Association (AERA) at its annual meeting which is being held in Vancouver, Canada this month. As part of a partnership with the Sovereign Councils of the Hawaiian Homelands Assembly (SCHHA) and the Hawaiʻi Department of Education, Hoʻokulāiwi has been invited to participate in a special presidential session entitled “Acting on What We Know: Exemplary Models of Educational Research and Practice in Indigenous Schools and Communities.” Annually, more than 13,000 scholars from around the world attend the AERA meeting, making it the largest professional gathering of educational researchers.
 
Driven by the belief that indigenous people of the world have the inherent right to self-determine in all matters, the partnership focuses on the right to establish education systems that reflect, respect, and embrace indigenous cultural values, philosophies, ideologies, and practices. “The extraordinary people who belong to our partnership breathe life into this fundamental right,” noted SCHHA Chair Kamaki Kanahele. “To understand our partnership is to understand our work.” This is the message that will be presented at AERA’s special presidential session.
 
The SCHHA, whose goal is to ensure the health and well-being of native Hawaiian Homelands beneficiaries, works with the Department of Education and Hoʻokulāiwi to prepare educators who have strong backgrounds in Hawaiian language and culture; who are well-versed in the English language and culture; and who have the expertise to research and develop new theories, pedagogy, and curricula that reflect the needs of the Hawaiian community.
 
Nānāikapono Elementary School teachers ʻIwalani Hodges and Pam Alo will be joined by Hoʻokulāiwi faculty members Margie Maaka, Kimo Cashman, Kalei Tim Sing, Neil Pateman, and Joe Zilliox in a presentation that will examine the premise that an exemplary model of educational research and practice in indigenous schools and communities must reach beyond the ordinary and demand the extraordinary from its participants. In a videotaped broadcast, community leaders Kanahele, Michael Kahikina, and Myron Brumaghim will talk about the spirit of the partnership and how it has evolved over nearly twenty years.
 
This is not the partnership’s first recognition. In 2008, the National Network for Education Renewal selected the partnership to receive the Richard W. Clark Award for demonstrating remarkable vision and progress in critical aspects of partner school work dedicated to social justice.