I really enjoyed learning about Na Hopena Aʻo and the efforts that were made by pioneers of the program to have this type of education medium placed in the mainstream DOE system. I feel their efforts are something to be applauded as we know throughout the history of education in Hawaiʻi, Hawaiian concepts, thoughts and language have not always been something welcomed into the teaching curricula. Itʻs a crazy concept to comprehend when we know the value indigenous culture and the practices of this place can play in the providing individuals (not just kanaka maoli, natives) a sense of identify and connection.
As I was reading through Na Hopena Aʻo, I couldn't stop thinking about how similar this program is to what my friends and I have talked about in the sense of what students today lack and what they need. I personally feel that the programʻs efforts to highlight cultural concepts and values can be a real game changer for youth in our Hawaiʻi education systems if and only if this program is fully honored for what it is and applied consistently.
In my observations and in some instances in my own path, Hawaiian youth and non Hawaiian youth lack so much after high school in relation to the real world and what it truly means to be from Hawaiʻi and to brough up in this special place. They are so caught up in the happenings of adolescence with all its extra-curricular activities that a lot of times the aspect of connection to place and also responsibility to community and family is overlooked and not stressed at all. It can happen at home for sure, but when majority of a studentʻs day is taken up at school, this type of education needs to be happening in the school system as well. Too often I see students graduate from a high school in Hawaiʻi and leave and represent nothing that is Hawaiʻi. They don't carry with them any true example that can make one identify them as coming from Hawaiʻi besides the stereotypical/generalizations of people from Hawaiʻi. Example, a shaka, talk pidgin, eat spam, love pineapples. Its a shame that our youth can graduate from an education in Hawaiʻi and carry no true concepts of Hawaiian culture, the beautiful ʻaina that surrounds them and feeds them while in school.
If our students could be given a strong foundation in Hawaiian cultural concepts of caring for one another, leaving places better than we found them, respecting places for what they are and understanding that people do as they do where they are and that we must adapt to those ways when we are guests our students would come out much more worldly and be better able to adapt to any environment. It also provides Hawaiʻi a plethora of citizens that are actually attuned to one another and the responsibility each of us have to eachother if we want a strong, capable and functioning society. Not only does this program have the ability to instill and highlight the human aspect of connection but also the value of environment and most importantly create a firm foundation for our youth to stand up on and not feel alone. They can feel apart of something big and know they have a an actual role in the vitality of their community and peers. Aloha kekahi i kekahi!
Aloha Puaonaona,
ReplyDeleteMahalo nui for this thoughtful and well-articulated reflection. So many of your words truly resonated with me and inspired me to think deeper about not only this framework, but of those “hidden curriculums” that should be front and center in our students lives and consciousness.
I really loved reading through Nā Hopena Aʻo and saw it as a great framework for developing not just the student in the classroom, but a whole person that can move through the while being rooted in Hawaiʻi. I agree with you, however, in that this will only be successful if the program is fully honored and applied consistently. That is such a good point as this is not just a stagnant document but a set of values needed to be lived, and modeled by adult figures especially.
My favorite part of your post was this paragraph: “If our students could be given a strong foundation in Hawaiian cultural concepts of caring for one another, leaving places better than we found them, respecting places for what they are and understanding that people do as they do where they are and that we must adapt to those ways when we are guests our students would come out much more worldly and be better able to adapt to any environment.” I completely agree with this statement and hope that our students will be able to gain these strong foundations for the betterment of our future and for our home, especially in the our malihini’s adaptation to the ways of Hawaiʻi and her culture (something that is sadly not prevalent here in Maui).
I hope that Nā Hopena Aʻo is purposefully and consistently implemented in our classrooms. I would like to adapt it into my own internship curriculum as a way for interns to hold themselves accountable to being pono people in both their professional and personal lives. As a fellow, “non-traditional” educator in this master’s program, I’m curious as to how you would use this in your professional realm?
You write so beautifully and I look forward to seeing your future posts. Mahalo for sharing! =)