History of Education in Hawaii

Cruz, Lynette. “Rethinking the United States in “Paradise”: A Course for Teachers".

Onikama Denise L, Hammond, Ormond W., Koki, Stan. “Family Involvement in Education: A Synthesis of research for Pacific Educators” Student Learning”.

Tavares, Hannah. “Reading the Wake of Postcolonialality: Constructing “Race” in Public Education in the U.S. Territory in Hawaii”. University of Hawaii, Department of Educational Foundations.

Being a new teacher is very difficult; being a new teacher in a location where the culture is extremely diverse brings added pressure to the experience. I decided to take a deeper look into the history of Hawaiian education. It was important for me to seek out the history to gain a better understanding of my students, their parents, and community. After countless searches of the topic history of education in Hawaii, I came to interesting conclusions. The first conclusion that I came to was there was very little literature on the history of education in Hawaii. I am not sure if this was an error on my search criteria or that the history of education in Hawaii has been swept up under a rug sort of speak. The next conclusion that I formed was in finding literature to support the search of the history of education in Hawaii. I found that everything that found about the topic was woven into the fabric of culture. What I mean by culture is, everything that I found was a personal or native group perspective. The three sources that I found had tones of anger, discrimination, racism, domination, and political, social, and economic oppression. I guess my narrow minded point of view was seeking out the history of education in Hawaii supported by facts, data, and a clear cut definition. After I thought about my readings, I realized that the culture and social and political structure of Hawaii forms the education system.

In the article, “Rethinking the United States in “Paradise”: A Course for Teachers”, the author outlines the personal experiences and mindsets of Pacific teachers. I thought it was interesting to see how the mindsets of teachers can change the structure of education. In the reading, “Family Involvement in Education: A Synthesis of research for Pacific Educators” Student Learning”, the authors highlight the importance of family in education and how family, school, and community interrelates with one another. Lastly, the final article, “Reading the Wake of Postcolonialality: Constructing “Race” in Public Education in the U.S. Territory in Hawaii”, took a political undertone highlighting the impact of post-colonialism and racial tensions in Hawaii.