Ph.D. - Curriculum Studies
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Item Kuʻu ʻĀina Aloha: A Longitudinal Investigation of ʻĀina Aloha Praxis in a Hawaiʻi High School Biology Classroom(2024) Aragaki, Whitney Sayuri; O'Neill, Tara; Curriculum StudiesItem K-12 Educator Experiences And Definitions Of Social Justice Education In Hawaiʻi(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2023) Chang, Jingwoan; Chapman de Sousa, E B.; Curriculum StudiesThis study examined the experiences of a diverse group of K-12 educators in Hawaiʻi, exploring the factors that shaped their orientation towards social justice education (SJE) and their definitions and conceptualizations of SJE in their work as educators. The framework of settler colonialism highlighted the fact that there can be no social justice without recognition of the particular histories, rights, and claims of Kānaka ʻŌiwi communities in a settler society. Using a hybrid phenomenological approach, I surveyed and interviewed K-12 educators in Hawaiʻi who self-identified as having a social justice, decolonizing, or anti-colonial orientation. Participants asserted that their orientations towards social justice were shaped by (a) situated, relational identities; (b) experiences with erasure and devaluation of identities; (c) complex, non-linear conscientization processes; and (d) educator identity as a response to lived experiences. In defining SJE, participants focused on equity and empowerment through skills, knowledge, and civic engagement, which provided ways for students to transform their communities. Participants also defined SJE as responsive to identities and place. Some educators grappled with awareness of outsider status, settler status, or specific injustices from past and ongoing settler colonialism. Others emphasized injustice as systemic rather than individual and reached beyond boundaries like disciplinary silos in their definitions. This study highlights resonances and gaps between SJE definitions and SJE in practice in K-12 Hawaiʻi schools, and argues that SJE in Hawaiʻi must (a) affirm identities in ways that include specific relationships to place and contexts, (b) attend to systems and histories, and (c) address ongoing injustices of settler colonialism with an awareness of varying positionalities.Item Pehea Kou Piko: Motivating Moʻolelo From Hawaiian Education Kumu(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2020) Lenchanko, Mischa Kauaanuhea; Serna, Alethea K K D; Curriculum StudiesThis qualitative moʻolelo study explores the lived experiences of three Hawaiian education kumu. The Hawaiʻi Department of Education is currently experiencing a teacher shortage especially in the fields of Hawaiian Language and Hawaiian Immersion. This study offers the opportunity to learn from the stories of kumu who have been teaching for more than ten years in Hawaiian Education. Discourse on the relationships between Hawaiian culture, Hawaiian language and education were analyzed to gain insight on the motivating factors that led the kumu to teach in Hawaiian education and how those lessons can support teacher education program practice. Moʻolelo served as a method to collect and analyze the data which revealed that the three kumus’ decisions to become Hawaiian education kumu were highly motivated intrinsically and altruistically. The main influences that contributed to their decision making to become a teacher came from three areas 1) positive relationships with role models like family, teachers, and friends, 2) building competence in Hawaiian knowledge and 3) taking action and accepting kuleana as a kumu.Item Collaborative Action Study Group As Professional Development For Teachers Of English Language Learner-Designated Students(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2020) Perez, Alfred F.; Bartlett, Andrea; Curriculum StudiesThe purpose of this qualitative research study was to investigate changes in English Language Learner-Designated (ELL-D) teachers’ instructional practices, views toward students’ languages and cultures, and agency as a result of participating in a teacher study group that I designed called Collaborative Action Study Group (CASG). A Collaborative Action Study Group was a teacher-led, teacher-initiated professional development that engaged teachers to work collaboratively to solve meaningful problems. Acting as a more knowledgeable peer, I was a teacher-researcher who led six elementary school teachers through units on supporting home language and academic language through translanguaging, drama, and technology. I collected data for 11 weeks, using pre- and post-surveys, discussion forums, participant observations, discussion boards, journal reflections, and work sample exchanges. At the end of the study, all six teachers reported they had increased their use of home language and integration of culture, drama, and technology in their classroom instruction. Teachers also reported ELL-D students seemed more engaged in classroom activities than they were before these instructional changes. However, the six teachers reported that school district curriculum guidelines made it difficult to integrate culturally sustaining lessons. Data analysis also showed an increased recognition, among the participants, of the importance of student home language and culture in the classroom, a change they attributed to the Collaborative Action Study Group. Additionally, the participants’ levels of confidence in conducting their own professional development increased. Overall, the study showed that Collaborative Action Study Groups have potential for changing the attitudes and instructional practices of teachers of English Language Learner-Designated (ELL-D) students. However, there are challenges in conducting a fully democratic and equal Collaborative Action Study Group, including teachers’ heavy workloads, personal time commitments, and varying degrees of agency for professional development.Item Decolonizing Sexuality: CHamoru Epistemology as Liberatory Praxis(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2019) Naputi, Francine Marie San Nicolas; Serna, A. Kuʻulei; Curriculum StudiesThis dissertation explores the sexual landscape of Guåhan, an unincorporated territory of the United States. Centuries ago, CHamorus, the indigenous people of Guåhan, viewed sex as a natural part of life that youth must be comprehensively educated about. After the introduction of Catholicism and the militarization of the island, CHamorus now see sex conservatively and treat it as a taboo subject. Today, young CHamorus engage in risky sexual behaviors at higher rates than their peers and have the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases. This study applies the foundations of postructuralism, postcolonialism, indigenous feminism, indigenous gender complementarity, and queer theory to create culture-based sex education curriculum. By weaving these seemingly contradictory theories into counterstories for curricular materials and activities, this study argues that by centering discussions around CHamoru epistemological views, sex education can create additional spaces of learning that seek to deconstruct colonial logics and instead serve as places of cultural resurgence. This dissertation critically analyzes historical accounts and key informant interviews to record shifts in CHamoru sexual thought and to focus on how sex education is implemented in Guåhan. A curricular analysis comparing Guåhan’s current sex education curriculum with culture-based curricula focuses on their alignment to national and local health education standards, incorporation of sexual health topics, and depth of cultural inclusion. Collectively, these methods examine Guåhan’s sex education landscape to see if changing narratives to reflect a CHamoru worldview can decolonize students’ sexual imagination. Additionally, culture-based sex education can allow youth to build individual skills that will help them engage in reproductive health behaviors and activities that are beneficial for them. Keywords: Culture-based Sex Education, Decolonial Education, Indigenous Complementarity, Deconstruction, CHamoru, GuåhanItem “Nē Huli ka Lima i Lalo Piha ka ʻŌpū”: ʻŌiwi Agency and Outcomes of ʻĀina-based Education(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2019) Maunakea, Summer Puanani; Maaka, Margaret J.; Curriculum StudiesThis dissertation explores the agency of ʻāina-based education to cultivate reciprocal relationships between kānaka and ʻāina across the diverse learning environments in which it occurs. Unlike the conventional dissertation model organized by chapters, the following is organized by five stand-alone dissertation pūʻolo. Pūʻolo 1: “ʻĀina-based Pedagogies: Ancestral Principles, Pedagogy, and Outcomes” explores the growth and evolution of ʻāina-based education within the context of ten ancestral principles. Findings reveal that āina-based pedagogies catalyzes ʻŌiwi agency, gives cultural knowledge relevance in our time, and utilizes ʻŌiwi approaches to education and well-being. Pūʻolo 2: “Arriving at an ʻĀina Aloha Research Framework: What Is Our Kuleana as the Next Generation of ʻŌiwi Scholars” examines how my relationship to ‘āina influences my beliefs about research and how it guides me to conceptualize, enact, and disseminate research. This pūʻolo is a published book chapter in Kanaka ʻŌiwi Methodologies: Moʻolelo and Metaphor. Pūʻolo 3: “Towards Living Mālama ʻĀina: Acting Upon Kuleana Through ʻOhana, Education, and Well-being” is a video presentation that illustrates how I have designed, applied, and evaluated ʻāina-based pedagogies within the context of intergenerational community education. I discuss my journey through education and facilitate a lāʻau lapaʻau lesson. Pūʻolo 4: “Stories of ʻĀina-based Learning, Healing, and Transformation: I Ola Kākou i ka Hoʻolōkahi” explores five unique Oʻahu food systems through the lens of the next generation of aloha ʻāina practitioners, educators, healers, and leaders that care for them. Co-researchers present moʻolelo about (a) how their upbringing guided them to their current work, (b) the goals of their education and leadership models, and (c) how their efforts contribute to the health of their communities. Pūʻolo 5: “ʻĀina-based Pedagogies in Hawaiʻi Schools: Kōkua Hawaiʻi Foundation’s ʻĀINA In Schools Program” is a descriptive study of the ʻĀINA In Schools Program, a farm to school initiative of the Kōkua Hawaiʻi Foundation. Findings suggest that the program is a powerful educational tool, a means for strengthening cultural identity, skills training for lifelong healthy living, and an impetus for community organizing.Item Reading, Naming, and Changing the World: Youth Participatory Action Research in a Hawaiʻi School(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2018-12) Desai, Maharaj; Halagao, Patricia E.; Curriculum StudiesThis dissertation documented and analyzed the impact of a Youth Participatory Action Research project on the identity and agency of students and teachers in an urban Honolulu high school. The study was conducted over the course of a school year and included a doctoral student, a high school English Language Arts teacher, and ten students who were English Language Learners (ELL) as the researcher/participants. Results from this analysis were reported in three parts: (1) the impact of YPAR on the identity of the teachers and students; (2) the impact of YPAR on the agency of the teachers and students; (3) the relationship between identity and agency; (4) the impact of YPAR to challenge structures like settler colonialism, heteropatriarchy, and white supremacy. Recommendations for the teaching of YPAR in an ELL classroom within the unique context of Hawaiʻi and its implications for the impacts of YPAR resulted in the development of a Pedagogy of Solidarity that would allow for radical possibilites in education.Item The Role of Teacher Educators in Preparing Teacher Candidates to Partner with Families(University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2016-05) Traynor, KevinIn recent years, there has been increased attention on teacher quality and on teacher candidate development (Cochran-Smith & Zeichner, 2005; Schuster, 2012). Demands on teachers are growing (Darling-Hammond & Bransford, 2005) with an expanding diversity and needs of students (Villegas & Lucas, 2002; Walsh, 2012). Now, more than ever, it is important to understand how candidates are prepared for the teaching profession (Ladson-Billings, 2001). This study examined one vital aspect of teacher education: the role of teacher educators in preparing candidates to partner with families. In spite of substantial evidence of a positive correlation to students' academic success with increased partnerships between the home and school (Dearing, Kreider, Simpkins, & Weiss, 2006; Epstein & Sheldon, 2002; Henderson & Mapp, 2002: Hoover-Dempsey, Battiato, Walker, Reed, Dejong, & Jones, 2001; Jeynes, 2007), teacher candidates still lack the necessary skills to work with families (Caspe, Lopez, Chu, & Weiss, 2011). This study used critical pedagogy as a theoretical framework to investigate how teacher educators applied family-school partnership (FSP) modules into their courses. Through a qualitative phenomenological research design, interview and survery data were collected and analyzed on 11 teacher educators and 200 candidates over a two-year period of time. The constant comparative method (Merriam, 2009) was conducted to analyze multiple interviews of the teacher educators, which was triangulated (Stake, 2004) with surveys of teacher candidates. Findings indicated that (a) teacher educators' FSP beliefs were positively influenced by piloting of FSP modules, (b) teacher educators' locus of control affected their ability to apply FSP content into their courses, and (c) teacher candidates' one-sided views of family-school relationships could be changed to one of "partnerships." The implications of this research affirm the need to support teacher educators in preparing their candidates to work with families.