Uluwehi nā pua i ke kulāiwi: perspectives from Hawaiian cultural practitioners and classroom educators on a modern Hawaiian ethnotheory of learning

Abstract

A growing body of research has focused on culturally compatible education for indigenous populations. For native Hawaiians this is also an effort to decolonize our people and extricate our youths from the typical Western model of education in Hawaiʻi. However, more research is needed to discover the traditional learning styles and values of education in the Hawaiian culture. The purpose of this study was to examine the cultural goals, values, and purposes of learning in a modern Hawaiian context in an effort to understand a Hawaiian ethnotheory of learning. Applying a sociocultural perspective of learning and development, I conducted interviews and participant observations with Hawaiian educators and cultural practitioners, such as kumu hula (teacher of Hawaiian dance), mahi'ai (farmer), weaver and print-maker, haku hulu (featherworker), ho'okele (traditional voyaging navigator), and kakau 'ana ka uhi (traditional Hawaiian tattooer). The results of this study revealed the similarities and differences between classroom educators' and cultural practitioners' teaching strategies and philosophies, their purposes and goals for teaching in and through the Hawaiian culture, their emphasis on developing a Hawaiian consciousness and cultural worldview in their students, and their definitions of success for their haumana (students). This study enhances our understanding of the importance and role of contextualized, native knowledge in education and contributes to the growing body of research investigating culturally appropriate education for indigenous peoples.