“Nē Huli ka Lima i Lalo Piha ka ʻŌpū”: ʻŌiwi Agency and Outcomes of ʻĀina-based Education

Abstract

This 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.