DEVELOPING EDUCATOR IDENTITY, PERSPECTIVE, AND PRAXIS TO ADVANCE LEARNING FOR ʻŌIWI HAWAIʻI LEARNERS
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2020
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The affective benefits to learners in the presence of culturally relevant instruction are broadly supported throughout the literature; the specific academic impacts to learners, to a significantly lesser extent. Literature and the wisdom of practice indicate that one’s attitudes, beliefs and behaviors are a direct function of one’s identity. Rather than centralizing a study on a locus of how best to grow and socialize culturally relevant pedagogy, I am purposefully privileging a more adaptive, balcony focus on professional identity to guide ways in which we might collectively benefit ʻōiwi learners academically (Garmston, 2009). This study seeks to explore the impact of a sustained, job-embedded system of professional development on the professional identity of educators and their ability to positively affect student learning.
The purpose therefore of this study would be to provide ʻōiwi Hawaiʻi-serving instructional leaders like myself with greater insight as to how to better support kumu in identifying as culturally relevant educators, describing their pedagogy as such, and articulating the connections between their instructional moves and the impact on learning. From a deeper, naʻau perspective, if identity influences one’s behaviors, values and the surrounding environment, and as ʻōiwi-serving educators we hope to nurture the positive ʻōiwi identity of our learners due to the promising affective and possible academic impacts, in a parallel manner, effort should also be made to nurture the professional identity of ʻōiwi-serving educators as culturally relevant educators.
Initial findings from this study indicate that a sustained series of professional learning opportunities that build capacity for culturally relevant practice helps to further affirm professional identities as culturally relevant educators for those kumu who already identify at least in-part as culturally relevant educators. The findings point to professional learning experiences that align with specific themes that emerged from participant feedback as having the most impact on their self-identification as culturally relevant practitioners. Namely, a series of intentionally aligned trainings that allow for exposure to indigenous perspectives and have immediate transferable application to classroom practice helps kumu to develop their confidence as culturally relevant educators. Also supported by the data is the assertion that there are indeed affective and academic benefits to learners when culturally relevant strategies are used to evaluate learning at the classroom level. A framework of Mahiʻai Consciousness is also offered as a way to explicate and implicate the connection between deeply intentional actions and the impacts to stakeholders as a grounding consideration for ʻōiwi-serving leaders within and beyond education.
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Educational leadership
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97 pages
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