In this incredible final installment of his exploration of the pedagogy of the Hawaiian Islands, Noah Ranz-Lind talks to educators and students at Hanahau‘oli School, a progressive K-6 school in Honolulu.
Hanahau‘oli School promises its students an "intimate and nurturing learning community supports connections between home and school and the world, respecting and celebrating the uniqueness of the Hanahau‘oli child while appreciating the interconnectedness that defines our learning ‘ohana. Grounded in tradition yet embracing of innovation, we perpetuate joyous work, committed to being a resource and symbol of learning’s potential." And you will hear ample evidence of the joyous work at hand in this episode!
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Aloha, and welcome to episode 3 in a three-part series on pedagogy in the Hawaiian Islands.
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My name is Noah Ransland, and I am a student from the University of Massachusetts Amherst,
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working as a content strategist here at the Human Restoration Project.
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Before we get started, I wanted to let you know that this is brought to you by our supporters,
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three of whom are Brian Oram, Julia Rosemary Villenti, and Matthew Thomas Fahey.
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Mahalo Nui for your ongoing support.
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You can learn more about the Human Restoration Project on our website, or find us on X slash
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Twitter, Instagram, or YouTube.
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Over this summer, Chris had put me in contact with Dr. Amber Strong Makaiao, a specialist
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at the University of Hawaii at Manoa College of Education Institute for Teacher Education
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Secondary Program, and the head of professional development at the Hana Haoli School in Honolulu.
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She invited me to come visit the school, and that experience guided my research and focus
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during the summer project.
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I visited the school multiple times over the course of the summer, spending time digging
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through their archives and exploring various different aspects of life at Hana Haoli.
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After having been given the opportunity to see what progressive education in Hawaii
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really looks like, I wanted to share with you all my experience and the plethora of
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other experiences of the students and faculty at the school.
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The series has been building up to this episode, where we will look into the work being done
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at Hana Haoli and what progressive pedagogy in Hawaii looks like in practice.
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First, here's Amber to tell you a little bit about the history of the school.
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So there was a couple living in Hawaii, Sophie Judd Cook and George Cook, and this is around
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the turn of the century, around the early 1900s, and they were living on the island
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of Molokai, and they had a number of children.
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And Sophie was not a formal educator, but had learned a lot about ratio Amelia approaches
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to teaching and learning and was homeschooling her own children using those approaches.
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And her husband George became very interested in government, and he got elected to the Hawaii
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State Legislature to be a representative from Maui County, and the family had to move to
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the island of Oahu.
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And when they got to Oahu, they decided, well, we should send our kids to a formal school.
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And we're looking around, and a lot of the schooling options at the time were very traditional,
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they were reflective of the industrialization that was happening at that era.
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And serendipitously, there was a woman who was traveling across the country.
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She was a fourth grade teacher at the Francis Parker School in Chicago, and she was giving
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public lectures about how children could learn how to read from being in storytelling-rich
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environments, rather than memorizing words and letters from basal readers.
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And Sophie went and attended her public lecture in Honolulu at Washington Place, and she was
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enthralled with it.
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There was probably lots of parallels between what she was listening to this woman.
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Her name was Goodwin Thorne Thompson, what she was talking about and what Sophie believed
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in terms of the ratio Amelia approach.
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And went up to the woman after the lecture and said, I just adore this, I'd love for
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my children to learn in this way.
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And she said, well, why don't you start a school of your own?
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And that launched the beginning of Hana Haoli School.
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Hana Haoli in Hawaiian means joyous work.
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It was named by Sophie's brother.
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And from the very beginning, the creation of Hana Haoli in Honolulu in 1918 was a collaboration
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between the Cooks as well as many folks from the Francis Parker School and John Dewey and
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George Meade and the superintendent of the state of Hawaii, of public schools, the fledgling
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University of Hawaii.
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And so from the very start, Hana Haoli was really modeled after John Dewey's experimental
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school at the University of Chicago, but most primarily after the Francis Parker School
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in Chicago.
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And so it has lots of elements of the early East Coast progressive schools overlapping
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and integrating with Hawaii's unique cultural context.
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And so that includes just the physical layout of the school, having lots of outdoor learning
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spaces and open courtyards, the integration of multicultural education and multiple language
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Hawaiian language, Japanese language, French from the very beginning.
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And so its birth was a really unique venture and in the progressive education movement
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because it stayed true to all of those, the progressive philosophies of Dewey and Kilpatrick
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and Lucy Sprague Mitchell and all those folks.
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Yet it was adapted to be more reflective of Hawaii's multicultural society.
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Over the course of this episode, I will include a variety of voices from various students
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and faculty.
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To provide some context for what's to come, I'd like to introduce you to the people you're
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about to hear speak.
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First is Jennifer Stearley, one of the directors of faculty and curriculum and a current educator.
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For a parent's perspective, you'll hear from Veronica Kimme, who's also a faculty
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member.
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Finally, for the adults, you'll hear from Alison Backligg, director of admissions at
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Hana Haoli.
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And last but not least, you'll hear from Raleigh, Hannah, Kaoli, Taylor and Etta, students
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across different age groups.
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In the conception of this project, Amber and I identified a few core values of Hana Haoli.
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While spending time talking, covered by the canopy, and taking in the warm island air,
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Amber pointed out to me that not every progressive school is as lush and green as Hana Haoli.
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In most of the schools she had seen, where they were situated was not a key component
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of how they operated.
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Hana Haoli, on the other hand, situated itself squarely within the Hawaiian cultural and
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physical context.
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This speaks to one of the values we discussed, that of place-based pedagogy, something I
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discussed at length with Stacey in episode 2.
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I guess the first thing that comes to mind is place-based learning, which of course is
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kind of a buzzword lately, but what an amazing place to have place-based learning.
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There's such rich cultural, historical background, and unfortunately, because of the history
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of colonization, a lot of Hawaiian culture has to be rediscovered and reinvigorated.
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As a person who is not Native Hawaiian, there's so much that I need to learn and am learning.
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It's an exciting opportunity for, as a teacher, to say along with the kids, hey, I don't know
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this, but I want to know it, and I know who I can ask.
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Knowing that for them, that curiosity, and valuing where we come from in a certain way.
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I was born here, but I'm not Hawaiian, but I feel like I come from this place to a certain
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level, so I need to honor that and respect that.
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Then also, yeah, I guess really with the wonderings, what else can we learn about where we are?
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How else can we connect?
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How else can we honor this place where we are?
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The students are acutely aware of this as well, highlighting Hawaiian traditions as
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some of their favorite experiences at Hanaoli.
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I really love Makahiki, which is basically Christmas, but Hawaiian, we give authoring,
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we do dances, Hawaiian dances, chants.
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It's really fun.
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I think it's really cool that we get to do Hawaiian things, and it makes me feel connected
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to Hawaiians, and this year, the fifth grade and fourth grade is going to be the spotlight
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of Makahiki, so I'm excited to do that.
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In line with this understanding of place, Hanaoli takes a different approach to how
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it forms its curriculum.
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One of the key elements of Hawaiian pedagogy that showed up time and time again in my research
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was learning by doing.
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Just as Dr. Tsai addressed in episode one, project-based learning has been essential
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to the success of the Hawaiian education system, and Hanaoli has carried this model into the
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era of worksheets and standardized testing.
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Rather than conforming to this new epoch, Hanaoli has continued to pioneer a project-based
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model with lots of room for reflection and creativity.
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When I joined Hanaoli and was teaching in second and third grade, they had the curriculum
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almost built so that there were already a lot of projects that were incorporated into
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the learning, into the curriculum, in order to really give kids experiences and to understand
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– to get at their understanding.
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One of them that I think is pretty unique and fun and valuable is a kids' city project
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where as part of their unit learning on families, schools, and communities, the children design
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and create a city in the classroom.
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So since they have a unique setup of three different classrooms or home groups in one
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large space, the kids take over that entire space for maybe the course of a week.
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But before that even happens, the kids are planning what does a community need?
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What is a community?
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How can we show that?
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How can we make a functional community?
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What do we want in this community to make it the best it possibly can be?
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After they've done the research by going on learning trips, having guest speakers,
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doing interviews, reading, watching videos, they decide upon the elements of their city
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and gather materials that they need, map out where different parts are going to be.
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Oh, we need a bank here because it's a safe place to have a bank.
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Or we definitely need a grocery store because our community members need to eat.
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So that's one of the amazing projects that has been done in second and third.
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In fourth and fifth, it looks a little different.
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I'm coming more recently from the fourth and fifth grade classroom.
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A project that we've done a few times now is a nonviolent direct action project.
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And with that, the children are learning, I mean, with all the projects that we do at
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Honoholi, they're really learning about a larger concept.
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So in this one, they're learning about social justice.
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They're learning about being a changemaker in their communities.
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So kids have some freedom to decide what the focus of their nonviolent direct action is
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going to be.
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And they've also, before this, learned some basics about the civil rights movement.
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They're fourth and fifth graders, so they don't understand or get into all the complexities
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and the history of it.
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But they have a grounding in that and where this idea comes from.
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And they learn about Martin Luther King Jr.'s letter from a Birmingham jail.
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And they decide what action they would like to take.
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They collaborate with each other on how they might take this action, whom it will affect,
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and how, their intended outcomes, what they might do if their action is not successful.
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So through the different age levels and developmental stages, kids are doing different types of
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projects to really show what they understand and develop their understanding.
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And I also like all the work and how it feels so accomplished and good when you get everything
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done, so yeah.
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Um, I'm the same with Hannah.
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I like all the traditions and how we do them.
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And then I also like how we do, like, learning by doing.
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So that just seems nice to me.
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Same.
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Can you guys explain that, what that means?
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So like, for me, it's more of like, um, like, I do this and then sometimes we'll do like
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a reflection about it.
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So it's like, we reflect, I guess.
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Yeah, I like the reflecting, except sometimes I think it's hard for me to remember, like
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sometimes.
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So I like to take notes sometimes of like, what's happened and stuff, like, yeah.
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Just so I know and I have something to reflect on.
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My favorite unit is the food unit because we would get to like, go to Matson or like
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a food product place, like center, or like factory.
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And they would give us like, a pack.
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And my favorite, like, project is when we had our ocean creatures and we got to research
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our creatures and then write about them and drop pictures.
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My favorite unit was personally Mandarin because I'm half Chinese and I get to explore
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more of who I am and my favorite project in it was, we kind of had this idea of this
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artist named Ai Weiwei and we made a project based off of something like him.
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I created like a zodiac animal in his style.
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Or yeah, and I did it with my classmates.
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Um, I don't remember any of like the big projects, but there is this one, like, I wouldn't
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call it a project, but I would call it an activity.
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So one day we had this thing called Black and White School, which was school from like
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when you were in school, like the Rose kind.
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And that was in actually the pavilion where we have our assemblies and stuff.
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And then we did Orange and White School in the back of our classroom where we did like
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a lot of stuff and we made stuff up the bell and it was really cool.
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One of the big projects that we did in the ocean unit that I really enjoyed was like,
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we would put all of our, like all of our facts and stuff that we learned into like a book
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that we would write.
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And for me, that was really fun because I like to author and write.
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So yeah, that was fun.
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I'm going to add on to that.
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I really like to author and write too, but then we got to choose like our top animals
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that we liked, like our top five animals that we liked.
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And then the teachers gave us one of those options and then we had to study that animal
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and like Raleigh said, make it into a book.
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Can I interject because I've had, can you, do you mind telling him about what it means
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to be an author and the authoring process?
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I think it's a good example of...
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Well, what we do here, which is similar out and like what authors would do,
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well, we would like write our draft and then we would self edit with the friends or a partner.
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And then we would like, after that, we would take it to our teacher and she would be like
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our editor and then she would edit for us.
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And then after we got everything edited, we would put it into a big, not a big book,
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but we would bind it and stuff after we did it.
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Well, we have to, then we have to write it on pages after we edit.
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Get to write on these certain pages.
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You can choose if you want a big book or a small book,
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but you can't keep switching back and forth.
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And so we had to like write our story again with all the edits onto the paper.
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So we basically wrote our story like two times
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and then the teacher would laminate our covers, bind it.
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We would do the about the author and dedication.
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We would choose the order and stuff.
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It was really fun and cool.
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Yeah.
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Hanahouli, at more than a century old, is a school steeped in tradition.
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Another value we identified, the traditions provide a sense of continuity,
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progress, and vision to the students as they spend each year building on the last.
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To start, one of the most well-known traditions is the stepping stone,
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where each student carves a stone with their passions, memories, or anything in between
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to be immortalized on a stone path in the courtyard of the school.
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There's a ceremony where each student steps over the stones,
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signifying the end of their journeys at Hanahouli.
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I want to put some like waves on my stepping stone
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because one of my main passions is swimming.
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So I want to like do some ocean-themed stuff.
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So yeah.
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I thought maybe since I like volleyball, maybe I could do like a big volleyball
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and then like in the lines, I could do like other things that I like.
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Something I want to put on my stepping stone
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is my like my passions and what I love to do and what I love like to eat.
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Well, what would you want to put on it if you were going to show your passions?
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Like a musubi, skateboarding, and football.
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It made me like my favorite show.
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I would go with the original of what most kids do.
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I think I would want to put one big thing that represents me in the middle.
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For example, like one of my passions.
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I'm not sure about that yet.
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And on the sides, maybe I'll put like hopeful words for me.
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So one day, if I come back, I'll look at my stepping stone and remember what I did.
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I think I do a tennis ball yet, or like symbols that show what I like to do.
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Here are some other traditions that made the students and teachers particularly excited.
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One of my favorite traditions that I haven't done yet, but it's like always so exciting,
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is so we do this thing where we would grow like a mini Christmas tree.
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And then the sixth graders would cut it down.
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And I always feel like joy watching them cut it because I know one day that will be me.
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And like everyone's working together and I love teamwork.
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And then it's just also really joyful because while the sixth graders are cutting it,
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everyone else is watching and like singing Christmas songs.
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So yeah, and then I also love holiday program.
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It's really fun for me to dance, perform, and they get all like clapping and it just,
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it feels so good once you've accomplished it.
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So every year after the performances, I always get kind of sad that it's over.
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And then I also love holiday program.
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It's really fun for me to dance, perform, and they get all like clapping and it just,
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it feels so good once you've accomplished it.
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So every year after the performances, I always get kind of sad that it's over.
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Also on the last day of school, I love the slipper toss.
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We get, we wear slippers to school and then we get to, we take off our slippers
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and then we count down the last 10 seconds of the school year.
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And we go 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
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And then when we say go, we throw our slippers up in the air towards the flagpole.
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And then at the end, we all run and go find our slippers.
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That's how we end the year.
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Can you think of some other traditions to tell them about?
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Yeah, so one we do is another like big program.
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It, we do May Day and so we'll do like the sixth graders will do the maple dance.
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Everyone will do songs and sometimes we'll do dance.
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Dances like last time, last year, we did a Filipino dance to nickelling.
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So like the bamboo poles would go in and out and we would have to dance in between them.
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So that's really fun.
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So it would go out, out, out, wait, out, out, in, out, out.
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And your foot has to be up in the air when it goes in.
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And then you tap your foot in the middle for the da, da or out, out.
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And we would have to like pay attention to the sticks and try not to get our feet smashed.
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And then we would have to do a dance with our partner according to the pattern.
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Tell them that you know it again.
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Tinicling.
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In Tagalog?
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So and then it's just a really fun holiday program.
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And then another like tradition we do is, sorry, I forget some of my art traditions.
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There's like birthday books and the Olympics and flag and assembly.
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Olympics, that's what I was saying.
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Okay, tell them about the Olympics.
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Olympics is like, well, first the sixth graders do like Greek oratories and they have groups
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and stuff.
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And then after that, they do the Olympics, like the Greek Olympics, but we do it like
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Holy Olympics.
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So it's like running hurdles, javelins.
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Sometimes they will do, what's it called?
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They would do 40 year dash, there's a long jump.
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It's really fun.
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And then there's also birthday books.
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Birthday books is when it's your birthday, you have the option to choose a book.
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And you make a plate that says, this birthday book is the gift of blanks.
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So and so's birthday, like blank birthday on the date of their birthday.
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And then the year.
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And then you get to like decorate the black, you get to glue it into the book.
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And then that lives in the library.
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So like if you come back or something, like, and you open up a book, then you can find
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your birthday book.
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So it's like a good memory to have.
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It's like, there's also flag and assembly of assemblies, like, you know, you sit,
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there's like plays, productions.
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It's really fun.
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And then flag, like we do the Pledge of Allegiance.
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And we have announcements and thought of the day.
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And then, yeah.
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Can you say what the thought of the day is really quick?
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Well, sometimes there's like the canoes and islands, the island is a canoe.
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But other days, maybe it will be like the old short player and the new short player.
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Today may beautiful things happen to you.
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And let us honor this day.
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Yeah.
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And then sometimes we'll do like Po'e or fourth and fifth this year.
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Like what we're in.
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We're going to be doing a Mandarin thought of the day or Ma'o O'ola.
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These traditions, as you might have noticed, are often sourced from across the spectrum
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of different identities and cultures that make up the Hawaiian melting pot spanning
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the Pacific and beyond.
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At Hana Haoli, students learn ʻOlelo Hawaiʻi, as well as Mandarin,
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somewhat recently taking the place of Japanese.
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Students are exposed to a variety of cultures and develop a rich understanding
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of the peoples present in the Hawaiian islands.
324
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This reflects a cultural responsiveness that Hana Haoli strives for.
325
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The school seeks to give students the opportunity to reflect their own culture in their education.
326
00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:06,040
Yeah, so my husband and I are both of mixed ethnicities.
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And I would say that we both feel like we don't know enough about, you know,
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the cultures of our ancestors.
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And I do feel like my daughter learns more about our family's, you know,
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the cultures that make up our family more than we know,
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than we know how to share, you know, with our kids.
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For example, my husband's a quarter native Hawaiian,
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but doesn't know very much about Hawaiian history or even Hawaiian culture.
334
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And I feel like she learns that here in school and she brings that home to us.
335
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You know, I'm a quarter Japanese and I don't know anything about being Japanese.
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And she's involved in so many like Japanese traditions at school.
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And this place, I think, does a really great job of like embracing many different cultures.
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And really they just ask families to like share what is special to them,
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you know, and what you share about yourselves.
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And so, you know, like we get to learn about so many different cultures
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just through other families sharing.
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And I love that.
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And I love that like kids really feel a lot of pride for who they are
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and for how they're different from one another.
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And kids are genuinely interested in learning about, you know,
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each other's differences.
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Yeah, I think it's in our mission statement, in our beliefs and values,
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we do state explicitly that we value diversity,
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that it is not just something that exists, but that we value and celebrate it.
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I think within the classroom, within all our little daily routines,
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we have built in ways to honor and celebrate our differences.
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We honor children's voice and perspective.
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We welcome families into the classroom and onto campus.
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We have a lot of celebration of different cultural traditions.
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When a family brings a cultural tradition or celebration to the classroom,
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we make a big deal.
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It's awesome.
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We love to learn about each other.
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As far as differences, I think is something that's addressed in all ages,
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like from JK to, oh, that same same and that's different to sixth grade
361
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when they're really exploring their personal identity
362
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and figuring out who they are in a larger society.
363
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That's a question that always comes up.
364
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And that's always something that we explore with the kids and we celebrate
365
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and we honor who they are as people, not just as students.
366
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This exposure to a variety of cultures serves a multitude of purposes,
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one of which is reflecting the quote unquote real world back at the students.
368
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Contrary to the belief that progressive education creates a bubble,
369
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Hanaoli strives to expose students to the complexities of real life
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and the often complicated ways in which people interact.
371
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I asked how the educators and parent I spoke to
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prepare their kids for the quote unquote real world
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as is often considered the goal of education.
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To them, the distinction between school and the real world was not quite so rigid.
375
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I think as a teacher, something I always strive to remember
376
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is that when I was a child, what I was feeling and what I was thinking
377
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was real to me at that time.
378
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As a child, you don't understand all the complexities of life.
379
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You don't understand so much.
380
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But what you do know, that's authentic to you.
381
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So I guess it's my way of saying I want to respect the experiences of kids.
382
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Whatever they are feeling and whatever they are thinking,
383
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that is true to them at that moment.
384
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So that is their real world.
385
00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:15,080
That is their real life.
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So school, again, it's not a mirror of their life.
387
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It is their life.
388
00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:24,760
This is the place where they spend so much of their time.
389
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This is where their friends are.
390
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This is their experience.
391
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So helping them understand that this is a safe place where they are valued,
392
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but also they are expanding their understanding of the world.
393
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And we don't want to have a barrier between this is school,
394
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this is life, or this is school.
395
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So as much as we can help them find connections to the bigger world,
396
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I don't want to say the outside world,
397
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but just the bigger world that their lives are expanding,
398
00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:12,360
I guess, is our job, and to keep them curious and to keep them safe
399
00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:17,320
while they do that is my goal as a teacher.
400
00:31:18,920 --> 00:31:24,280
So the kind of schools that I went to were pretty traditional,
401
00:31:24,280 --> 00:31:28,440
and I would say that I was a good student.
402
00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:29,800
I was good at school,
403
00:31:30,360 --> 00:31:39,160
but I don't feel like it prepared me for being a flexible problem solver,
404
00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:47,480
and I think that this school environment really does support that in my daughter.
405
00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:56,520
I love that she's already really good at collaborating with others,
406
00:31:57,240 --> 00:32:06,280
and that when she's given an open-ended assignment,
407
00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:13,400
that it's not overwhelming or that she's not unmotivated,
408
00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:21,640
but rather she's excited to jump in and explore what she's genuinely interested in.
409
00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:27,720
And I think that those are perspectives or outlooks that you need
410
00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:30,600
to be successful in this world today.
411
00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:36,840
So I really feel like the way that the school approaches learning
412
00:32:36,840 --> 00:32:42,280
is very reflective of how we live our lives as adults,
413
00:32:43,560 --> 00:32:45,800
and so it really supports her in that way.
414
00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:55,560
Also, a lot of the structures here in the school involve a lot of student choice
415
00:32:56,360 --> 00:33:04,760
and a lot of freedom for kids to pursue what they're interested in,
416
00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:10,440
and I love that. I think that that's going to help her a lot in her future.
417
00:33:11,000 --> 00:33:12,840
Instead of having stratified age groups,
418
00:33:12,840 --> 00:33:16,200
Hana Haoli promotes relationships between students across age groups,
419
00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:19,720
allowing for students to mentor and care for each other no matter their age.
420
00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:20,760
When I spoke to the students,
421
00:33:20,760 --> 00:33:24,280
this was one of the aspects of their experience at Hana Haoli that excited them the most.
422
00:33:25,320 --> 00:33:31,560
Well, just by nature of the age, there's a ton of growth that's happened since she was four
423
00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:32,760
until now she's eight.
424
00:33:33,880 --> 00:33:40,280
But it's been really fun to see her evolve from,
425
00:33:41,240 --> 00:33:44,360
because of the multi-age structure of the classes here,
426
00:33:44,360 --> 00:33:48,680
it's been fun to watch her enter a class as a newcomer.
427
00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:52,840
We call them enterings in their first year and then continuings in their second year.
428
00:33:53,880 --> 00:33:58,520
It's been fun to watch her personality and perspective change
429
00:33:58,520 --> 00:34:02,120
from the way she approaches school as an entering
430
00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:04,760
to how she approaches it in her continuing year.
431
00:34:06,520 --> 00:34:10,360
The first multi-age grouping here is in kindergarten and first grade,
432
00:34:10,920 --> 00:34:14,520
and she loved being an entering in that grouping.
433
00:34:14,520 --> 00:34:16,200
The class is called Kokuna Okula,
434
00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:21,800
and she's used to being the baby in the family.
435
00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:26,280
She's got two older sisters I mentioned who are actually significantly older than her,
436
00:34:27,240 --> 00:34:30,920
and it comes naturally for her to ask for help,
437
00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:34,440
and she enjoys the attention that comes with being the baby.
438
00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:41,880
But it doesn't come as naturally for her to be empathetic to others,
439
00:34:41,880 --> 00:34:49,320
to choose things based on the examples that it sets.
440
00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:55,720
And so it was really fun to see her take on the role of the continuing,
441
00:34:56,040 --> 00:34:59,160
and to be a supporter to younger students.
442
00:35:00,440 --> 00:35:03,320
And this coming year, she'll be a continuing in her
443
00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:05,800
in the second multi-age grouping.
444
00:35:05,800 --> 00:35:08,360
It's called Kula Eevee, second and third grade.
445
00:35:09,080 --> 00:35:13,000
And I'm excited to see how she approaches it this year too.
446
00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:14,520
I think it'll be totally different.
447
00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:23,400
So for me, I think it's fun, interesting and fun.
448
00:35:24,120 --> 00:35:28,520
Because this year, our teachers are really pushing us to be diverse.
449
00:35:29,720 --> 00:35:34,920
That also helps us not just be boys and girls or stuff like that,
450
00:35:34,920 --> 00:35:37,080
but different grades.
451
00:35:37,080 --> 00:35:42,760
Or we call them enterings for the young grade and continuance for the older grade.
452
00:35:43,720 --> 00:35:47,720
So I feel like that just gives one more step into being diverse,
453
00:35:47,720 --> 00:35:49,720
which is really important.
454
00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:56,520
Yeah, I really like it because I feel like I can go to one of the continuings
455
00:35:56,520 --> 00:35:57,880
if I'm an entering.
456
00:35:57,880 --> 00:36:02,440
And if I need any help or a question or if the teachers aren't available,
457
00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:06,600
and I can ask them my question and I feel comfortable doing that.
458
00:36:06,600 --> 00:36:12,280
And then if I am a continuing, I like getting the questions from the enterings
459
00:36:12,280 --> 00:36:16,120
because I know that they're following my footsteps in learning like I did.
460
00:36:16,120 --> 00:36:17,880
And I think that that's really cool.
461
00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:26,760
And then the only two grades that are not mixed grade is sixth grade and junior kindergarten.
462
00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:27,560
Or JK.
463
00:36:27,560 --> 00:36:35,480
But I would say that they kind of mix together because we have like sixth grade buddies
464
00:36:35,480 --> 00:36:36,760
and JK buddies.
465
00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:45,880
So like sixth grade would have a JK buddy and so they're like together kind of.
466
00:36:46,840 --> 00:36:47,560
Yes.
467
00:36:47,560 --> 00:36:51,560
And then there's also reading buddies, which ho'e ka'ahele,
468
00:36:51,560 --> 00:36:57,560
or fourth and fifth grade, do with kakuna or kindergarten and first grade.
469
00:36:57,560 --> 00:36:59,080
So that's really cool.
470
00:36:59,080 --> 00:37:01,640
We get to every Wednesday afternoon after lunch.
471
00:37:03,160 --> 00:37:04,600
We read to our reading buddies.
472
00:37:04,600 --> 00:37:05,400
And that's really nice.
473
00:37:05,400 --> 00:37:06,440
For 30 minutes.
474
00:37:06,440 --> 00:37:06,840
So yeah.
475
00:37:08,360 --> 00:37:15,400
Something that probably I'm excited to do is get a JK buddy because I really want like
476
00:37:16,280 --> 00:37:20,440
a little JK buddy so I can like make stuff for them.
477
00:37:23,880 --> 00:37:33,160
JK is like the littlest class of Hanahouli.
478
00:37:33,800 --> 00:37:39,240
And when you're in the highest class of Hanahouli,
479
00:37:39,240 --> 00:37:42,680
you get to have a buddy from the lowest class.
480
00:37:43,640 --> 00:37:50,840
Um, I like how when I was younger or when I was in the younger age,
481
00:37:50,840 --> 00:37:54,600
the older kids treated me really respectfully.
482
00:37:54,600 --> 00:38:03,240
So I have kind of I look that year or I'm an older kid now,
483
00:38:03,240 --> 00:38:12,200
but I used to look forward to helping the little kids and having a big responsibility.
484
00:38:12,280 --> 00:38:16,920
So oh, and in third and second grade, you get like a buddy.
485
00:38:17,720 --> 00:38:19,800
It's usually second and third grades.
486
00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:26,280
And they're basically like the people you work with the most.
487
00:38:26,280 --> 00:38:31,560
So yeah, that's pretty fun.
488
00:38:33,720 --> 00:38:37,640
I think the experience with fourth and fifth graders is
489
00:38:38,600 --> 00:38:43,160
you can ask anybody and they're always going to be able to help you.
490
00:38:43,160 --> 00:38:46,280
You can't just the people that are older than you.
491
00:38:46,280 --> 00:38:50,760
Not only do multi-age classrooms prepare students for a world not stratified by age,
492
00:38:50,760 --> 00:38:53,160
but it also promotes a sense of community.
493
00:38:53,160 --> 00:38:54,840
Across various Hawaiian pedagogies,
494
00:38:54,840 --> 00:38:58,680
one of the most important shared elements is that of ohana or family.
495
00:38:58,680 --> 00:39:00,680
These are the communities we fall back on,
496
00:39:00,680 --> 00:39:03,400
the people we build our lives with both blood and chosen.
497
00:39:04,040 --> 00:39:07,560
Hana Haoli, rather than individualizing the education of the students,
498
00:39:07,560 --> 00:39:10,120
allows parents to be active participants.
499
00:39:10,120 --> 00:39:13,800
However, unlike the often dog-whistled notion of parental rights,
500
00:39:13,800 --> 00:39:16,680
parents are not expected to restrict their child's knowledge intake,
501
00:39:16,680 --> 00:39:21,320
but rather learn as an ohana what it means to explore the world as a learner.
502
00:39:21,320 --> 00:39:22,680
This is so important, in fact,
503
00:39:22,680 --> 00:39:26,040
that it is one of the key elements of the admissions process at Hana Haoli.
504
00:39:26,920 --> 00:39:31,720
You know, when a child is three and a half or four and a half years old,
505
00:39:32,680 --> 00:39:35,880
they're little, they're all going to be little kids,
506
00:39:35,880 --> 00:39:37,960
but they all do have an interest,
507
00:39:37,960 --> 00:39:41,480
a unique personality that we can kind of see at that age.
508
00:39:41,480 --> 00:39:46,040
So we look for just a variety of personalities of children.
509
00:39:47,320 --> 00:39:50,520
We look for if they show us different interests,
510
00:39:50,520 --> 00:39:51,720
you know, in terms of the children,
511
00:39:51,720 --> 00:39:54,840
if they're able to follow directions and kind of stay with the group.
512
00:39:54,840 --> 00:39:57,000
If it looks like they might need more needs,
513
00:39:57,000 --> 00:40:00,040
you know, then we're able to provide in terms of
514
00:40:00,120 --> 00:40:04,920
maybe needing a smaller group size or attention in a specific way,
515
00:40:04,920 --> 00:40:08,520
then that might be an indicator that maybe it wouldn't be a good fit.
516
00:40:08,520 --> 00:40:11,640
We also look to the parents and their response
517
00:40:11,640 --> 00:40:13,560
and their understanding of this school
518
00:40:14,280 --> 00:40:18,760
and their interest and willingness to participate.
519
00:40:19,960 --> 00:40:23,480
Parents enjoy a variety of ways to involve themselves in their children's education.
520
00:40:23,960 --> 00:40:29,720
So this school is extraordinary in the number of opportunities
521
00:40:29,720 --> 00:40:33,480
that they create for families to be really actively involved
522
00:40:33,480 --> 00:40:35,720
in their kids' school experiences.
523
00:40:37,160 --> 00:40:40,520
You know, there are a gazillion learning trips a year
524
00:40:40,520 --> 00:40:42,120
that parents can chaperone.
525
00:40:42,120 --> 00:40:44,520
There are tons of fun activities in the classroom
526
00:40:44,520 --> 00:40:47,240
that they ask for extra hands with.
527
00:40:47,240 --> 00:40:49,000
They invite families to come and, you know,
528
00:40:49,000 --> 00:40:51,800
present about things that they're familiar with
529
00:40:52,760 --> 00:40:54,920
or things that are related to the topics
530
00:40:54,920 --> 00:40:57,080
that the students are exploring in their units.
531
00:40:58,120 --> 00:40:59,960
Parents come to campus.
532
00:40:59,960 --> 00:41:03,240
I mean, any given day, you'll see many parents on campus
533
00:41:03,240 --> 00:41:08,280
just for our morning flag gatherings and our Friday assemblies.
534
00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:11,480
It's a really welcoming community.
535
00:41:13,560 --> 00:41:15,080
And I work part-time for the school,
536
00:41:15,080 --> 00:41:17,880
and so I actually have the luxury of having a lot of time
537
00:41:17,880 --> 00:41:23,160
that I can commit to volunteering in the classroom,
538
00:41:23,160 --> 00:41:25,480
you know, and doing that stuff as a parent.
539
00:41:26,920 --> 00:41:30,120
And then I also, as an employee of the school,
540
00:41:30,120 --> 00:41:34,520
I have a really close relationship with all of her teachers
541
00:41:34,520 --> 00:41:36,040
and all of her classmates.
542
00:41:36,040 --> 00:41:39,720
I supervise recess, you know, a couple times a week,
543
00:41:39,720 --> 00:41:44,280
and I get to be a fly on the wall quite often, you know.
544
00:41:45,080 --> 00:41:47,160
So I feel really lucky that I get to be
545
00:41:47,160 --> 00:41:49,320
such a big part of her school experience.
546
00:41:50,520 --> 00:41:54,200
Yeah, there's so many different ways that family,
547
00:41:54,200 --> 00:41:58,520
I mean, family is an essential part of our school culture.
548
00:41:58,520 --> 00:42:03,080
If we took that out, it would not be the same school.
549
00:42:05,880 --> 00:42:09,640
From the moment, well, most of our families come in as JK families,
550
00:42:09,640 --> 00:42:10,920
not all, but the majority.
551
00:42:11,800 --> 00:42:15,240
There are elements set up to welcome them
552
00:42:15,240 --> 00:42:18,520
and to educate them about our values as a school
553
00:42:18,520 --> 00:42:22,600
and also asking them to be involved in their child's education.
554
00:42:24,600 --> 00:42:28,120
I'll paraphrase, but there is a statement in our beliefs
555
00:42:28,120 --> 00:42:31,080
saying that we believe the parent or the family
556
00:42:31,080 --> 00:42:33,880
is the first and foremost educator of the child.
557
00:42:34,600 --> 00:42:37,320
And so I think we try to live that with,
558
00:42:37,880 --> 00:42:40,280
especially in the lower elementary,
559
00:42:41,000 --> 00:42:44,840
parents are often asked to come in as experts.
560
00:42:44,840 --> 00:42:47,160
And being an expert can be, you know,
561
00:42:47,160 --> 00:42:50,280
I am an expert at growing banana plants
562
00:42:50,280 --> 00:42:53,480
and I'm going to teach the kids about how to grow banana plants.
563
00:42:53,480 --> 00:42:56,040
And it can be really simple as that,
564
00:42:56,040 --> 00:43:01,160
but we're showing the kids that we value their families,
565
00:43:01,160 --> 00:43:04,920
we value their family's knowledge and traditions
566
00:43:04,920 --> 00:43:07,880
and cultural knowledge and experiences.
567
00:43:10,200 --> 00:43:16,920
We have our Hui, which is kind of like a big version of a PTA,
568
00:43:16,920 --> 00:43:20,600
but it's everyone, it's teachers, staff, families,
569
00:43:20,600 --> 00:43:24,520
we are all together, we're all trying to be informed,
570
00:43:24,520 --> 00:43:25,960
we're all trying to be involved.
571
00:43:26,760 --> 00:43:30,520
So big and small ways, we're always trying to build
572
00:43:30,520 --> 00:43:33,800
our school community on that relationship of
573
00:43:34,920 --> 00:43:40,120
families are part of our school and school depends on our families.
574
00:43:41,400 --> 00:43:45,960
Well, a specific example of a really, you know,
575
00:43:45,960 --> 00:43:51,960
really engaging family project that she just had in this last year
576
00:43:51,960 --> 00:43:58,280
was the class's theme is, you know, in Kula Iwi,
577
00:43:58,280 --> 00:43:59,880
they're exploring their island home
578
00:44:00,600 --> 00:44:05,560
and the learning trips throughout the year involved going to,
579
00:44:05,560 --> 00:44:08,040
you know, many different places around the island
580
00:44:08,040 --> 00:44:12,120
and exploring the geography and thinking about,
581
00:44:12,120 --> 00:44:15,080
you know, just all about this place.
582
00:44:16,120 --> 00:44:19,560
But they asked families to identify a place
583
00:44:19,560 --> 00:44:22,040
that they had never been to preferably on this island,
584
00:44:22,040 --> 00:44:24,840
but maybe on another island, you know, while you're on vacation
585
00:44:25,880 --> 00:44:29,000
and to approach it like a learning trip, a family learning trip
586
00:44:29,000 --> 00:44:31,720
and then to do a little reflection on it together.
587
00:44:32,360 --> 00:44:35,240
And they compiled all the reflections together
588
00:44:35,240 --> 00:44:38,440
and made a book of all of these places on the island
589
00:44:38,440 --> 00:44:40,840
that you could visit that other, you know, classmates
590
00:44:40,840 --> 00:44:42,440
had gone to with their families.
591
00:44:43,400 --> 00:44:47,640
And so we, you know, found part of the beach on the island
592
00:44:47,640 --> 00:44:53,800
that we had never been to that's got tide pools
593
00:44:53,800 --> 00:44:57,400
and, you know, is pretty well known for having a lot of wildlife.
594
00:44:58,200 --> 00:45:02,200
And we had the most amazing day and loved writing about it
595
00:45:02,200 --> 00:45:03,640
and sharing photos.
596
00:45:03,640 --> 00:45:06,440
And we've got this book now of all these cool places
597
00:45:06,440 --> 00:45:08,200
and hikes that we want to check out, you know,
598
00:45:08,200 --> 00:45:10,600
that even my older kids look at all the time and are like,
599
00:45:10,600 --> 00:45:12,520
hey, we got to go to this beach, remember?
600
00:45:12,520 --> 00:45:14,840
Remember so-and-so was talking about that place, let's go to it.
601
00:45:16,440 --> 00:45:20,760
So yeah, that's like one of, you know, many opportunities
602
00:45:21,320 --> 00:45:25,560
that they present families with, you know, to get really involved.
603
00:45:26,520 --> 00:45:32,040
But I also find that the school has kind of taught me
604
00:45:32,040 --> 00:45:37,720
to also like respect and honor her space
605
00:45:37,720 --> 00:45:41,800
and her initiative to pursue things that she's interested in
606
00:45:41,800 --> 00:45:44,200
and to, you know, drive her own learning.
607
00:45:44,200 --> 00:45:49,160
And I would say that in a lot of ways I was more actively
608
00:45:50,600 --> 00:45:54,520
like engaged with my older children's learning
609
00:45:54,520 --> 00:46:00,200
than I am with hers in the sense that I want to give her that room,
610
00:46:00,200 --> 00:46:03,480
you know, to like to pursue the things that she's interested
611
00:46:03,480 --> 00:46:06,200
in what she's learning about in school without, you know, me,
612
00:46:07,080 --> 00:46:08,760
you know, being involved in it.
613
00:46:09,880 --> 00:46:11,640
And I think she likes that too.
614
00:46:11,640 --> 00:46:14,840
And I think that's another cool thing about the school,
615
00:46:14,840 --> 00:46:21,720
you know, that they really instill in kids, you know, desire to learn
616
00:46:21,720 --> 00:46:24,040
and to explore the things that they're interested in.
617
00:46:25,320 --> 00:46:27,880
Well, and I think another piece that I've learned, you know,
618
00:46:28,840 --> 00:46:32,760
I experienced last year was my first year as director of admissions.
619
00:46:32,760 --> 00:46:38,920
And I saw that the process set up
620
00:46:40,040 --> 00:46:43,960
prior to my becoming director of admissions was just fabulous.
621
00:46:43,960 --> 00:46:50,600
What we do is we not only have small group play sessions with teachers,
622
00:46:51,560 --> 00:46:58,680
but we ask families to, the parents to join in small groups
623
00:46:59,400 --> 00:47:06,840
and to learn about how we teach here, to learn about how we center on children,
624
00:47:06,840 --> 00:47:10,600
to learn more about progressivism and learn about John Dewey
625
00:47:10,600 --> 00:47:12,840
or learn about how our school was founded.
626
00:47:12,840 --> 00:47:16,360
So we have like four sessions running at a time
627
00:47:16,360 --> 00:47:21,320
while the students or the children are with teachers in classrooms,
628
00:47:21,320 --> 00:47:23,080
parents are going to their own classrooms.
629
00:47:23,080 --> 00:47:28,040
They're maybe doing a movement dance activity
630
00:47:28,040 --> 00:47:34,280
and expressing themselves through responding to music and then reflecting.
631
00:47:35,320 --> 00:47:40,440
Or they might be in a social emotional group in the art room
632
00:47:40,440 --> 00:47:45,800
with our school counselor sharing about feelings or sharing about parenting
633
00:47:45,800 --> 00:47:51,560
and then relating that to how we teach here and how we acknowledge the whole child.
634
00:47:52,200 --> 00:47:55,800
Or they might be with our librarian in the library
635
00:47:55,800 --> 00:47:59,080
learning about the beliefs and the practices here
636
00:47:59,080 --> 00:48:02,840
and what it looks like from, you know, the early ages,
637
00:48:02,840 --> 00:48:06,760
the junior kindergarten and all the way to sixth grade.
638
00:48:06,760 --> 00:48:13,560
So that the cool thing about that is the parents are as excited
639
00:48:13,560 --> 00:48:17,400
or more excited than the children in their experience.
640
00:48:17,400 --> 00:48:21,560
They're like, wow, I really am understanding this a little bit more.
641
00:48:21,560 --> 00:48:24,840
I'm loving this, so I want this for my child.
642
00:48:24,840 --> 00:48:28,920
Or they might come away, you know, those who don't want it,
643
00:48:28,920 --> 00:48:30,520
they're not necessarily telling me.
644
00:48:30,520 --> 00:48:35,400
But I think it's been a really great way of sharing about our school
645
00:48:35,400 --> 00:48:38,600
so that families coming in, they know from the start,
646
00:48:38,600 --> 00:48:40,360
we're not a traditional school.
647
00:48:40,440 --> 00:48:44,440
They're not going to be sitting at desks all the time,
648
00:48:44,440 --> 00:48:47,880
although we absolutely do use desks and we absolutely do teach skills
649
00:48:47,880 --> 00:48:52,920
and we absolutely do look at, you know, growth over time with the children.
650
00:48:54,440 --> 00:48:59,960
So those pieces of interviewing and have the parents involved
651
00:48:59,960 --> 00:49:02,600
and then also having the parent docents,
652
00:49:02,600 --> 00:49:05,560
I think that really shows how our community is
653
00:49:06,520 --> 00:49:10,920
totally woven into the fabric of what we do here
654
00:49:10,920 --> 00:49:15,320
and how we relate to the world.
655
00:49:16,360 --> 00:49:17,960
Okay, I've said it a lot.
656
00:49:19,240 --> 00:49:21,000
It is important to recognize, however,
657
00:49:21,000 --> 00:49:23,720
that the school doesn't exist within a vacuum.
658
00:49:23,720 --> 00:49:27,960
Hawaii has one of the lowest rated education systems in the United States.
659
00:49:27,960 --> 00:49:30,760
Public schools are often underfunded, understaffed,
660
00:49:30,760 --> 00:49:33,880
and don't provide the potential for upward mobility to their students.
661
00:49:34,520 --> 00:49:37,400
Hana Haoli, like many of the notable Hawaiian private schools,
662
00:49:37,400 --> 00:49:38,840
tends to serve a privileged group.
663
00:49:39,400 --> 00:49:42,360
However, they continue to make efforts to expand their student body
664
00:49:42,360 --> 00:49:44,760
and push back against the cutthroat competition
665
00:49:44,760 --> 00:49:47,160
that defines Hawaiian education today.
666
00:49:47,160 --> 00:49:49,240
Here's Allison with more on the admissions process.
667
00:49:50,520 --> 00:49:57,720
You know, one of the things we want to do is to reach out to different preschools, really,
668
00:49:57,720 --> 00:50:03,960
and to that have not typically had children come to us.
669
00:50:03,960 --> 00:50:11,400
So one of the things I want to do this year is sort of expand our network or reach to
670
00:50:13,720 --> 00:50:18,280
schools and other areas of the island that have not traditionally,
671
00:50:21,560 --> 00:50:24,040
we haven't had applicants from those schools.
672
00:50:24,040 --> 00:50:28,040
So that's one idea right now that we have.
673
00:50:28,040 --> 00:50:34,680
We have a couple of, you know, half our applicants come from a handful of schools,
674
00:50:34,680 --> 00:50:38,520
and the other half come from a variety of schools.
675
00:50:38,520 --> 00:50:43,240
So I want to plug into those variety of schools to find our applicants.
676
00:50:43,240 --> 00:50:51,080
We also are going to have a committee from our board and be looking at financial aid
677
00:50:51,080 --> 00:51:00,360
and looking more completely at how our financial aid might support diversity in our school
678
00:51:00,360 --> 00:51:05,480
and whether that's adequate or whether we need to make any changes in that.
679
00:51:05,480 --> 00:51:08,360
So I think those two ways reaching out to different schools
680
00:51:08,360 --> 00:51:13,880
and then having our board on the other side look at that aspect.
681
00:51:14,760 --> 00:51:24,280
The University of Hawaii has a progressive pedagogy program, and that might be,
682
00:51:24,280 --> 00:51:31,000
that's a way we've gotten several teachers, really excellent teachers, have joined us.
683
00:51:31,000 --> 00:51:37,240
And I'm not sure if that's also a way to expand our, I mean, they know more about hanahale in that way,
684
00:51:37,240 --> 00:51:41,640
you know, they might apply their children, but perhaps there's another way that that could support
685
00:51:42,120 --> 00:51:47,160
spreading our knowledge about our school in another direction.
686
00:51:48,200 --> 00:51:54,280
Part of what works about hanahale and what makes it unique is that we are a small school,
687
00:51:54,280 --> 00:51:57,560
and you really can know everybody when you're a small school,
688
00:51:57,560 --> 00:52:04,600
and that's one of the things that makes it special in our progressive mission.
689
00:52:05,160 --> 00:52:10,520
But also a part of our mission is that we reach out to the broader community
690
00:52:10,600 --> 00:52:21,080
and we've had a summer school program called the skills we need for the last couple of years,
691
00:52:21,080 --> 00:52:27,560
and that may possibly expand or at least be continuous that, you know,
692
00:52:27,560 --> 00:52:32,440
we have children from the public schools come here, we have funding that's provided
693
00:52:32,440 --> 00:52:37,320
that summer experience for them, but really to have a greater impact, you know, in the
694
00:52:38,280 --> 00:52:45,800
state school system, our professional development center, which Amber Strong Makaiao has been
695
00:52:45,800 --> 00:52:52,680
involved with, along with Veronica Kimi, that has been a way that we've been able to
696
00:52:52,680 --> 00:52:59,000
expand our reach and expand our knowledge and our, you know, care for the schools in Hawaii.
697
00:52:59,000 --> 00:53:03,720
And we've had many participants from the Department of Education in that way.
698
00:53:04,680 --> 00:53:09,000
Hana Haoli, as well as being an example of progressive pedagogy, also has a field
699
00:53:09,000 --> 00:53:13,800
pioneering professional development network. Run by Amber, Hana Haoli's PD both teaches
700
00:53:13,800 --> 00:53:17,400
and practices the ideas and philosophies that sets Hana Haoli apart.
701
00:53:21,080 --> 00:53:25,560
What kind of professional development do you do at Hana Haoli? And in particular,
702
00:53:25,560 --> 00:53:29,720
how does it differ from sort of the typical model of education professional development,
703
00:53:29,720 --> 00:53:35,960
both in terms of the content and the structure? Yeah, so Hana Haoli School has a professional
704
00:53:35,960 --> 00:53:40,680
development center, which has a director, which is myself. And uniquely, it's a bridge,
705
00:53:41,640 --> 00:53:47,320
bridge program between the University of Hawaii and Hana Haoli School. And I'd say that it's
706
00:53:47,320 --> 00:53:51,880
really modeled after what John Dewey was doing with the experimental school at the University
707
00:53:51,880 --> 00:53:59,240
of Chicago, and which John Goodlad wrote about many years later, but really looking at school
708
00:53:59,240 --> 00:54:05,000
university partnerships and looking at how this helps schools become better because you have the
709
00:54:05,000 --> 00:54:11,640
influx of new ideas and new teachers and research and scholarship and pushing innovation. And then
710
00:54:11,640 --> 00:54:17,560
it supports the work of universities because it's real life living schools that students
711
00:54:17,560 --> 00:54:23,240
can learn how to teach in, scholars can come and study, and researchers can come and do work in.
712
00:54:23,880 --> 00:54:30,360
And so our professional development center at Hana Haoli has multiple types of programs.
713
00:54:30,920 --> 00:54:36,040
We run workshops and public talks. We have a two-week summer institute and integrated
714
00:54:36,040 --> 00:54:43,240
interdisciplinary thematic curriculum design. And the main goal of all of these is to offer
715
00:54:43,240 --> 00:54:48,840
educative experiences that are led by progressive education teachers that align to our progressive
716
00:54:48,840 --> 00:54:54,760
education mission. We have programs such as that, but we also really use the school
717
00:54:54,760 --> 00:55:01,880
as a living laboratory. So we have school tours designed for educators, long-term scholars and
718
00:55:01,880 --> 00:55:07,000
residents, shorter-term scholars and residents, where people can come and see things that they're
719
00:55:07,000 --> 00:55:11,080
exploring and thinking about in education in action. So for example, if they're interested
720
00:55:11,080 --> 00:55:15,880
in team teaching or what a multi-age classroom looks like, that instead of just reading about
721
00:55:15,880 --> 00:55:21,400
it in a book or taking a workshop on it, you can come and experience it for yourself alongside the
722
00:55:21,400 --> 00:55:28,360
teachers and students at Hana Haoli. In addition, we have teacher candidates. So folks who are
723
00:55:28,360 --> 00:55:34,200
learning how to teach are on campus. And by having that experience to experience progressive
724
00:55:34,200 --> 00:55:39,480
education firsthand as a first-year novice teacher, it really fundamentally shapes the type of
725
00:55:39,480 --> 00:55:45,800
teachers folks become. And then we're also producing resources and materials and curriculum
726
00:55:46,360 --> 00:55:51,240
by working with all of the teachers that collaborate with us in either long-term scholars
727
00:55:51,240 --> 00:55:58,920
or through workshops and things like that. So I just want to emphasize the way in which we
728
00:55:58,920 --> 00:56:07,240
leverage being able to have learning happen alongside children and families and teachers
729
00:56:07,240 --> 00:56:12,600
as a part of the regular school day and the ways in which that grows the profession of teaching and
730
00:56:12,600 --> 00:56:17,560
helps to grow folks that have real hands-on experience with progressive education. And it
731
00:56:17,560 --> 00:56:24,440
also helps Hana Haoli grow and become a better school itself. Yeah, and so how important but
732
00:56:24,440 --> 00:56:32,680
also what role do you view professional development as part of the larger identity and project of the
733
00:56:32,680 --> 00:56:39,080
Hana Haoli school? Yeah, I mean, I think it's really aligned nicely with our progressive mission of
734
00:56:40,040 --> 00:56:44,600
supporting school communities to create a better future society for today's children.
735
00:56:46,680 --> 00:56:55,720
I think that by we are able to service the 210 plus families whose children attend the school,
736
00:56:56,440 --> 00:57:03,320
but by extension, the school is able to do work in the broader community and to have a bigger reach
737
00:57:03,960 --> 00:57:07,960
and a bigger impact. And I just think that that's so closely aligned to
738
00:57:09,000 --> 00:57:14,840
what it means to be a progressive educator. And that when you're a progressive teacher,
739
00:57:14,840 --> 00:57:19,400
you're thinking about the kids in your classroom, but you're also thinking about how can we apply
740
00:57:19,400 --> 00:57:23,400
the work that we're doing in our classroom to actually make real change in the world and
741
00:57:23,400 --> 00:57:28,840
society at large. And I think by having a professional development arm of the school,
742
00:57:29,480 --> 00:57:36,760
this really enables Hana Holy to fulfill its progressive mission in exponential ways.
743
00:57:38,040 --> 00:57:43,720
So we identified a couple of core values. Just as a reminder, we had learning by doing traditions
744
00:57:43,720 --> 00:57:48,360
and responding to a changing world, learning at school mirrors the real world learning,
745
00:57:48,360 --> 00:57:52,600
Ohana connection to community building and cultural responsiveness. How do you see those
746
00:57:52,600 --> 00:57:59,640
values reflected in the, you know, the way you engage in professional development?
747
00:57:59,640 --> 00:58:03,640
Well, I would definitely say learning by doing was at the top of your list. And I,
748
00:58:03,640 --> 00:58:07,000
I mean, I think I've, I've said this, but I really think that that's,
749
00:58:08,040 --> 00:58:13,480
it's great to be able to have scholarship and research that you can read. It's great to work
750
00:58:13,480 --> 00:58:18,280
with an expert teacher in a professional development setting where you're thinking along
751
00:58:18,360 --> 00:58:24,440
with other professionals, but it just takes it another step further when you're able to go
752
00:58:24,440 --> 00:58:33,720
and see it in a real classroom or as a scholar in residence to have the opportunity to experiment
753
00:58:33,720 --> 00:58:41,160
with an idea that you're testing out in a real classroom or school setting. And I'll give an
754
00:58:41,160 --> 00:58:47,720
example. Um, last year we had a student in our, um, master's program in progressive philosophy
755
00:58:47,720 --> 00:58:52,680
and pedagogy. His name is Brendan McCarthy, and he was really interested in exploring
756
00:58:53,320 --> 00:59:00,680
how we could use film and students producing films to learn more about what children love
757
00:59:01,480 --> 00:59:07,480
and how can we use knowing about what they love to then create future programming at our school.
758
00:59:08,120 --> 00:59:16,600
So as a part of his master's program, Brendan facilitated a school wide, I want to know what
759
00:59:16,600 --> 00:59:25,320
love is film festival at Hana Holy school. So each all 210 students made films about what they love
760
00:59:25,320 --> 00:59:31,560
to do. Um, they started out with a nine 19 second film and they got to show it to their peers and
761
00:59:31,560 --> 00:59:35,640
they, um, gave a critique and then they produced another film. And at the end of the year, we had
762
00:59:35,640 --> 00:59:41,000
a film festival with the whole school and then we were able to analyze and look at what the
763
00:59:41,560 --> 00:59:46,760
students had made their films about and to help to use that to help us with future programming at
764
00:59:46,760 --> 00:59:52,520
the school. And that's just a great example of, you know, Brendan could have been at the university
765
00:59:52,520 --> 00:59:57,720
taking a class about progressive education, written a paper about how great would it be to
766
00:59:58,280 --> 01:00:03,720
have this film festival with children to explore what they love to do. But he also got to actually
767
01:00:03,720 --> 01:00:09,080
go and make it happen and to be able to spend an extended period of time working on that.
768
01:00:09,880 --> 01:00:13,720
I think that's something, you know, teachers don't always have the opportunity. Our professional
769
01:00:13,720 --> 01:00:19,640
development experiences are typically short and in chunks and to be able to have projects that you
770
01:00:19,640 --> 01:00:26,040
can work on over time within real school settings is just, I mean, that's learning by doing to its
771
01:00:26,040 --> 01:00:33,560
core. What sort of audience do you find, you know, engages in your professional development? Is it
772
01:00:33,720 --> 01:00:39,880
usually educators who want to try something new or educators who are already sort of immersed in
773
01:00:39,880 --> 01:00:44,600
the world of progressive pedagogy or have a background in it? Yeah, I'd say both. I think
774
01:00:46,120 --> 01:00:51,080
we have folks that have an understanding of what it means to be a progressive educator and they're
775
01:00:51,080 --> 01:00:57,400
looking for professional development opportunities that are going to help them further that aspect of
776
01:00:57,400 --> 01:01:05,240
who they are as an educator. So, for example, we had a DOE department of education elementary
777
01:01:05,240 --> 01:01:11,800
teacher last year who really wanted to see for herself and to think more with teachers and
778
01:01:11,800 --> 01:01:17,400
students at Hanahouli about how play can be integrated into learning in the early years.
779
01:01:17,960 --> 01:01:23,800
And so this was something that she had already identified for herself that she valued and she
780
01:01:23,800 --> 01:01:30,840
sought us out to help her work on that. I also think that because so many of our workshops are
781
01:01:30,840 --> 01:01:37,800
responding to our changing world and they focus on topics that teachers who may not identify as
782
01:01:37,800 --> 01:01:43,480
progressive recognize, man, I really want to go and learn something more about how to teach about
783
01:01:43,480 --> 01:01:49,640
climate justice or how to integrate more social emotional learning opportunities in my classroom
784
01:01:50,280 --> 01:01:53,800
or what does it mean to be a social justice educator? I've heard a lot about this. So they
785
01:01:53,800 --> 01:02:00,520
come to us not really with any background in progressive education and really fall in love
786
01:02:00,520 --> 01:02:08,760
with the community and the community of learners and the support and the thinking and looking at
787
01:02:08,760 --> 01:02:16,360
teaching as an art. And so I think in that way we invite and bring in new folks who maybe had
788
01:02:17,080 --> 01:02:21,720
little understanding of what progressive education is and open the doors to what the possibility
789
01:02:21,720 --> 01:02:27,640
that might be. And really the whole aim is that they can come and experience things at Hanahouli
790
01:02:27,640 --> 01:02:34,600
and see the possibilities and then go make this happen in their own classrooms. And some schools
791
01:02:34,600 --> 01:02:39,320
are progressive from the top down. They have progressive leadership or they have structures
792
01:02:39,320 --> 01:02:45,320
and systems that allow them to be progressive. But a lot of times progressive movements can
793
01:02:45,320 --> 01:02:49,960
happen from the bottom up, you know, one teacher at a time that says, you know, I want to start
794
01:02:49,960 --> 01:02:55,480
doing integrated interdisciplinary thematic units of study. And I learned about it. Now I'm going
795
01:02:55,480 --> 01:03:00,920
to bring in my colleagues and we're going to grow this from the bottom up. And so in your
796
01:03:00,920 --> 01:03:06,600
professional development, how do you prepare educators for work in the progressive sphere?
797
01:03:06,600 --> 01:03:11,080
But I think more importantly, outside of the progressive sphere and sort of combining
798
01:03:11,080 --> 01:03:18,200
two questions that I have, what sort of skills and recommendations do you provide
799
01:03:18,200 --> 01:03:24,520
for educators who want to introduce progressive ideas in contexts that are maybe more resistant
800
01:03:24,520 --> 01:03:30,520
to those ideas? Yeah. So to answer the second part of your question about how do you support
801
01:03:30,520 --> 01:03:37,400
folks that find themselves in more traditional school settings, I think the first part is that
802
01:03:37,400 --> 01:03:44,680
when they attend a workshop or come to Honoholi School and they see something that they believe
803
01:03:44,680 --> 01:03:49,480
philosophically about how school should be organized or how teaching should be, but they
804
01:03:49,480 --> 01:03:55,160
don't see it at their own school or they're not surrounded by people that have similar philosophies
805
01:03:55,160 --> 01:04:03,400
or beliefs. That in itself is validating to know that this is now proven by science and effective
806
01:04:03,400 --> 01:04:08,360
way of teaching and people are doing it and it's successful. So I think that's validating.
807
01:04:09,720 --> 01:04:15,320
And then we do the best that we can to really all of our professional learning experiences are
808
01:04:15,320 --> 01:04:21,800
grounded in community and they're collaborative and we're socially constructing knowledge. So that
809
01:04:21,800 --> 01:04:27,480
involves talking and thinking with other people. And so they begin to build a network of peers
810
01:04:28,120 --> 01:04:32,200
and like-minded peers that even though they're not at the same school, they can connect with
811
01:04:32,200 --> 01:04:39,400
one another beyond the workshop and do the work together. And then we also try to set up structurally
812
01:04:39,400 --> 01:04:47,880
as a part of many of our learning experiences that folks have support over time. So for example,
813
01:04:47,880 --> 01:04:53,240
with the Thematic Institute that we do in the summer, they design curriculum for a two-week
814
01:04:53,240 --> 01:04:57,640
period in the summer and then they start implementing in their classroom and schools in the fall
815
01:04:58,280 --> 01:05:02,760
and we meet with them periodically in our community of learners and check in and say
816
01:05:02,760 --> 01:05:07,560
how are things going? What sort of support that do you need? So I think being able to give
817
01:05:09,160 --> 01:05:14,280
ongoing support and then knowing just that we are a resource in the community that they can always
818
01:05:14,280 --> 01:05:22,200
come back to I think is one way in which we ensure the longevity of the practice and that
819
01:05:22,680 --> 01:05:27,640
um people can regularly have contact to help them keep growing and
820
01:05:27,640 --> 01:05:30,280
the support they need to make the movement grow in their own schools.
821
01:05:34,920 --> 01:05:38,840
In the end, what makes all of this worthwhile is the students being able to explore their
822
01:05:38,840 --> 01:05:44,120
interests in a safe and supportive environment. What struck me was just how joyous and lively
823
01:05:44,120 --> 01:05:48,600
the students were when discussing their time at Hana Haoli. They were often talking over
824
01:05:48,600 --> 01:05:52,200
each other in our interviews, each trying to get a word in about their favorite projects,
825
01:05:52,200 --> 01:05:57,320
traditions, you name it. They clearly love what they do. The faculty I spoke to as well had
826
01:05:57,320 --> 01:06:05,880
nothing but love for their jobs and responsibilities. My favorite parts are like I said I think
827
01:06:06,760 --> 01:06:14,760
the validation that people get that they have this little voice inside of them about what they know
828
01:06:14,760 --> 01:06:22,200
is good for children and good for kids and good for themselves as a teacher and good for society
829
01:06:23,880 --> 01:06:29,560
and yet they're not seeing that or they're not able to express that in the schools that they're
830
01:06:29,560 --> 01:06:35,960
at or in the professional communities that they're working in and to have them come to
831
01:06:35,960 --> 01:06:42,360
our workshops or spend time on campus it's almost like you can see a relief wash over them that this
832
01:06:42,360 --> 01:06:48,280
is truly a possibility and that this is a reality. It's not just something that philosophers are
833
01:06:48,280 --> 01:06:54,360
writing about in books but it can really happen. It's almost like Christmas morning
834
01:06:55,800 --> 01:07:02,280
that just to see that in somebody's face when they realize that this reality is possible and
835
01:07:02,280 --> 01:07:07,640
then it fuels them to want to go and make that reality where they are. I think that's so rewarding
836
01:07:07,640 --> 01:07:15,240
and it's part of why I do what I do, what I'm driven by, that more and more children
837
01:07:15,240 --> 01:07:21,320
and communities have access to a more humane education like this and so in any way possible
838
01:07:23,560 --> 01:07:27,800
to fan the flame and make that happen in other schools I think is really rewarding.
839
01:07:28,760 --> 01:07:33,720
What is the hardest part? What was the most challenging I think was the second part of
840
01:07:33,720 --> 01:07:40,840
your question? Well honestly right now what I'm really working on is setting up institutional
841
01:07:40,840 --> 01:07:47,080
structures to ensure that this partnership between the University of Hawaii and Hana
842
01:07:47,080 --> 01:07:54,680
Haoli School endures over time and that just like Hana Haoli can serve as an inspiration
843
01:07:54,680 --> 01:07:59,960
for teachers to see how progressive teaching and learning looks like, that the Hana Haoli
844
01:07:59,960 --> 01:08:05,400
University partnership can be an inspiration for other schools and universities to see what
845
01:08:05,400 --> 01:08:11,560
a successful school university partnership can look like. I mean this was John Dewey's dream
846
01:08:11,560 --> 01:08:16,360
from day one. I mean this is what he was aiming to do at the experimental school of the University
847
01:08:16,360 --> 01:08:23,560
of Chicago and it's just extremely difficult to have large institutions partner with each other
848
01:08:23,560 --> 01:08:32,440
and work in tandem with one another over time and John Budlad has read about this extensively
849
01:08:32,440 --> 01:08:37,800
as well. I mean I was a part of a partnership school in the Department of Education where I
850
01:08:37,800 --> 01:08:44,520
got my masters and unfortunately that no longer exists so I'm just determined to crack the nut
851
01:08:44,520 --> 01:08:51,160
of why is this so challenging to have school university partnerships when it makes so much
852
01:08:51,160 --> 01:08:58,520
sense for not only the profession of teaching but for a better future society and so I think
853
01:08:58,520 --> 01:09:03,400
that's one of my biggest challenges right now that I'm working on setting up institutional
854
01:09:03,400 --> 01:09:09,160
structures so that this becomes a model for other universities and schools. There's a few things
855
01:09:09,160 --> 01:09:17,240
that I like the most about my job so I might not have a singular answer. One is that I get to see
856
01:09:17,240 --> 01:09:26,440
the whole school. I'm not siloed so to speak in one classroom and needing to make sure that my
857
01:09:26,440 --> 01:09:34,520
our group of children is cared for all day long. I can sort of have a wider view of the day and
858
01:09:35,720 --> 01:09:41,240
visit classrooms see what's going on so that I'll know what to share with families but also so that
859
01:09:41,240 --> 01:09:46,440
I can you know help with enrollment and any questions families may have along the way. So
860
01:09:46,440 --> 01:09:55,800
I love having the wider range and the freedom to see every aspect of the school and I also love
861
01:09:55,800 --> 01:10:02,520
talking with parents about our school. I love relating to different families. I just really
862
01:10:02,520 --> 01:10:13,400
enjoy that a lot and what do I like least? Maybe that I'm impatient and want to have make a lot
863
01:10:13,400 --> 01:10:20,040
of changes all at once that I need to be more patient to wait for those changes to come. That's
864
01:10:20,040 --> 01:10:26,120
the hardest part for me like I want to make changes and I know it's going to be several years so I need
865
01:10:26,120 --> 01:10:33,960
to like hold off and and go more slowly slow down and be okay with that but it's it's a really
866
01:10:33,960 --> 01:10:41,160
exciting place to work. When you start a new job you have that imposter syndrome and that lasted
867
01:10:41,160 --> 01:10:47,240
for a little while and then I realized no no I love this school you know about the school I can
868
01:10:47,240 --> 01:10:53,400
share with families and learn along the way just like our students are. You know so I actually
869
01:10:53,400 --> 01:10:59,960
moved around quite a bit too when I was young and I did have I did attend very traditional schools
870
01:11:01,160 --> 01:11:09,800
and I would say I mean the way that I know that she will build she's a part of a community that
871
01:11:09,800 --> 01:11:15,960
she will be a part of for a very long time if not forever. You know for the rest of her life
872
01:11:15,960 --> 01:11:20,200
really I can feel already that this community is going to be a part of her life forever.
873
01:11:21,160 --> 01:11:25,080
I think that that's really different from what I grew up with you know because I moved around
874
01:11:25,080 --> 01:11:30,440
a bunch and because it transitioned from you know my elementary school to my middle school
875
01:11:30,440 --> 01:11:37,480
to my high school. Here at Hanahouli it feels like a it's a the even though it's only eight
876
01:11:37,480 --> 01:11:43,160
years that they spend here it feels like a really significant part of a kid's life you know.
877
01:11:45,240 --> 01:11:50,520
So yeah I think so I would say the major difference is that you know she's going to
878
01:11:50,520 --> 01:11:55,640
be a part of this community for a really long time and she really feels a sense of belonging
879
01:11:55,640 --> 01:12:01,880
to this community. You know when I talk to her about like she's attending summer school at
880
01:12:01,880 --> 01:12:07,960
another school just a bigger school to you know so that hopefully she'll have an easy time adapting
881
01:12:07,960 --> 01:12:12,520
to new situations because this place is so nurturing and it's so consistent in her life.
882
01:12:13,320 --> 01:12:17,080
When I talk to her about you know eventually when you're in middle school you'll go to another
883
01:12:17,080 --> 01:12:20,600
school like this one maybe you'll go to the school that your sisters go to and she says
884
01:12:21,240 --> 01:12:26,680
no I never want to go to another school. I love Hanahouli so much you know and I can see how safe
885
01:12:26,680 --> 01:12:33,240
she feels here and how much she feels like herself you know and she can't imagine being anywhere else.
886
01:12:34,040 --> 01:12:41,320
Like a lot of kids say like oh school's so boring I don't like homework yeah but Hanahouli makes me
887
01:12:41,320 --> 01:12:48,680
feel I don't know how exactly to say it but like it makes me feel like oh yes I get to go to school
888
01:12:48,680 --> 01:12:55,800
I want to go to school and for me I actually love homework so yeah I'm kind of the opposite
889
01:12:55,800 --> 01:13:03,000
and then like Hanahouli has taught me to love homework. Yeah I like homework but not if I have
890
01:13:03,000 --> 01:13:09,720
a lot after school like today I have a lot after school so luckily it's a Friday and there's no
891
01:13:09,720 --> 01:13:17,320
homework but I just um I like homework otherwise. So what's your one word that you would use to
892
01:13:17,320 --> 01:13:23,320
describe? And then we gotta go. Joyous and fun I'll say yeah joyous and fun.
893
01:13:24,600 --> 01:13:32,280
My favorite part is probably recess because we let we get to like let all our energy out before we
894
01:13:32,280 --> 01:13:42,760
start again and learn. Um my favorite is the specialists we have music, manner, and PE
895
01:13:43,320 --> 01:13:52,120
because unlike the other classes they're a little different and um you get it's like like going
896
01:13:52,120 --> 01:14:03,000
into an like another world where you could each do something fun it's like escaping from all the
897
01:14:03,000 --> 01:14:11,400
hard work yeah. Um yeah I think I like recess because sometimes um there are friends that you
898
01:14:11,400 --> 01:14:16,440
want to play with but you can't because they're in like different cohorts um so like during recess
899
01:14:16,440 --> 01:14:24,360
you're able to like talk to them or uh spend time with them. Learning by doing what our school means
900
01:14:24,360 --> 01:14:37,080
is um joyous work. Oli means joyous and hana means work. No other way. No and because in
901
01:14:37,080 --> 01:14:44,520
Hawaii it's backwards so our school means joyous work. And a couple like five six years ago I think
902
01:14:44,520 --> 01:14:54,360
it was we celebrated the 100th year of school and that was the 100th year of one century of
903
01:14:55,960 --> 01:15:05,640
and then yeah like I also don't like to be pushed so I think it's like like the teachers I guess
904
01:15:05,640 --> 01:15:12,360
would need to like challenge the kids a bit but not like come on do this this this this
905
01:15:12,360 --> 01:15:21,080
this this um but like letting them go at their pace but still pushing them but a bit to challenge
906
01:15:21,080 --> 01:15:28,200
them get their minds going. I also like the creativity of the school where like all of our
907
01:15:28,200 --> 01:15:34,840
traditions and the creativity and one of my favorite classes I want to say it's art because
908
01:15:34,840 --> 01:15:41,000
I love art I like to draw like faces or self-portraits and right now we're making
909
01:15:41,000 --> 01:15:49,960
our kappa for Makiki and I think that's really cool. I think progressive education is like
910
01:15:50,680 --> 01:16:00,280
moving on like you keep going forward and never stop and like keep be like outstanding.
911
01:16:01,000 --> 01:16:10,760
To me it means to go forward but also my parents tell me this but it's okay to look back on
912
01:16:11,560 --> 01:16:17,560
mistakes that you made so you can keep going forward in the future.
913
01:16:17,560 --> 01:16:30,680
I think progressive education to me is kind of like yeah um like Hanahouli learning by doing
914
01:16:31,240 --> 01:16:34,840
instead of um and knowing what you're supposed to do and why.
915
01:16:35,880 --> 01:16:40,920
Do you guys remember that in your school unit when you learned about like traditional schools
916
01:16:40,920 --> 01:16:46,600
and then progressive education is the type of school at Hanahouli so knowing that that that's
917
01:16:46,600 --> 01:16:51,800
what that word means. Do you two want to elaborate on what you believe this type of education is
918
01:16:51,800 --> 01:17:01,800
about? Yeah having a choice and like being independent. I can be who I want in the future
919
01:17:01,800 --> 01:17:10,760
it's like um building and holding yourself um with all the education you did so you can be who you are.
920
01:17:11,560 --> 01:17:16,200
Thank you again for listening to our podcast at Human Restoration Project. I hope this conversation
921
01:17:16,200 --> 01:17:20,520
leaves you inspired and ready to start making change. If you enjoyed listening please consider
922
01:17:20,520 --> 01:17:25,480
leaving us a review on your favorite podcast player. Plus find a whole host of free resources,
923
01:17:25,480 --> 01:17:30,440
writings, and other podcasts all for free on our website humanrestorationproject.org. Thank you.
924
01:17:40,760 --> 01:17:41,080
you