Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 37, Number 2, 1 February 2020 — Set the Foundation [ARTICLE]

Set the Foundation

By The Office of Hawaiian Education

When a student attends a puhlie school in Hawai'i, what might they see and experience that is unique to these islands? What might they hear that tells them Hawai'i is their home? And when those students leave their classrooms for the last time, what do we as educators want them to walk away knowing, believing, and living? Hawai'i is more than a plaee on a map. For centuries, the ecosystem of culture, 'āina, value systems and kānaka's responsibility to eaeh provided the ophmal environment for innovation, eommunal relationships, and abundance. In honoring the teachings of our ancestors and striving to provide ideal learning environments for keiki, the Office of Hawaiian Education in the Hawai'i Department of Education (HIDOE) believes that "'O Hawai'i ke kahua o ka ho'ona'auao," Hawai'i is the foundation of education. Thus, the office works to set that foundation for education in Hawai'i to be grounded in Hawai'i. In February 2015, the Office of Hawaiian Education (OHE) was established under the Office of the Superintendent, creating a space from whieh to shepherd Hawai'i State Board of Education (BOE) policies pertaining to Hawaiian Education. The scope of work for OHE is to facilitate the implementation of three strategic priorities: Nā Hopena A'o, the Hawaiian Studies Program and Ka Papahana Kaiapuni, the Hawaiian Language Immersion Program. Also, Hawaiian education in the HIDOE has the support of federal funding through Mohala i ke A'o, a project targeting the improvement of academic success for Native Hawaiian children. Together, these priorities help strengthen the foundation for education through a Hawai'i lens. Located within an arena that has historically been the root of cultural and linguistic trauma for Native Hawaiians, OHE strives to return aloha 'āina to the educational environment. OHE works toward normalizing 'ōlelo Hawai'i and establishing abilingual system by providing Hawaiian language medium instruction and 'ōlelo Hawai'i professional development for all DOE employees. The office has also developed frameworks to establish a learning environment grounded in 'ike Hawai'i. Therefore, by adhering to the belief that an education system grounded in Hawaiian ways of knowing benefits all of Hawai'i, OHE faces the future of education with the hope that we may see a system embracing and actualizing aloha 'āina as a philosophieal and practical principle, for the purpose of securing a thriving environment for all learners rich in the culture and language of Hawai'i's indigenous people. ■