By Dr. Amber Strong Makaiau and Dr. Manulani Aluli Meyer
The first ever He Aliʻi Ka ʻĀina Educator Conference was held last month, on October 10 and 11. Designed to serve as a transformative professional development opportunity for the greater community to learn more about Hawaiian Culture-Based Education (HCBE) – the initiative aimed to engage participants in learning how to integrate the principles of aloha ʻāina (love of the land) and ea (sovereignty, life) into educational practices. Led by a hui (group) of dedicated educators, community leaders, and cultural practitioners, the conference sessions gave kumu (teachers) tools, resources, and a network for incorporating place-based and HCBE into their classrooms.
Through a series of in-depth workshops, participants engaged in collaborative efforts to build pilina (relationships) between schools and community organizations. It inspired meaningful actions, and increased our collective capacity for sustainable educational practices. Throughout the conference, open dialogue – addressing essential cultural, environmental, and community issues – was abundant. Educators left with connections to ʻāina, Hawaiian culture, and their communities, empowering them to become informed and proactive stewards of Hawaiʻi. From the vantage point of this Progressive Philosophy and Pedagogy Blog, the conference helped realize both the promise and potential of the modern-day progressive education movement by promoting constructivist, experiential, inquiry-based, caring, multicultural, place-based, hands-on, discovery-based, integrated approaches to teaching and learning with an overall emphasis on the “situated, embodied, emotional, and creative aspects of human development” (Bruce and Eryaman, 2015, p. 5).
Among the countless special moments of the participants’ collective time together, Dr. Manulani Aluli Meyer gave an awesome keynote to a captive audience on the last day of the conference . Dr. Aluli Meyer is a native Hawaiian scholar-practitioner dedicated to the role aloha will play in world-wide awakening. She is an Indigenous writer and thinker devoted to expanding views of knowledge to better address the needs of our time. She earned her doctorate (Harvard, 1998) on the topic of Hawaiian Epistemology – philosophy of knowledge – and remains intentional for its capacity to inspire, instruct and heal. Dr. Aluli Meyer is also active in the Food Sovereignty, Aloha ʻĀina, EA Hawaii, and Hoʻoponopono movements throughout Hawai'i. This includes being the Konohiki of Kūlana o Kapolei (a Hawaiian Place of Learning) at the University of Hawai'i West O'ahu. She is a staunch uluniu (coconut grove) activist and believes it is time to be clear about the principles of embodied knowing that creates shared purpose with others. Ulu aʻe ke welina a ke aloha. Loving is the practice of an awake mind.
Her keynote address was titled, He Kauwā Ke Kanaka: The Door Opens Inward - Hawai‘i’s Role in World Healing. It was a talk designed to create an experience between Dr. Auli Meyer and participants. She explained, “mutual emergence is the operating principle of our evolution and because you are all experienced ʻāina-based educators, let us huakaʻi into the vast expanse of our own ākea akamai. Come to learn more of the influence of my cousins, Emmet Aluli and Yuklin Aluli, and beloved Puanani Burgess – dedicated practitioners of the love and care of land and people. Come to link-in with shared purpose so we can explore the deeper relevance and function of ʻauamo kuleana – collective transformation through individual excellence. Come and nurture those around and within you with the beauty you have been educated in – kuʻu ʻāina aloha!”
When asked to reflect on Dr. Aluli Meyer’s message – “What is one takeaway from the keynote?” – participants had this to say about their experience:
ALOHA! How do we spread aloha? What is my truth and what is my meaning?
Pono = Practicing and living truth in thought, vision, speech and action. Pono is a part of our Mission and I think we always struggled with truly understanding this word so it's been hard to teach that to our keiki. However, this understanding that Dr. Manulani Meyer offered, makes so much sense to me and I feel can be a helpful way to explain it to our keiki.
Qualities of collaboration are important. We donʻt have to always work on our deficits, instead we have to go find those people who have that as a strength and collaborate.
Be good at what you’re good at. Hoʻopono and oiaʻiʻo. Truth and meaning
We have to make meaning of our life for ourselves and not let others do it for us. Speak truth but do it with aloha and care.
To aumuo. Think deeper and reflect on what your intentions are.
Pono as the highest goal; aloha as the highest form of pono
We all have a purpose. We ALL have a role to play.
Pāpākolu, self love (Aloha over all)
We are not expected to master everything. Specialize in one thing and no be shame – share it. We learn from each other.
We have to come together as a lāhui and leverage each others' strengths to uplift us all
Our keiki/our people are not all alike, don't treat them as such… school systems tend to create systems that put them in a box and tear our students down when they don't conform. We should not be doing that! We should recognize the unique gifts and strengths of each child and honor their way and pace of learning.
You have the right to interpret and understand ike kupuna within the context of your work
Hahai no ka ua i ka ululāʻau
Cultural Healing
O ke aloha kai ʻoi aʻe
ʻĀina is science....science is ʻāina
An important part of embodying our excellence is the connections we form. These build our strength and help us live our aloha as an example to the world.
Manu’s mana‘o is always deep and inspiring. My key takeaway is collective transformation through individual excellence.
I loved learning about the application of epistemology to the Hawaiian context, namely the concept of Hawaiian hermeneutics. It literally blew my mind to think of the sociology of knowledge in this way.
Kumu Manu confirmed many thoughts that I was questioning prior to coming to this ʻaha. Two takeaways, however, are to really stop and listen to the sounds that are resounding within us...because itʻs not about the "race"...and the answers to a lot lie within each of us.
I found myself even more drawn to her quote, "If knowledge is power then understanding is liberating." This appears very early in her book, Hoʻoulu, so to be in the same space to receive that knowledge and then understand it was quite the experience. Manulani Aluli Meyer's keynote was impactful when she explained the significance of truth and meaning, emphasizing how Hawaiian epistemology helps us feel liberated by understanding the deeper meanings of things through interpretation. I appreciate this approach because it encourages a more holistic connection to knowledge, allowing us to experience that feeling that rises up when we understand (hoʻoulu).
In this blog we hope to broaden the ripple effect of her important work. Click on the video image below to view a recording of her complete keynote presentation titled He Kauwā Ke Kanaka: The Door Opens Inward - Hawai‘i’s Role in World Healing, and view her presentation slides here. Feel free to pause throughout the video, reflect, journal, and make connections to your life’s work. Most importantly, find someone else to “link-in with shared purpose” and share what you learned. Let’s continue to grow our mutual emergence!
Works Cited
Bruce, C. M., & Eryman, M. Y. (2015). Introduction: The progressive impulse in education. In M. Y. Eryman & B. C. Bruce (Eds.), International handbook of progressive education (pp. 1 - 52). Peter Lang Publishing.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dr. Amber Strong Makaiau is a Specialist at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Director of Curriculum and Research at the Uehiro Academy for Philosophy and Ethics in Education, Director of the Hanahau‘oli School Professional Development Center, and Co-Director of the Progressive Philosophy and Pedagogy MEd Interdisciplinary Education, Curriculum Studies program. A former Hawai‘i State Department of Education high school social studies teacher, her work in education is focused around promoting a more just and equitable democracy for today’s children. Dr. Makaiau lives in Honolulu where she enjoys spending time in the ocean with her husband and two children.
Dr. Manulani Aluli Meyer is a native Hawaiian scholar-practitioner dedicated to the role aloha will play in world-wide awakening. She is an Indigenous writer and thinker devoted to expanding views of knowledge to better address the needs of our time. She earned her doctorate (Harvard, 1998) on the topic of Hawaiian epistemology – philosophy of knowledge – and remains intentional for its capacity to inspire, instruct and heal. Dr. Aluli Meyer is active in the Food Sovereignty, Aloha ʻĀina, EA Hawaii, and Hoʻoponopono movements throughout Hawai'i. She is now the Konohiki of Kūlana o Kapolei – a Hawaiian Place of Learning – at the University of Hawai'i West O'ahu. She is a staunch uluniu – coconut grove – activist and believes it is time to be clear about the principles of embodied knowing that creates shared purpose with others. Ulu aʻe ke welina a ke aloha. Loving is the practice of an awake mind.
