TRANSFORMING TEACHING: INTERSECTING INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE WITH PLACE-BASED GEOSCIENCE INSTRUCTION

‘A’ohe pau ka ‘ike I ka hālau ho‘okāhi, All knowledge is not taught in the same school (Pukui, 1983). This Hawaiian saying honors diverse knowledges, reflecting the range of volcanic topography, soils, rains, fauna and flora of the Hawaiian archipelago. Epic narratives told of Pele, goddess of volcanoes, traveling from Kahiki (Tahiti) to Hawai‘i then searching for a volcanic hearth, plunging a digging stick into sites on different islands before finding a home in Kilauea. From a geoscience perspective, Pele arrives on existing shield volcanoes; she digs at sites of volcanic rejuvenation before finding a hearth in an active shield volcano. When Pele travels to Kaua‘i to seek her lover, she is challenged as a stranger. To prove she is from Kaua’i, she chants the names of all the winds. The story speaks of place-identity as it catalogs winds with names revealing ecological information. Pele’s travels to Hawai‘i echo Polynesian voyages guided by navigators knowledgeable in meteorology, oceanography, and marine and terrestrial biology.

Traditional narratives that intersect indigenous and western earth science knowledge hold promise to engage underrepresented indigenous students who do not see themselves or their places in mainstream textbooks. The need is great in Hawai‘i’s rural, majority Native Hawaiian communities where few earth science teachers know either traditional, place-based stories or the local earth science where they teach. These schools tend to suffer from high teacher turnover and low measures of academic performance.

“Exploring Ways to Transform Teaching Practices to Increase Native Hawaiian Students' Interest in STEM” an NSF funded professional development project asked teachers to build their knowledge of indigenous place and culture that led to deep, integrated knowledge of their students’ places. Teachers then wrote, taught, and assessed earth science lessons that addressed NGSS standards and the cultures and places of students. Across grades, schools, and islands, student interest and attitude surveys and reflective writings indicate higher engagement and interest in STEM learning, particularly among students identifying as Native Hawaiian. Teachers’ reflective writings also report increased engagement and interest in their instruction. Research from multiple sites will be reported.