'Ōlelo: Taking Hawaiian Online at Hawai'i Community College

This summer I enrolled in Elementary Hawai'i Language I & II (HAW 101 and 102), two 6-week intensive online Hawaiian language courses. It was fantastic! After the first week I was able to read a sign while walking across campus, and I was so thrilled.  This is one of the benefits of living in a place where the language is spoken and used.

I have talked to language teachers who are absolutely against teaching a language online for a lot of different reasons. Being a strong distance education advocate, I've always believed that you can teach almost anything online if you are creative enough, and research shows that well-designed online courses are equivalent to face-to-face classes in terms of student learning outcomes. This is my first time with firsthand experience of an online language course, and now I can say definitively that it works!

I had heard many good things about Hawai'i Community College's online Hawaiian language course, so I decided to take it this summer rather than wait to take it face-to-face in the fall. That way I would be able to move right on to the second level, HAW102, and complete two courses over the summer break if I felt I could handle it.

At this point, in the interest of transparency, I need to let you know that I am a serious language learner. I mean I love learning languages, and learning Hawaiian has been on my life list since I heard a Hawaiian prayer at a wedding 30 years ago. It was so very beautiful, and it was the first time I had heard Hawaiian language spoken in such length. It was a paradigm shift in my thinking of Hawaiian as a modern, spoken language.

I came to this task with the motivation to learn, a positive attitude, and some past skills with both language learning and distance education. Fitting a 15-week course into six weeks is challenging, but it was doable, even while working full-time. The organization of the course is logical; it's broken up into modules containing the video lessons, homework, discussions, and vocabulary lists. There is a textbook, which you could get through the class without, but I wouldn't. It added greatly to my learning experience.

One of the concerns instructors have with online language courses is assessment. How does one adequately measure a student's learning for the oral - speaking and listening - aspects of a language? Another concern is interactivity. One way is to break out of the concept of online education as only online. Another is to be open to the many tools available that allow students to interact.

In HAW 101, we had a requirement to read aloud 10 children's books to the (awesome) peer tutors or to our Kumu. We could do this face-to-face in the I Ola Haloa Hawai'i Lifestyles Office, over the phone, or via SKYPE. The final project was to write, design, and read aloud a children's book. I taped myself using my phone.

In HAW 102, we had more message board discussions, and again, we were encouraged to interact with our peer mentors. By this time, my vocabulary had grown so much that I was able to pick words and phrases out of songs, read more signs, and even unintentionally eavesdrop on conversations, recognizing greetings and replies.

There were many supports in place, adequate for me to feel that I could handle it while working full time. The hardest part for me was the sheer number of vocabulary words, which I am still working on. Try taking Hawaiian language online. You won't regret it!

PS - For all who have asked, Akea Kiyuna was my kumu. Mahalo e Kumu Akea!

ka pūpū (shell)

ka hoe (paddle

ka 'omawawe (microwave)   

ACCJC Peer Review: Hawai'i Tokai International College Visit

Last fall, I attended an ACCJC peer reviewer recruitment/training along with several faculty members and a lecturer. Before I left my last school, my next big goal was to become a peer reviewer, so when the opportunity came up here, I jumped at the chance. Having served as Accreditation Liaison Officer (ALO) and worked with the staff and faculty there on our last accreditation document and visit, I knew that furthering my learning in this area would serve Hawai’iCC well. Working on accreditation is the best way to learn how your college works.

My experience was that accreditation visits could be really stressful as we defend our practices and show evidence for how we are achieving the standards. Imagine my surprise when ACCJC representatives shared with us the new, school-friendly, positive changes they have made in the way they approach accreditation. Their new philosophy is to celebrate and support the college. They are committed to taking the fear out of the process!

Instead of approaching the visit with a negative, compliance driven mindset, the peer reviewers come in with the intention of finding out how we have met the standard. In fact, the interviewing process at the school is considered part of the evidence, so if we left something out in our report or didn’t adequately explain how we are meeting the standard, we have a chance to add to it. Each peer reviewer team is intentionally staffed to best fit our college.

Shortly after this training, I filled out the form to show my interest in becoming an ACCJC peer reviewer. The process only works if we have a wide community of volunteer peer reviewers. It is excellent professional development and an opportunity to travel to another college and be part of this important work. Much sooner than I expected, I had a chance to be a part of a team - not as a peer reviewer but as team assistant under our own Chancellor Rachel Solemsaas.

Dr. Solemsaas had been asked to chair the team of peer reviewers who would visit Hawai'i Tokai International College in Kapolei, O'ahu, HI, adjacent to UH West O'ahu. What a great introduction to being part of an accreditation review team! I facilitated for the group in many ways, helped edit the final document, and learned so much about what it takes to be both a good peer reviewer and part of a healthy team.

HTIC is a wonderful, little college that has been located in Hawai'i since 1992, one of many campuses around the world, most of which are located in Japan. HTIC is part if the Tokai University Educational System, founded by Dr. Shigeyoshi Matsumae who believed in intellectual rigor, physical fitness, and intercultural understanding to encourage lifelong learning who would build world peace. It is a unique college with a distinctive mission. This photo shows the students welcoming our group with a hula in front of their library.

Becoming a peer reviewer for other colleges in the ACCJC family is excellent professional development and an opportunity to travel to another college and be part of this important work. You can show your interest by filling out this form. ACCJC assured us that it was not necessary to have attended training to fill out this form. Doing so just shows your interest in being contacted and learning more about the process. You would be invited to a training if chosen, after which you still get to decide whether the work is for you.

Think about it! My experience was fun and educational, and I'm looking forward to being a ACCJC peer reviewer soon.

Indigenous Leadership Through Hula

One of my lifelong dreams has been to learn hula. In Fall 2017, I took Dr. Taupōuri Tangarō's class at UH Hilo, HWST 194-Indigenous Leadership Through Hula. I gained a new appreciation for the admissions process, but that's a side story! The class itself was enlightening and a joy to attend twice a week from 5:30-6:45. It joined two subjects that I'm passionate about: indigenous leadership + hula.

I discovered many things, one of which is that I'm not as fit and flexible as I thought I was. Hula is a real workout! I'm also, apparently, not as coordinated as I'd like to be. Still, the class was appropriate for beginners, and I learned some basic steps, oli (chants), and mele (songs) and had a fun time getting to know my classmates who ranged in age from teenagers to kupuna. Some were experienced dancers, and others, like me, were new to dancing hula.

Translating a chant

On the first night of class, there were no less than 80 participants! Over time the class thinned out to a core of about 40 students. It began to feel like a big family, everyone willing to help one another. One of the best parts of the class was hearing students' thoughts and appreciating the unique perspectives they brought to the learning experience. We learned a number of Hawaiian mele for which we were provided translations.

Mapping my thoughts and idea

Our task was to delve within to determine how each mele's message applied to our own lives, specifically to ourselves as indigenous leaders. We focused on enduring principles that are traditionally taught through poetic compositions from long ago. Practicing hula to these mele was a meditation on each message and its meaning and brought us closer to the authors and the generations of ancestors who spoke these words before us.

In addition to the young people taking the class with me, there were a number of recent graduates, tuta, who were practicing their leadership skills by showing us how the dances were done, gently correcting us, teaching us in small groups, and evaluating our performances. They were inspiring, graceful examples to us. I will never again under appreciate the work and skill that goes into performing a beautiful hula.

I was even considering taking the course again in the fall, but I was honored to be invited to join the Kuku'ena hula group of Hawai'i Community College in the fall. Trina Nahm-Mijo will be my mentor. I'm looking forward to taking an even deeper dive into hula and personal growth!

Hawai'i Pamaomao: My Visit to the Lumbee People of North Carolina

I was honored this year to be invited to attend a Hawai'i Pamaomao trip to North Carolina, an experience of Hawai'i in a distant place. We visited the Lumbee tribe to share knowledge and history and learn from one another. We were welcomed to take part in a number of cultural, social, and intellectual activities, which allowed us to build relationships (with the Lumbee and amongst our group) and to look at our educational community through a different lens. It was profoundly meaningful!

Town Creek Indian Mound State Park, Mount Gilead, NC

In preparation for our visit to meet the Lumbee people, I researched the role of oral history in their culture. One of the sources I read prior to leaving for North Carolina stated that the federal government doesn’t recognize the Lumbee because they don’t speak a native language nor live in a traditional way; therefore, they are not Native American (Hutcheson, 2015). 

This lack of recognition hasn’t stopped the Lumbee from developing and holding fast to their tribal identity. In fact, my experience showed me that many Lumbee people do live in a traditional way, and they are actively working to rebuild their native language(s) – just the same as people from other Indian tribes. I was impressed with what a strong cultural identity the tribe possessed even though they had few historical records and had virtually lost their original language. 

Town Creek Indian Mound State Park, Mount Gilead, NC

Oral traditions seemed to play a strong role in building and strengthening the Lumbee identity. One large-scale and several smaller-scale oral history recording projects have been conducted over the last 40 years to gather memories and cultural information from elders. What I learned is that while projects like these are very important, they may not be the most important way that oral history is passed on. 

Lumbee Dancers at Brave Nation Powwow, Pembroke, NC

We met some very memorable and kind Lumbee people, and what stood out to me was how much they talk about and share their culture with each other, especially their children. I witnessed intentional efforts to perpetuate cultural knowledge for future generations. This experience sent a message to me that I need to communicate my culture more both personally and professionally. I need to share more intentionally with my children the cultures and languages the come from. I also need to share with the faculty and staff at Hawai'iCC what I am doing to promote Hawai'i Papa O Ke Ao. Thus, the creation of this blog!

Here I will be sharing not only topics of interest from my work, but also how my personal and professional activities support the essential work of the HPOKA initiative to build and strengthen our indigenous serving institution.

I'd like to thank the other members of my traveling group from Hawai'iCC and UHHilo who made this trip rich and memorable: Taupōuri Tangarō, Gail Makuakāne-Lundin, Ākeamakamae Kiyuna, Mary Ann Kalei Baricuatro, Yolisa Duley, Kekoa Harmon, Sheena Lopes, and Kalena Spinola.