Peter Hanohano. - Photo: Blaine Fergerstrom

By Liza Simon / Ka Wai Ola Loa

The annual National Indian Education Association took place in October in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Some had recommended that the nonprofit organization change its name by swapping the word indigenous for Indian in order to appear more inclusive. But in the final analysis, organization members — including many Alaskan Natives and Native Hawaiians – agreed that NIEA's success in fostering best practices for the education of all native peoples speaks for itself. Peter Hanohano, OHA's lead advocate for primary education attended the conference and spoke with Ka Wai Ola Loa about the priorities on the blackboard for all native educators who came together at this year's event.

KWOL: What were the unifying issues at the NIEA conference?
Hanohano: There is a shared recognition that it is not enough to be educated. We also have to be educated Hawaiians, Sāmoans, Native Americans, Māori and so on. Our educational issues are all about bringing a person to this modern world as both an individual and a member of the cultural group they represent. Why promote just one perspective when we can celebrate all? For our Native American brothers and sisters, education was once a tool that was used in U.S. government boarding schools to take the culture out of Indians. Nowadays, one major focus is on using charter schools to gain freedom from (non-native) regulation.

KWOL: No Child Left Behind has legions of critics, including many in the Obama administration. Can you explain why this initiative has been especially unpopular with native groups?
Hanohano: The Bush administration implemented No Child Left Behind in 2002 with the aim of ensuring that by 2014 all students are able to read, write and do math at their grade. Individual states issue annual yearly progress reports for each public school and have the authority to sanction schools that don't meet the federal benchmarks. NCLB is a noble goal, but how we get there — through standardized testing and imposed mandates — that's a problem. In a policy statement released before the NIEA conference, the Obama administration said it wants to drop NCLB. (U.S. Secretary of Education) Arne Duncan made the statement that education is the civil rights issue of our time. That pretty much sums up the spirit of the NIEA conference.

KWOL: At the NIEA conference, did you find that Native Americans responding to NCLB in any way that might have application in Hawai'i?
Hanohano: In regards to NCLB, one very interesting thing that came out of NIEA is that the Navajo Nation announced it had applied to the U.S. Department of Education for State Education Agency status. The Navajo Nation is spread across Arizona, Utah and New Mexico, so the Navajo Schools have three different state curriculum standards to teach to. This has been very frustrating. If they are granted SEA status, they will be able to apply their own standards. This is an exercise of tribal sovereignty and I believe it has implications for Native Hawaiians. This can be done with relative ease in Hawai'i, because we have only one centralized school board—not local boards like other states. This is a preliminary to nationhood. Once the Hawaiian nation is created, wouldn't we as Hawaiians have authority to create charter schools under our own jurisdiction? Hopefully we are at the brink of seeing this happen.

KWOL: Did you get a sense at the NIEA conference of whether other native groups are having success with their charter school movement?
Hanohano: Native peoples of Australia, Canada and the U.S have been at it for a while chartering their own schools through tribal colleges. In Michigan, Bay View Community College has chartered more than 40 schools for mostly urban Indians — people who left the reservation but are not accepted in mainstream society. Apart from our model for K-12 charter schools, tribal colleges started as a way of offering training in vocational trades. It is education that is relevant and meaningful and targeted to the indigenous culture and style of learning. They offer curriculum that is consistent with being native and living in a native community. To many native educators, the worldwide financial market crash demonstrated that capitalism is about greed, and, if that is the apex of American society, then there is the urgency for natives to develop an education system based on sharing and caring, where everyone can contribute.

KWOL: What kind of discussion centered on Hawaiian-focused charter schools at the NIEA conference?
Hanohano: Kū Kahakalau (of Kanu O Ka 'Āina in Waimea, Hawai'i) was there and she shared a plan about charter schools. Also, Charlene and Calvin Hoe talked about their project-based model of education at Hakipu'u Learning Center in Windward O'ahu. There was a lot of interest at NIEA in the way our charter schools have taken one more step to promote place-based education — learning the context of knowledge outside of the book, such as knowing your connection to the ahupua'a where your school is located. We are not saying that reading, writing and math are not important, but the charters take the book learning and put it on land, so the book makes sense.

KWOL: What kind of issues in language immersion education emerged at the NIEA conference?
Hanohano: There was recognition that the language immersion program in Hawai'i leads. Along with cultural and place-based education, language immersion is really consistent with Native American cultural beliefs. They have over 350 separate and distinct languages, so some communities are implementing our model, but some are in such dire straits, because they don't have any speakers under 70 years old, so they are racing to record speakers to make sure there is a language to leave behind.

KWOL: You're describing a rather optimistic tone at this year's conference. What evidence is there that native educators are making strides?
Hanohano: Going back to NCLB…only 36 percent of all our state's public schools met the NCLB benchmarks last year, but that included all three language immersion schools on Hawai'i Island. Parents deserve a lot of credit. In the immersion schools, they take language with their children and take ownership of the education. The research shows that the more parents are involved, the better outcomes we see. The teachers are up to their eyeballs in paper work and they could use the help. It's not just throwing money at the students and hoping for success.