This action research study examines a graduate level course on Ethnicity and Education. Eighteen teacher participants enrolled in a Master of Education program. Course instructors analyzed teacher participants' perceptions of culturally responsive teaching. A teaching plan, a post-course questionnaire, a focus group interview, and a follow up questionnaire were collected after the course. Analysis of the data generated three themes: 1) Doing culturally responsive activities; 2) Moving towards culturally responsive teaching as a perspective; and 3) Being a culturally responsive teacher. This article suggests ways teacher educators might re-conceptualize culture-based courses to deepen teacher perspectives rather than merely enhance teaching activities which support culturally responsive teaching and learning.

This study examined how pre-service teachers’ in a mainstream teacher education program expanded their understandings of the Hawaiian cultural value of aloha to reflect the integrity of the translation of aloha as originating in Hawaiian ancestral text.  Data were collected from 10 elementary and 11 secondary pre-service teachers’ personal written reflections at the end of each of day of a three-day course. A post-course questionnaire was collected 10 months post-course completion, after pre-service teachers’ student teaching experience.  As a result of qualitatively analyzing their written reflections and post-course questionnaire three patterns emerged to reflect the shifts in their understanding of the word aloha:  1) Common Understandings of Aloha; 2) Methods for Activating Aloha; and 3) Sustainable Practices.  16 out of 21 or 76% of the pre-service teachers confirmed that they experienced a shift in their understanding of aloha.  The remaining five responded that their understandings of aloha did not “shift,” but rather used the following words to indicate that their understanding of aloha: “expanded,” “strengthened,” “influenced,” “renewed,” and “broadened.” In order for pre-service teachers to be comfortable with the language and meanings associated with a cultural value laden concept like aloha they personally connected with the meaning of the word, expanded understanding through academic learning, and reflected upon new understandings. While tensions and discomfort about using language and cultural concepts from “outside” one’s own ethnic and racial background may still exist, we are encouraged by the idea that pre-service teachers can commit to broadening and embracing understandings of aloha as a meaningful part of their daily classroom practices and lives.

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Kia’i (protectors) opposed to the building of a Thirty Meter Telescope on the summit of Mauna Kea, a profoundly sacred site and ecologically vital one, impeded its construction to date. The sanctity of Mauna Kea and its implications for Hawai’i’s sovereignty and land ownership are central to the struggle, yet what are the Indigenous ecological laws of Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) that ground opposition to the Thirty Meter Telescope? To construct a land stewardship policy, the Edith Kanaka’ole Foundation leadership bridged Papakū Makawalu, a Kanaka Maoli methodology, with grounded theory. Edith Kanaka’ole Foundation leaders organized a series of events where experts collectively and individually merged the two methods to analyse chants. Our article presents a discussion of (a) the struggles over land use on Mauna Kea, (b) the processes for merging methodological traditions, and (c) reflections on Kīho’iho Kānāwai (restoring Kānāwai for Island Stewardship), the final document of Honuaiākea (Earth in Expanse).

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