Aligning Cultural Identity and Education: Students’ and Families’ Aspirations in the Hawaiian Language Immersion Program

• In Event: Bridging Multiple Worlds of Immigrant and Indigenous Students’ Pathways to Academic and Life Success

Abstract

Prior to the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893, native Hawaiians’ literacy rates were extraordinarily high (Kloss, 1977). By the 1850s, all Hawaiian adults were described as able to read and write in their native language. After the Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown, a ban was placed on using Hawaiian in public schools (Kawakami & Dudoit, 2000), with corporal punishment used to enforce this ban. This led to rapid declines in Hawaiian language use and hostile school environments for Hawaiian children. Today, Hawaiian students typically have high dropout rates and are under-represented in post-secondary education (Kana‘iaupuni & Ishibashi, 2003; University of Hawai‘i Institutional Research Office, 2002). The Hawaiian Language Immersion Program (HLIP) began in 1987 in an effort to revitalize the Hawaiian language and improve education for native Hawaiian students. This paper examines influences of HLIP on college and career aspirations of students and their families from a Bridging Multiple Worlds perspective (Cooper, 2011).

Methods

Case studies of 12 families with adolescent students in HLIP were conducted early in the program’s development, 1999-2000. They were recruited from five of the 17 school sites on four of the Hawaiian Islands. The 60-120 minute interviews were audiorecorded and transcribed. Data analysis focused on educational and career aspirations of students and their families.
Findings

Among students, 70% were certain they wanted to attend college, while 30% were unsure of their plans after graduating from HLIP. A few expressed interest in joining the military. Some expressed an interest in returning to the immersion program as teachers. One senior was already taking a course in Hawaiian language at the University of Hawai‘i as part of the immersion program. Another felt obligated to return to teach at HLIP, but said he could do so later in life. All students wanted their own children to learn Hawaiian and would put them in HLIP. Several believed HLIP would give their children advantages over English language programs. However, 30% were concerned HLIP might not exist by the time they had children.

All parents expressed aspirations for their children to attend college. Most families emphasized a balance between education and cultural identity. Parents expected the program to educate their children in Hawaiian language and culture while providing them a good education that would afford them future opportunities and create well-rounded community contributors.

Significance

To date, few studies have looked at the impact of HLIP from students’ and families’ perspectives. This investigation of HLIP revealed how it shaped students’ college and career aspirations and their families’ aspirations for their children. Examining HLIP and other heritage language programs from the Bridging Multiple Worlds perspective may help these programs strengthen connections to their students’ college and career opportunities. These results may help teachers in and out of HLIP understand effects of culture and education on students’ and families’ development. These findings may aid educators with other indigenous language immersion programs as well as families interested in immersion education with insights about trials and triumphs of supporting and participating in an immersion program.

Author

• Rebecca J.I. Luning, University of Hawaii - Manoa