I Pa‘a Ke Kahua Kumu: A Generational Legacy of Educational Sovereignty in Hawaiian-Medium Teacher Education

• In Event: Imagining and Enacting Indigenous Futures: Sovereignty, Self-Determination, and Education

Abstract

Objectives/Purpose. This paper presents a case example of educational sovereignty in action, told through the intergenerational work of the Kahuawaiola Indigenous Teacher Education Program. Grounded in the understanding that it takes one generation to endanger a language and three to restore it as a living one, Kahuawaiola stands as a foundation of Hawaiian language resurgence. Two generations of Hawaiian language revitalization leaders have raised and educated their children through Hawaiian-medium education. Those children now serve as kumu (teachers) and trainers of teachers—sustaining a legacy of Indigenous leadership and Hawaiian-centered education. The purpose of this presentation is to tell that story, drawing out its implications and the wisdom it holds for “unforgetting histories” and imagining Indigenous futures.

Perspectives/Theoretical and Philosophical Framework. Framed by the I Māhuahua Aʻe (“To Provide Expansion”) case study, this presentation illustrates how sovereignty is enacted through the preparation of highly qualified, culturally grounded kumu who serve Hawaiʻi’s 41 K–12 Hawaiian immersion-medium schools. Despite decades of progress, the demand for fluent speakers and skilled teachers remains pressing. Kahuawaiola responds with a teacher preparation model grounded in ʻike kupuna (ancestral knowledge, philosophy, practice, and language), preparing educators to lead with cultural integrity and deep community ties (Authors, 2018). This is a vision of “teacherness” (Author 1, 2022) from a Hawaiian-medium perspective. These constructs anchor the theoretical and philosophical framework, which is contextualized within the growing Hawaiian language movement and a critical shortage of Hawaiian-medium teachers.

Methods/Modes of Inquiry. The I Māhuahua Aʻe case study uses a “backwards mapping” methodology to identify stakeholder visions of Native Hawaiian teacherness and “best practices” in the Kahuawaiola program. What teacher qualities and abilities are needed to cultivate the next generations of Native Hawaiian citizens and a self-determined future? What does backwards mapping reveal about “best practices” and their effectiveness in cultivating culturally and linguistically knowledgeable, Hawaiian identity-nurturing kumu? This qualitative case study is rooted in the “5 Rs” of critical Indigenous research: relationality, respect, reciprocity, responsibility, and relevance (Kirkness & Barnhardt, 2001).

Data Sources. Data include classroom observations, syllabi “walk-throughs” with university kumu, kumu candidates’ reflective writings, and in-depth interviews with university kumu, kumu candidates, mentor kumu, and community stakeholders.

Findings. Case study data will identify practices that cultivate Native Hawaiian teacherness and effectiveness based on the ‘ike kupuna model. Findings also address the relationship of those practices with state licensure standards.

Significance. This work exemplifies how the interweaving of language, education, and family becomes both a political and pedagogical act of self-determination. It powerfully engages AERA’s 2026 theme by unforgetting histories of Hawaiian resistance and imagining futures shaped by Indigenous vision, voice, and vitality.

Authors

• Keiki Kawai’ae’a, University of Hawai'i at Hilo

• Makalapua Alencastre, University of Hawaii at Hilo