Teacher education in the Pacific toward a digital society

• In Event: Global Perspectives on Teacher Education Policies and Leadership

Proposal

1. Relevance
Over the past 15 years, our work in ethnomathematics has been nurtured and inspired by the strengths of communities in Hawai‘i and the Pacific. From grant-funded professional development supported by the National Science Foundation, it has grown into an institutionalized academic program with participants from around the world. In addition, the Hawai‘i Teacher Standards Board added a field of licensure in ethnomathematics that was officially approved at all K–12 grade levels. Through partnerships with community organizations, research institutions, and cultural practitioners, we strive to honor the legacies we are part of by connecting classrooms to the ecological, cultural, historical, and political contexts in which schooling occurs (Furuto, 2021; Kana‘iaupuni, 2005). This is done through intentional awareness of our assets, drawing on values-based education, and collaborating across sectors in order to leverage mathematics as a tool toward lasting, positive change (National Science and Technology Council, 2018).

This presentation will discuss teacher education scholarship through ethnomathematics beyond school walls as learners, educators and administrators find themselves immersed in a range of digital cultures. We will focus on “opportunities such as connecting with peers, enhancing learning opportunities, increasing access to educational resources, fostering greater creativity and self-expression, and increasing exposure to different cultures” as well as challenges and opportunities in transparency and accountability (CIES, 2024).

2. Theory/Context
Theoretical frameworks are grounded in knowledge and action for change achieved through intersections of culture, community, and curriculum including: culturally relevant pedagogy (Ladson-Billings, 1995), culturally congruent pedagogy (Au & Kawakami, 1994), culturally compatible pedagogy (Jacob & Jordan, 1987), engaged pedagogy (hooks, 1994), everyday pedagogies (Nassir, 2008), critical care praxis (Rolón-Dow, 2005), and recently, culturally sustaining pedagogy (Alim & Reyes, 2011; Irizarry, 2007). According to Paris (2012), “Culturally sustaining requires that our pedagogies be more than responsive of or relevant to cultural experiences and practices—it requires they simultaneously offer access to dominant cultural competence” (p. 95).

Research in Hawai‘i and Pacific communities demonstrates the importance of culturally sustaining pedagogy in the struggle toward social justice as we overcome deficit theories and strive toward strengths-based approaches through ethnomathematics (Chang & Lee, 2012; Furuto, 2014). We engage in the work of educating and sustaining the next generation of teacher educators and scholars who are committed to disrupting multiple forms of systemic oppression in and outside of our institutions to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing digital society (Kanaʻiaupuni, 2005; Nicol et al., 2020).

3. Mode of Inquiry
Knowledge and action for enduring, transformational change comes from working with and learning from the populations we are endeavoring to serve. According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2020), Hawai‘i’s population is among the most diverse in the nation, including Native Hawaiian (25%), Filipino (19%), Caucasian (18%), Japanese (12%), Korean (8%), Micronesian (8%), and others. There are a range of schools classified as urban, suburban, and rural. The State of Hawai‘i Department of Education (HIDOE) serves many students in poverty, with a high proportion of students on free and reduced lunch (29.5%) (HIDOE, 2024). Moreover, Hawai‘i is the only statewide school district in the nation and operates a single public state higher education system, the University of Hawai‘i System (UHS). The data and context make Hawai‘i a valuable study and provides a significant lens into the potential future of diversity in the U.S.

Research and development has been driven by an effort to address issues of equitable and quality education in Hawai‘i and the Pacific. The Ethnomathematics Program started as a yearlong professional development program (2013–2017) and was institutionalized as an academic program in 2018, which is run primarily online.

4. Findings
The Ethnomathematics Program has UHS IRB and HIDOE research approval and the authors are founders. The main objectives are to: (1) increase knowledge of culturally-sustaining mathematics content aligned with K–12 federal and state standards, (2) prepare teachers as leaders to provide instruction and professional development in ethnomathematics in their schools and communities; and (3) strengthen sustainable campus-community networks leading to college, career, and community readiness.

Program evaluation was based on mixed-methods grounded in strengths-based approaches, and both formative and summative data were collected via observations, questionnaires, and focus group instruments. Analyses consisted of descriptive statistics for quantitative data, and a combination of content and qualitative analysis to analyze constructed-response questions (Corbin & Strauss, 2008).

The Ethnomathematics Program has grown through successes and challenges as a yearlong professional development program for P–20 in-service educators with 80 participants representing all HIDOE complexes and islands. This has formed an integrated statewide network, particularly in historically marginalized populations. According to evaluation data (2013–2017), participants generally perceived the program to be valuable and relevant to their teaching practice (N = 78, M = 4.84, SD = 0.37). At the end of the program, participants were most likely to agree they understood and could incorporate culturally sustaining pedagogy aligned with federal and state standards into their classrooms. The disaggregated items had a reliability of 0.75 (Cronbach’s alpha) and an overall mean of 4.15. An impact study is currently in progress for graduates of the Ethnomathematics Program between 2018–Present.

5. Contribution (Type A)
The findings and promise of our work allow us to contribute toward a healthy and sustainable future for ourselves, our home in the Pacific, and our Island Earth. This presentation illustrates how ethnomathematics empowers teachers as leaders through equitable practices aligned with state and federal standards that bridge Indigenous wisdom and 21st century learning and the role of digital technology to connect us.

As the digital revolution ushers in promising changes, we have increasingly hopeful responses to interrogate consequential education research in Hawai‘i and the Pacific, such as the Ethnomathematics Program being institutionalized after a decade as a new academic program. The future vision of the Ethnomathematics Program is to strive to be a model for how we learn and teach mathematics that honors all people and places, and to be a catalyst for transformation in the communities which we are endeavoring to serve in the Pacific and around the world.

Author

• Linda Furuto, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa