Pacific Studies is an interdisciplinary field that began in the twentieth century in Australia, Aotearoa, and the United States (Mawyer et al., 2020). The field sought to understand the area and region of Oceania, but later, many scholars took more critical approaches to Pacific Studies. These approaches have provided more perspectives from those…

This study applied Kingdon's (2003) Multiple Streams Approach (MSA) in conjunction with Kanaka 'Oiwi Critical Race Theories (Wright & Balutski, 2015; Salis Reyes, 2018) to contextualize the creation of the Hawaiian, Asian, and Pacific Issues (HAP) general education requirement at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa (UH Manoa), a large, public,…

This paper shares the experiences, engagement, and struggle of one young Indigenous Hawaiian woman as she grapples with her sense of disconnect with STEM while serving as a land protector on the Mauna Kea, the home of the Thirty Meter Telescope being built over the objection of the local Indigenous community. I examine her changing perspectives…

Contribution: This article focuses on the study of Native Hawaiian student experiences in engineering education. Telling these stories illustrates the importance of legitimizing and appreciating different knowledge types in engineering as we move toward a more inclusive and sustainable field. Background: Native Hawaiian engineering students live…

The high school dropout problem in the U.S. has been studied extensively; however, the dropout of English Learner (EL) students is an underreported phenomenon. This study sought to understand the lived experiences of EL students from the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) who attended high school on…

This triptych uses academic literature, poetry, and personal reflection to illustrate the impact of the invisible currents of power that run through society and history on three fictional individuals--a Native Hawaiian woman on the Hamakua coast of the Island of Hawai'i, a girl in a refugee camp on the Thailand-Myanmar border, and a military…

Indigenous peoples embody their sovereignty in higher education through their ancestors and deities. The author reflects and shares his personal experiences as a Hawaiian in higher education, and asks the question, "How do we Indigenize the social sciences for the future?" He utilizes an ?o¯lelo no?eau (proverb) - ?o ka wa¯ ma mua, ?o ka…

Purpose: In "Decolonizing Methodologies" (1999), Linda Tuhiwai Smith asserted that "the master's tools of colonization will not work to decolonize what the master built." Smith challenged Indigenous researchers to fashion "new tools for the purpose of decolonizing and Indigenous tools that can revitalize Indigenous…

Research shows that children's reading proficiency levels in the early grades positively correlate with students' future academic achievement. This study provides the first-ever analysis of reading achievement trajectories for a cohort of students in grades 3 to 5 in 2014-17 in Hawaii schools. Hawaii serves a diverse student population whose…

Recent scholarship has focused on the vital role of social movement organizations as key pathways into activism. Yet attention to how learning unfolds within social movement organizations has not been adequately studied. Informed by critical learning sciences, we investigated Kokua Hawaii, a social movement organization that catalyzed a near half…

Despite the growing visibility of equity and access work in higher education, increasing the college degree attainment of Native Hawaiian students remains an urgent goal. The University of Hawai?i-West O?ahu, a regional public university, has the vision and location to realize this kuleana. Colonization and the illegal occupation of Hawai?i led to…

Storytelling via digital media can effectively spotlight pressing societal and environmental concerns. In Hawai'i, these issues encompass addressing climate change impacts and amplifying Indigenous viewpoints within academic contexts. This report discusses "Communicating Creativity," a course offered by the School of Communication and…

The University of Hawai?i is the only public higher education provider in Hawai?i. Starting in 1907 with Western academic ideologies, the Native Hawaiian (NH) ?ike and ?olelo were not a priority despite being the indigenous culture and language. More recently, the University has committed to becoming a Native Hawaiian place of learning and a…

In K-12 education, student voice is not often considered when establishing curriculum, addressing school policy, or creating a climate that reflects culturally inclusive teaching practices. Across education systems serving Indigenous communities within the United States, the voices of youth as a form of contribution are silenced, which echoes…

Purpose: This article demonstrates the reach of Tuhiwai Smith's ideas across Pacific research. It discusses the theoretical and practical influence of her seminal work "Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples" through "holographic epistemology", an indigenous way of viewing knowledge.…