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CERI > Affiliates > Amber Strong Makaiau
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Amber Strong Makaiau

She/Her

Specialist

School of Teacher Education

amakaiau@hawaii.edu
Personal Website
View CV

Areas of Expertise

  • Curriculum Studies
  • Multicultural/Multilingual Education
  • Social Studies Education
  • Teacher Education

Keywords

Educational Philosophy and Theory, Equity and Social Justice, Multicultural/Multilingual Education, Professional Learning, School-University Partnerships, Social Justice, Teacher Education

Research Methodologies

  • Action Research
  • Qualitative Methods

Research Levels

  • Adult Learning
  • K–12
  • Postsecondary

Research Overview

Dr. Amber Strong Makaiau is a progressive educator. She grounds her research and scholarship in Plato’s notion that “the unexamined life is not worth living” (Apology, 38a) and John Dewey’s (1916) pragmatist philosophy that: “as a society becomes more enlightened, it realizes that it is responsible not to transmit and conserve the whole of its existing achievements, but only such as make for a better future society. The school is its chief agency for the accomplishment of this end.” (p. 20). Driven by her childhood experience attending Hanahau’oli School (a 108 year old progressive school located in Honolulu, Hawai‘i) and strong interest in ensuring that more students have access to a high quality progressive education–her professional line of inquiry is dedicated to exploring how diverse teachers, schools, and education systems effectively translate progressive philosophy into practice. She uses action research, self-study of teacher research, and other qualitative methods to investigate her own teaching practice, the impact of curriculum on student learning, teacher professional development, levers of change in school culture, and links between the history of the progressive education movement and contemporary social change. Committed to social justice and participating in public discourse regarding the affairs of society at-large, Dr. Makaiau works to amplify the scholarship and research of progressive educators by editing, writing, and publishing  Progressive Philosophy and Pedagogy: A Blog for Progressive Educators. 

  • Makaiau, A. (2024). Lessons from The Progressive Educator Newspaper (1893–1899). Schools. https://doi.org/10.1086/732432
  • Makaiau, A.S., Miller, C., Chung-Do, J., Ichinoise, A. & Zhang, J. (2023). philosophy for children Hawai‘i at Kailua High School: Benefits and challenges of university philosophy outreach programs in the secondary school setting. Journal of Philosophy in Schools, 10(1).
  • Makaiau, A., Halagao, P. E., & Thao, G. (2023). Creating Transformative Leaders of Social Justice in Education. Multicultural Perspectives, 25, 52–59. https://doi.org/10.1080/15210960.2022.2136181
  • Makaiau, A.S. (2022). For the Purpose of a Better Future Society: Advancing Progressive Philosophy and Pedagogy in Today’s World. In: Postiglione, E. (eds) Fostering Inclusion in Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07492-9_8
  • Makaiau, A. S. (2017). A Citizen’s Education: The Philosophy for Children Hawai‘i Approach to Deliberative Pedagogy. In M. R. Gregory, J. Haynes, & K. Murris (Eds.), The Routledge International Handbook of Philosophy for Children (pp. 19–26). Routledge.
  • Visit my Semantic Scholar Profile
  • Presenter, Progressive Education Network Conference 2024
    Makaiau, A. (2024). Lessons from the History of the Progressive Education in Hawai‘i: Using Teachers’ Reading Circles for Professional Development and Movement Building. Progressive Education Network (PEN) Conference 2024. Columbus, OH, USA.
  • Keynote, Future-Focused Educators’ Summit: Washington Association of Educational Service Districts
    Makaiau, A. (July, 2021). Developing Leaders of Social Justice in Education. Future-Focused Educators’ Summit: Washington Association of Educational Service Districts. [Online] View Keynote Recording.
  • Presenter, Schools of the Future Conference (2017)
    Makaiau, A. S. & Miller, C. (2017, October). philosophy for children Hawai‘i: Cultivating and Nurturing Collaborative Civic Spaces. 2017 Schools of the Future Conference HI, USA. View Keynote Recording.
  • Presenter, National Council for Social Studies College and University Faculty Assembly Annual Meeting (2017) 
    Makaiau, A. S. (2017, November). Presenter, Ethnic Studies Now! Three Reasons Why Ethnic Studies Should be a Requirement for High School Graduation in the United States. Presentation at the National Council for Social Studies College and University Faculty Assembly Annual Meeting in San Francisco, CA, USA. [RECIPIENT OF THE 2017 National Council for the Social Studies College and University Faculty Assembly Kipchoge Neftali Kirkland Social Justice Paper Award.]
  • 2025 – 2026 $101,030K / 2024 – 2025 $98,980K / 2023 – 2024 $42,893K / 2022 – 2023 $36,976K  / 2021 – 2022 $36,976K / 2020 – 2022 $36,976K / 2019 – 2020 $36,976K / 2018 – 2019 $49,776K Hanahau’oli School, Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between Hanahau’oli School and  the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa College of Education (COE)—“for their mutual benefit and the benefit  of education in Hawaii. With a mutual desire to build a Professional Development School (PDS) that  emphasizes progressive, interdisciplinary, and inquiry approaches to learning—Dr. Amber Strong Makaiau, Specialist in the UHM COE School of Teacher Education, serves as a  bridge between Hanahau’oli School and the COE as Hanahau’oli School’s Professional Development Center Director.”
  • 2022-2027 $150K / 2019-2022 $100K The Hanahauʻoli School Professional Development Center and UHM COE Social Justice Education Initiative. This joint initiative is aimed at advancing social justice education in Hawai‘i and beyond. A collaboration with the nationally renowned Teaching Tolerance program, this multi-year Social Justice in Education project is aimed at growing local educators’ capacity for educating children and youth to be active participants in a diverse democracy. Made possible by the generosity and forward thinking of longtime Teaching Tolerance supporters, Jana and Howard Wolff, the ambitious initiative supports the Hanahauʻoli School PDC’s public mission by building upon the school’s rich progressive education tradition to support the development of school communities that promote a better future society for today’s children and COE’s mission of “preparing educators and professionals at all levels to contribute to a just, diverse and democratic society while developing a sense of purpose and sense of place.”
  • 2022 – 2027 $1.45M / 2017 – 2022 $1.35M / 2012 – 2017 $1.25M Uehiro Foundation for Ethics and Education. Since 2017, the Uehiro Foundation on Ethics and Education has given over four million dollars to support the UHM Uehiro Academy for Philosophy and Ethics in Education. Located in the College of Arts & Humanities and in partnership with the UHM College of Education, the Academy supports research and education related to the preparation, support, and sustaining of educators, researchers and students who are developing intellectually safe communities of inquiry in their classrooms and schools. The Academy’s research serves students and teachers from Hawaiʻi, the U.S., Japan, and other international locations as they endeavor to respond to the ethical problems in the modern world.
  • 2017 – 2019 $90,000 National Endowment for the Humanities. Part of a nationwide National Endowment for the Humanities initiative, Creating Humanities Communities, the grant program offered professional development workshops for public school teachers who needed models to teach Hawaiian history using the newly-adopted College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework. A partnership with Mānoa Heritage Center (MHC) and the Hawai‛i Department of Education, the grant enhanced how Hawaiian history and culture is taught in Hawai‛i’s public schools by giving teachers the opportunity to develop culturally responsive Hawaiian history unit plans.
  • College, Career and Civic Life (C3) Teachers
  • Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) Social Studies Assessment, Curriculum, and Instruction (SSACI)
  • National Geographic
  • The Southern Poverty Law Center, Teaching Tolerance
  • The Kettering Foundation
  • The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement
  • The National Parks Service
  • Human Rights Here and Now
  • The Hawai‘i State Department of Education
  • The East-West Center
  • The Hawai‘i State Legislature
  • The Honolulu Museum of Art
  • The Hawai‘i Community Foundation
  • Hanahau’oli School
  • Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives

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