I have been working as an engineer for the past three decades of my life. As much as I enjoy it, I’ve always wanted to teach. A couple years ago, I decided to make a career change. I looked around at various schools for a math teaching program – there are many, and it was hard to distinguish any one of them from any other, so I just picked a practical one that was in-state. Just before submitting that application, a friend told me about the ethnomathematics program at University of Hawai‘i. It completely shifted my world. I knew I didn’t simply want to teach generic knowledge (math or otherwise) to generic students, but rather to teach in a meaningful way that could transform lives and institutions. But I didn’t know the words or the framework for what I wanted. Ethnomathematics provided those words and that framework.

Culturally-sustaining pedagogy: I instinctively knew that not all learners are the same but I didn’t understand how one could teach such a vast diversity of learners and people, particularly in something like math. The ethnomathematics program has helped me to understand that teaching is as much about relating content to each individual learner’s identity, life, and community, as it is about the content itself. In other words, the content needs a context – and that context should be about the real world in which we all live, individually and collectively.

Real world problem solving: As an engineer, I’ve seen up close some of the technology problems we face that need solving. As a citizen, I see many societal problems we face that need solving. Mathematics and science and education can’t exist in an academic bubble or vacuum. I’ve learned through the program that knowledge should be used to solve meaningful problems and to make an impact on people’s lives for the better. That is our responsibility as teachers and as global citizens.

Kuleana (responsibility): We also have a responsibility to our students, our families, our communities, the land (‘āina), and all of our cultures. I see and I sense that heartfelt obligation in all of the staff and all of the participants of the ethnomathematics program. The program set a high bar for teacher leadership, community partnerships, and social justice.

Na‘au pono (social justice): In today’s world, pedagogy has to be more than just acquiring knowledge and transmitting it to passive learners. What I’ve learned from the program are teaching methods that go beyond simply increasing student achievement (which is necessary, but not sufficient), but that also develop critical consciousness – both within myself and within my students, with the goal of transforming society while at the same time creating lifelong learners.

‘Imi ‘ike (seeking knowledge / wayfinding): We are all voyagers on this lifelong journey of learning and teaching – a journey that connects our past, present, and future. And I hope to use these new skills to one day pay it forward – to a new generation of refugees, immigrants, students of color, working class students – those who are unsure who they are, where they came from, and perhaps even where they are going. That was me at one point. I was lucky to have a community of family, friends, teachers, colleagues, mentors, and the ethnomathematics program to help me to find my way.