Jon Yoshioka, director of the Master of Education in Teaching (MEdT) program in the College Education, was elected to serve as the president of the Association of Teacher Educators (ATE). Founded in 1920, ATE serves nearly 1,300 teacher educators in colleges, universities, school districts, and state education agencies within 41 regional and state affiliated units and U.S. Territories.
“I am honored and humbled that my colleagues in ATE elected me and will spend the year trying to live up to the faith and trust that they put in me,” Yoshioka said. “In this role, I want to focus on the big picture areas in teacher education, but also some of the things that make Hawaiʻi such a unique place, hence we will focus on the theme of an educator’s kuleana (responsibility). Place and culture have a profound effect on who we are, and it is important to honor this fact and how it guides us.”
In the year ahead, Yoshioka says he also plans to work on giving a voice to those who may not have had the opportunity in the past by focusing on advocacy for our ourselves, students, colleagues, and profession. Another important area that he says educators often neglect is to reflect on and celebrate the amazing things that are going on in classrooms every day.
Yoshioka taught science at McKinley High School, Assets School, and Saint Louis School before joining the COE faculty in 2007. In August 2023, he will assume the role of the new director of the COE School of Teacher Education (STE), formerly the Institute for Teacher Education.
The theme of the 2023 ATE Summer Conference in Washington, D.C. is A Professional Educator’s Kuleana: Preparing for the Future Through Accountability, Diversity, Advocacy, and Celebration. The event will include workshops and presentations focused on teacher education; keynote speakers, like the Washington D.C. teacher of the year; an ATE Inquiry Initiative focused on teacher retention, and other special events.
“I would like to say a huge thank you to all of my colleagues in the COE who have become part of the ATE family,” Yoshioka said. “I hope that the organization can do for them what it has done for me, both professionally and personally.”
