My qualitative case study explores teachers' perceptions of using authentic assessments within the classroom.  I interviewed seven K-12 educators who work within the classroom over the course of 5 months.  I went in with the intent of hoping to learn more about authentic assessment and how teachers were using them, after completing my interviews and looking at my data, my research question quickly began to change. STEMS² Pillars: Aʻo, Makawalu, Moʻolelo, Sense of Place

One indigenous teachers perspective of how her beliefs, the things she says, and the things she does impacts her students' success. Using self study to look at trends in teaching that may be impacting students’ learning through reflection of oneʻs dialogue with others, self evaluation rubrics, and writing to peel back the layers of who one is as a teacher. Rather than writing a traditional thesis paper, this paper represents a collection of writing as a result of the process of peeling back the layers integrated with relevant literature. A collection of poems were written to represent findings and each one is followed up with an implication of how that poem/finding impacted past and current teaching.   STEMS² Pillars: Aʻo, Makawalu, Moʻolelo, Sense of Place, Advocacy

Growing up in a military family, the concept of “home” was something I never had. I am an American Filipina, who grew up in Germany, and is currently living in Hawaii. Living in each place, I never felt like I truly belonged. I always felt too Asian to be American. Around my distant family, I felt too American to be considered Filipino. When I first moved to Hawaii, I felt too westernized to be Asian. I hated stereotypes and sought to pervade them in any way I could. In retrospect, I love the experiences that made up my identity. My sense of identity has been a challenge for me, but is becoming stronger as I become more aware of myself, my environment, and my culture. It is important to understand that our identity is ever-changing, as the culture around us is constantly evolving. While we are born into our identity in some ways, we also have the ability to choose to embrace the aspects of our changing identity that make us feel most comfortable in our skin, our community, and our culture. I have completed a study that allowed me to explore and understand my own personal sense of belonging and how that impacts my teaching. This study had four main goals: (1) to understand my Filipina identity, (2) to understand my Asian American identity, (3) to explore how this influences my practice, and (4) to empower all the multicultural identities in my classroom. STEMS² Pillars: Sense of Place

Journaling and reflecting on the teaching practices in my classroom and ways I incorporate CSP and the gaps I found in my curriculum, Looking for ways to improve my teaching practices to serve all the different cultural backgrounds in my classroom. STEMS² Pillars: Makawalu, Sense of Place

A case study based on interviews with 3 teachers in the state of Hawaiʻi. My intent for this study was to investigate the following questions:

• What does the implementation of place-and community-based pedagogies look like in a variety of spaces within Hawaiʻi?
• What can I and others who are interested in implementing a place-and community-based pedagogy in their space learn from the educators who already utilize this pedagogy?

To learn more in relation to these questions, study looks at each teachers' background as well as their place-and community-based pedagogies in an attempt to find any common key factors among them. STEMS² Pillars: Makawalu, Moʻolelo, & Sense of Place

"No broke the watermelon!!" If you are wondering what that means, the answer lies in this presentation of the enduring understandings and life lessons taught through a program of the DOE in the 1980s and 90s on the island of Molokai. Constructed upon a foundation of aloha ʻāina, an innovative educator took his students on learning journeys full of hands on experiences, steeped in advocacy, community building, and aloha that have left a lasting impression and the legacy of a pedagogy practiced now by two more generations of teachers. The research looks at the longitudinal influence and outcomes of this learning experience on former Hana Kūpono o Molokai students. STEMS² Pillars: Aʻo, Moʻolelo, Sense of Place, Advocacy

After realizing that there is not much research on Early Childhood Education incorporating STEMS^2 pedagogy I am working on a teacher research of reflections and philosophy throughout my career as a student and educator. I will be writing about knowledge shared with me by kanaka ʻōiwi cultural practitioners touching on my journey to learn about the practice of kilo and my journey on the ways learning about this particular practice has shifted my perspective. I talk about the ways this journey in STEMS^2 has developed a deeper sense of my relationship with “place” as an educator and my teaching practice with Early Learners. This presentation will be a culmination of a variety of discussions, both informal conversation and documented interview, and lessons implemented. STEMS² Pillars: Aʻo, Makawalu, Sense of Place, Advocacy