Graduate Student Research Symposium 2026

This study examines the intersection of Indigenous Hawaiian education and restorative justice within Western carceral institutions. Specifically, it evaluates the Pu‘uhonua program at Windward Community College, University of Hawai‘i, which provides higher education opportunities to incarcerated and justice-involved students. Leveraging a practitioner-scholar framework, the researcher draws upon first-hand instructional experience in ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i (Hawaiian language) and Hawaiian Studies in carceral spaces to assess the program’s efficacy.

By analyzing the delivery of culturally grounded curricula in carceral settings, this research explores how Indigenous knowledge systems serve as a catalyst for rehabilitation and decolonization. The study aims to determine how the Pu‘uhonua program facilitates student identity formation and educational persistence, ultimately offering a model for culturally responsive pedagogy that challenges the traditional punitive structures of Western imprisonment.