So this reading was really interesting to me since I am still not in the classroom because it shows a lot of variety in perspectives of acquiring knowledge. The idea of teaching and learning to the fourth power is pretty different from other ideas in education. They take the students to explore knowledge and learning in different ways through a variety of different strategies and mediums. But the problem with this as well as all programs is that not all programs will work for every student.
In Hawaiian teaching and learning are the same word which is really how the learning experience should occur. Teaching and learning are interdependent relationships and occur from experience. Teaching and learning are the pursuit of creating relevant knowledge, inspiring students to form their own ideas, and creating relationships which all help to lead to academic success. They are trying to teach students how to become agents of social change and be able to think and act for themselves which requires and educational system that supports their ways of being able to develop these characteristics. Districts are looking for the root of the problem so that they can fix it, but this may be harder than they think since Hawaii used to have one of the highest literacy rates in the west. But this was before it was taken over and its language and culture were taken away and public schools were forced to teach all students in English. This change definitely had a major impact on the lives of Hawaiian people and their whole way of life.
But blaming the educational system for student’s failure is not going to help the situation. A change needs to take place and soon before more students are left behind. But native Hawaiian students are falling behind their classmates in Hawaiian schools. There are many reasons that certain groups of students can fall behind their classmates. Coming up with the goal to provide students with culturally relevant methods to motivate them to become lifelong learners is a great idea but this may not reach all of the students involved and who need to become involved in their own learning process. In the past school systems focused on giving students dominant, mainstream, and Western ideas. But these are not all culturally relevant to any group of students as a whole.