From cultural roots to worldview: Cultural connectedness of teachers for native Hawaiian students

UnrestrictedNative Hawaiian students encounter numerous challenges due to differences between Western and Hawaiian philosophies and values (Dela Cruz, Salsman, Brislin, & Losch, 2005, p. 121). Research suggests it is a result of the incongruence between Indigenous students’ formal education and their heritage culture (Hinkley & McInerney, 1998; Ogbu, 1995; Kawagley & Barnhardt, 1998; Lipka & McCarty, 1994; Howard, 2003) generating discussion about reform in the dominant Western educational structure, its curriculum and the preparation of prospective teachers (Ladson-Billings, 1995b; Banks, 1993; Bennett, 2001; Castagno & Brayboy, 2008). This study examines ten fourth and fifth grade teachers at Kamehameha Elementary School where all of the students selected for admission to the K-12 private school have Native Hawaiian heritage.; Ladson-Billings' (1984) culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) helps structure this study of teachers' cultural connectedness with their students' culture. Various factors linked to cultural connectedness from CRP's three principles and Hawaiian Cultural Influences in Education (HCIE) are explored emphasizing 1) teachers’ practices in the classroom related to content, context, and consciousness and 2) teachers' perceptions or perspective about their cultural connectedness. It is this "connectedness" which is the focus of the present study as it relates to teachers’ use of culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) or culture based education (CBE) in their instruction and perceptions of teaching. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed in this study which utilizes a teacher survey (CBETT-Culture Based Education Teacher Tool) and a teacher interview