Page 265 - Cultural Studies of Science Education

18 A Case Study of David, a Native Hawaiian Science Teacher 239

students out into the field where real science was easily observed. Projects included
bioremediation systems, visits to Kawainui Marsh and working with renowned scientists,
graduate students, and retired teachers from my high school.

Activity Networks as Resources for Curriculum Development

David’s engagement in cross-institutional, cross-scale, intergenerational activity
networks was intended to gain knowledge to translate into school programs. He
viewed curriculum development as transdisciplinary and collaborative:
I was fortunate in working with many experts in the field of education, oceanography, and
Hawaiiana. My connections and collaborative efforts began to branch from those early
years in the mid-1980s. A sharing between levels helped me to grow and allowed my sys-
tems to learn from each other. No one level was left out of the learning process and the ties
only got stronger.
We used our connections in our family of educators to branch into field trips to
Ka’ena Point State Park, Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, Space Camp (Alabama) and
Cape Canaveral. All trips were tightly woven into what we were teaching, and were
educational as well as entertaining. Hiking the lava flows, going up to Mauna Kea at
night to see Halley’s comet, seeing all the endemic and indigenous plants from the
mountain to the sea assisted us in teaching the idea of sustainability and natural
resource management. We had students send post cards to their families to share their
daily experiences. It was our way to keep the knowledge flow going from generation to
generation, thus keeping the ties in the family lines connected through the education
their children were receiving.
My mentors were not limited to the classroom. I have had strong and lasting relation-
ships with numerous educators in the upper levels of the DOE and the University of
Hawai’i. During my summers I was the instructor of the Blue Water Marine Laboratory
based at the Waikiki Aquarium. My work at BWML was used in my classes at
Kawananakoa, and vice versa. Dr. Carol H., former Education Director, Waikiki Aquarium
was influential in my efforts to connect environmental education and oceanography to
the DOE curriculum. I would not be complete in describing my educational history if I
didn’t describe my relationship with my former principal, Mr. A. [that] reaped many
rewards for our school. I believe that Mr. A saw in me the ability to work with any orga-
nization, and the work ethic to complete a task with all the “bases covered.”

Classroom Observations: Learning Discourses
of School and Science

Videotapes of David’s classes show that he provided his students with a socially
structured environment with high expectations for social and academic performance.
He required students to address him by his complete four-syllable Hawaiian surname,
preceded by the title Mr. This formal mode of address contrasted to the common
practice I observed in both private and public schools of students simply calling
their teachers Mister or Miss, sometimes followed by the initial of the teacher’s
surname. If students wished to be acknowledged they had to address him appropriately
before being recognized. David consistently modeled how he should be addressed