Page 288 - Cultural Studies of Science Education

262 S.N. Martin

which he teaches apart from the mainstream public schools. However, since the
majority of native Hawaiian students are taught by non-Hawaiian teachers in main-
stream schools (Chinn 2006), it is critical that teachers who do not share the same
genealogical connections to the land and community as David be educated to
reflect on their situationality and, as Freire suggested, be “challenged to act upon
it” (as quoted in Gruenewald 2003a, p. 4). Thus, the implications of Pauline and
David’s research suggests a critical need for more teachers like David, who attempt
to counter the marginalization and devaluation of indigenous knowledge by the
mainstream educational system, especially in the public school system.
The history of the colonization and subjugation of Hawaii’s indigenous popu-
lation in relation to the current position of power that settlers hold in the educa-
tional institutions in the state of Hawaii raises some questions about the role of
education in the production of social space and the reproduction of power rela-
tionships in this setting. Gruenewald (2003a) asserts that a critical pedagogy
perspective of place demands that the history of the peoples within a shared space
be fully explored, as “diverse social experiences produce diverse and sometimes
divergent perspectives toward cultural and ecological politics” and that for these
reasons, “social and ecological problems are often perceived and prioritized dif-
ferently by different groups” (p. 6). Differences in priorities and perspectives are
reflected in public policy, curricula choices, funding for schools, and even teacher
education initiatives.
By highlighting the positive influence David’s teaching practice had on his
Native students’ learning, Pauline and David make clear the challenges faced by the
majority of Hawaiian native students who are educated as “other peoples’ chil-
dren.” Clearly, their research underscores the need to expand representation of
native Hawaiians in the education system in Hawaii. However, the absence of any
discussion of the greater historical/cultural/social context or situationality of “peo-
ple as beings in this place” limits the potential of Pauline and David’s work to be
transformative for not only those students and teachers who are not native
Hawaiians, but also those who are. By engaging communities in place-conscious
education, where teachers and students study the relationship between people and
3
place over time, Greenwood believes educators can “challenge learners to consider
where they are, how they got there, and to examine the tensions between different
cultural groups’ inhabitation [of a shared place] over time” (p. 2009, p. 4). By
choosing to focus on the history of one individual person’s relationship to a place
and community, Pauline and David neglect to discuss David’s relationship with the
diverse groups of people who (unequally) share the same lands and communities in
which he and his students live and attend school. Without an examination of the
events that have brought non-indigenous peoples to the islands, resulting in not only
the destruction of the land, but also the devaluation of cultural practices of the native
Hawaiians, it is difficult to understand the significance of Pauline and David’s work.

3 Please note this author has changed his name from Gruenewald to Greenwood. When citing his
work in this chapter, I will reference the name that is consistent with the publication.