The following in an excerpt from the January 2, 2025 Ka Wai Ola article written by Annabelle Le Jeune.
Caregivers are a child’s first and most important teachers so preschool kumu focus their instruction on lessons that help both keiki and caregiver to thrive.
Ka Lama Education Academy is INPEACE’s flagship program with a grow-your-own-teacher model developed to loop their early childhood education program in a full-circle approach with kumu who come from the same or similar communities as the keiki and caregivers they serve, and then tailor the curriculum to connect the preschool to the community.
“We know that teachers who are from the community, who are raised in the community can communicate, can relate, can build pilina (relationship) with the students that they are teaching,” said Sanoe Marfil, CEO of INPEACE.
Teachers who go through Ka Lama Education Academy graduate with degrees in education through the University of Hawaiʻi system or other institutions. They choose their own pathway, oftentimes alongside a cohort of other students, and are supported with mentorship and professional training throughout their college career.
When caregivers and keiki can identify with and see themselves in their kumu, they feel safe and are able to trust in them to guide their educational journey. It creates a non-intimidating space to learn, especially for first-time caregivers.
At INPEACE’s preschool Keiki Steps program, every day starts with keiki, caregivers and kumu joining together in protocol. They start with kaunoʻo (learning centers), embedded in Hawaiian culture-based education. For example, a lesson on “transportation” might require keiki to kilo (observe) and think about what different kinds of transportation look like.
In a Western classroom, you would likely hear about buses and airplanes. But at Keiki Steps, they think about what transportation looks like in Hawaiʻi. That could be a waʻa (canoe), a manu (bird) or even the Kaiāulu wind in Waiʻanae. It’s about shifting perspectives to incorporate a Hawaiian worldview and perpetuate that ʻike and those practices as a people.
ʻEleu: Activating and Advocating for Early Childhood Education
Together, INPEACE, KOKA and PIDF make up the ʻEleu consortium, a collective of early childhood education partners that operate both Hawaiian culture-based education and family-child interaction learning programs.
By advocating together, ʻEleu partners deliver high-quality education to communities that often face specific challenges and barriers including lower-incomes, houselessness, lack of transportation and other special needs.
Most FCIL programs in Hawaiʻi are accredited. For example, the early childhood education programs of both INPEACE and KOKA are accredited by the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium, and PIDF is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
For more than 15 years, ʻEleu has organized an annual Native Hawaiian Early Childhood Education Consortium Conference. It’s an opportunity for each organization to report on successes and advancements in their respective programs, share new information, learn from one another, and build pilina with other early childhood educators – as well as to advocate for community initiatives and government policies that support early childhood learning.
The first five years of a child’s life are the most important, with 90% of brain development occurring by the time a child starts kindergarten. These are formative years that are crucial for healthy socio-emotional development and for language learning.
That’s why caregivers – as their child’s first teacher and the one they spend most of their time with – are encouraged to create the most optimal learning environment possible at their own homes; one that intentionally integrates quality education into daily activities.
At INPEACE, KOKA and PIDF, caregivers are also introduced to curriculum developed to build upon a multi-generational education model deeply rooted in Hawaiian values and practices.
There’s a reason why ʻohana like the Fukushimas, a multi-generational household, keep returning to Tūtū and Me: the kumu and friends really make it feel like “family.”
“It takes special people to actually want to work with the kids and they really show that they want to be there,” said Fukushima. “They’re all so sweet and so kindhearted and they’re very understanding. My kids love them, we love them.”
Read the full article at Preschool Experiences Rooted in Hawaiian Culture – Ka Wai Ola
