Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 7, Number 2, 1 February 1990 — UH-Hilo accredited to train teachers for Hawaiian studies program [ARTICLE]

UH-Hilo accredited to train teachers for Hawaiian studies program

The University of Hawaii-Hilo known statewide for its strong Hawaiian Studies Program, hasbeen accredited by the Department of Education to train Hawaiian language teachers for Hawai'i public schools. Hawaiian Studies Chairman, William H. Wilson, PhD., notes that the 63 credits taught in Hawaiian, on campus, give UH-Hilo the distinction of having the most-developed program in a Native American language in the nation. Wilson sees the accreditation as very timely. The 1989 legislature funded a Hawaiian language center at UH-Hilo to focus on support of the DOE Hawaiian programs. "The Hawaiian medium immersion program is important on a national level," notes Wilson. "Language-immersion education has long been used in Canada to develop native-like French language fluency accompanied by high academic performance. Hawai'i, however, is the site of the very first public school immersion program in a Native American language in the United States. "The Hawaiian program offers a model for Native American people to develop high quality academic skills in their children without abandoning a primary commitment to their own traditional

languages and cultures." The two initial Hawaiian program sitesat Waiau (O'ahu) and Keaukaha (Hilo) have been visited by a number of mainland and Canadian educational experts who have been impressed with the high performance of loeal children in the immersion program. Keaukaha Elementary, located in a Hawaiian Homestead community not far from the UH-Hilo campus, is serving as a training site for its recently accredited Hawaiian language teacher program. The Board of Education recently approved expanding Hawaiian medium/immersion education to six schools through the sixth grade, a move that will require over 30 teachers fluent in Hawaiian in the next few years for elementary programs alone. UH-Hilo accreditation as a source of Hawaiian language teachers is important in meeting that need. The DOE's accreditation report commended UH-Hilo's Hawaiian Studies staff's continuing commitment to the highest quality Hawaiian language instruction and their strong sense of eohesion and dedication to turning out the very best graduates in Hawaiian Studies/Language to teach in the department's various Hawaiian programs.