What School Could Be
Spotlight on
Hawaiʻi
Creativity and Imagination in Education.
Innovation, creativity, and imagination drive education in Hawaiʻi, reflecting the islands' unique blend of culture, nature, and modernity. Schools embrace dynamic learning approaches, fostering environments where students explore their potential and develop future-ready skills.
Programs often integrate traditional Hawaiian knowledge with cutting-edge technology. For instance, students learn celestial navigation alongside coding GPS algorithms, merging ancient wisdom with modern science. Creativity flourishes through robust arts programs, where students express their identities and perspectives through hula, music, and visual arts inspired by Hawaii’s natural beauty.
Imagination thrives in project-based learning initiatives, where students address real-world challenges like sustainable farming, marine conservation, and renewable energy. Partnerships with local organizations and businesses encourage students to innovate while preserving Hawaii’s resources and cultural heritage.
STEM programs empower students to design robots, explore virtual reality, and showcase groundbreaking ideas in science fairs. Hawaii’s educators nurture an inclusive atmosphere where imagination is celebrated, and creativity thrives. This synergy of tradition and innovation equips students to become global leaders and stewards of Hawaii’s future, ensuring that their education reflects both the past’s wisdom and the possibilities of tomorrow. In Hawaiʻi, there is a saying: Ma ka hana ka ʻike, in doing one learns. Increasingly this is the North Star of public, private, and charter school teaching and learning in the islands.
Explore The Innovations
Check out the videos below to go deeper into each innovation's remarkable story.
Portfolio Defense in Action: SEEQS School
A detailed explanation of the Why?, When?, and How? of portfolio defenses that determine moving from 8th grade to high school.
Design Thinking Mindset
What does it look and sound and feel like when the goal of learning is the development of a designer’s mindset?
Place Based Learning: Kilo Observations
Imagine taking learning beyond the walls of the classroom and into nature, where students engage with their surroundings in meaningful ways. Kilo, a Hawaiian practice of deep observation, invites students to tune into their senses, observe the world around them, and foster a lasting connection with nature. This approach encourages curiosity and exploration, transforming the outdoors into a living classroom.
Place-Based Learning Concentric Circles
Place-based learning brings education into the community, allowing students to engage with meaningful sites and people. Using the “concentric circles” tool, educators map resources from nearby locations—on campus, within walking distance, and farther out—to make learning relevant and impactful. This approach balances big ideas, like social justice and interdependence, with the practical logistics of accessible locations. By grounding lessons in the places students know, the concentric circles framework creates a rich, adaptable pathway to connect students with their community and deepen their understanding.
Beyond the Lure
Mid-Pacific eXploratory (MPX) high school students explore the many facets of producing an effective fishing lure, while learning about design, engineering, problem-solving, social and environmental issues, as part of their Deeper Learning journey.
Information Literacy: The Role of Libraries In Our Schools
In today’s digital world, information literacy helps students evaluate, navigate, and use information responsibly. It fosters critical thinking, source credibility, and misinformation awareness. Through engaging lessons, students develop healthy skepticism, applying these skills to research, social media, and daily life—preparing them for academic success and informed citizenship.
The Importance of Trades and Vocational Training in East Maui
Ma Ka Hana Ka 'Ike is a program dedicated to empowering the youth of Hana, Maui through hands-on learning opportunities that are not just educational but deeply connected to Hana's community.
"Hawaiʻi ʻ78" | Song Across Hawaiʻi | Playing for Change Collaboration
Imagine recording artists in Hawaiʻi collaborating with 14 Hawaiʻi schools, and with Playing for Change to reinterpret the iconic song, “Hawaiʻi 78.” Place-based learning at its best!
Listen
Hear directly from some of these incredible educators on the What School Could Be podcast!
Episode 81. Dr. Mark Hines, the Obi-Wan Kenobi of Deeper Learning
Today, I welcome back to the show Dr. Mark Hines, the Director of Kupu Hou Academy, and the founder of the Mid-Pacific Explorer program at Mid-Pacific Institute in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. To his friends and colleagues, Mark is a Jedi warrior who uses The Force to help public, private and charter school educators find their inner deeper learning practice. To support this show, please give us a rating and review at your favorite podcast store.
Episode 120. La Gioia di Imparare, with Sarah DeLuca
Today's guest is Sarah DeLuca, a K-1 early childhood educator at Hanahauʻoli School in Honolulu, where she has been teaching and learning with and from her students, colleagues, and families since 2009. Sarah was born and raised in Honolulu and graduated from ‘Iolani School. She received her bachelor's degree from the University of Oregon in International Studies and her master’s in teaching at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She has lived and studied in Italy and enjoys traveling to spend time with extended family there.
Episode 86. Reading the Wave, Reading the World, with Lipoa Kahaleuahi
Today my guest is Lipoa Kahaleuahi, innovative educator, deep thinker, champion surfer and the executive director of Ma Ka Hana Ka ‘Ike (also known as Hana Build), a truly remarkable experiential learning program on the island of Maui. In this conversation, Lipoa and I range widely over a number of topics, including the remarkable way her life is a literal representation of the phrase, “it takes a village.”
Episode 129. Two Revolutions Squared, with Kim Ah Soon and Catherine Thorn
This episode features two guests and largely focuses on the 2Revolutions masters program in Learner-Centered Schools & Systems, which is geared towards innovative educators seeking to develop capacity as teacher leaders, instructional coaches, and supportive leaders working towards educational transformation. My guests are 2Revolutions’s Senior Consultant, Catherine Thorn, and Wai’alae Elementary Public Charter School Curriculum Coordinator and Instructional Coach, Kim Ah Soon.