Canoe to classroom: examining why Hawai'i's schools are adopting a navigation approach to education

The purpose of this study was to examine why Hawai‘i school leaders are deciding to adopt a navigation curriculum and how they perceive it to be benefitting their students. The research questions guiding this study are: How do school leaders make meaning of the decision to adopt a navigation based curriculum at their schools? What do they perceive to be the benefits for students? How do they believe they have enacted this approach to achieve benefits? In order to answer these questions, this multi-case study analyzed interview data from six Hawai‘i school leaders who had intentionally adopted aspects of traditional Hawaiian wayfinding curriculum. All respondents were heads of school or key leaders in the enactment or implementation of wayfinding curriculum within their school setting. Data for this study included in-depth interviews with each school leader and artifact collection. Findings revealed that while all leaders held similar expectations regarding the intended outcomes of adopting wayfinding approach, their personal ideology and the constraints of their specific school resulted in variations of how school leaders made meaning of their decision to adopt a navigation approach. Additionally, data revealed this intersection of school context, and each leader’s personal experience with their own situationality contributed to their ability to develop curriculum, which addresses the political, social and cultural challenges facing those who inhabit the same place. In order to provide meaningful place and culturally relevant curriculum, school leaders must first, identify their own biases; understand the limitations of their situationality and address teacher competence in delivering culturally relevant instruction.