Eia Tita, Kou Kalipa: Waialeale Sarsona at TEDxManoa
The speaker argues that the profound, self-correcting care visible in Hawaiian Focus Education exemplifies its value, which surpasses measurable metrics like Common Core standards. This commitment is powerfully illustrated by a young student intervening in a physical fight to restore order, demonstrating inherent cultural understanding. The speaker advocates for sharing these personal moments—the *khalipa*—as the true measure of educational success and self-determination. ## Speakers & Context - Speaker: Unnamed individual, currently Director of Hakik at the Kamehameha schools. - Speaker's Background: Was a mother who was first struck by the care received at Punakoko when she was picking up her four-year-old daughter. - Speaker's Role: Director of Hakik at the Kamehameha schools, supports over 17 Hawaiian Focus schools. - Context: Speaker was invited to a panel to discuss "success for a native Hawaiian child in a Hawaiian school" for a school considering becoming a Hawaiian school. ## Theses & Positions - Hawaiian Education's value lies in demonstrable care, connection to place, and inherent community understanding, exemplified by *Aloha*. - The process described is "transformational," meaning a student applies what they learned in school to their everyday life. - Hawaiian tradition (*Kapuna*) already embodies the ideals that the mainstream nation is now moving toward through education. - Academic success metrics (like standardized testing) are insufficient measures compared to community accountability and care. - The ultimate goal is self-determination, achieved by sharing personal defining moments (*khalipa* or *moolo*) to join the path. ## Concepts & Definitions - **Makua:** Term used by the speaker to describe herself, indicating cultural role. - **Aloha:** A type of care experienced at Punakoko that "sealed my commitment and my fate" to Hawaiian education. - **Kamehameha schools:** The institution overseeing the current role of the speaker. - **Hawaiian Focus Education:** A system where students show deep understanding of right and wrong, leading to self-correction within the community structure. - **Transformational:** A state where a student takes knowledge learned in school and applies it in their everyday life. - ***Kapuna***: Hawaiian term referring to elders or knowledgeable guides who teach ways of life. - ***Ohana***: Community/family structure, often applied to the school environment. - ***Khalipa***: A significant moment or defining realization experienced in one's life. - ***Moolo***: A personal story or moment used to illustrate a point. ## Mechanisms & Processes - **Process of commitment:** The speaker's commitment was sealed by a teenage girl (who later graduated from Kaku) retrieving her daughter's *khalipa* from the path, demonstrating unexpected care. - **School oversight:** The speaker helps native Hawaiian communities open and strengthen their own schools. - **Student accountability model:** When an incident occurs (like a physical fight), the students themselves initiate the correction, demonstrated by a female student intervening. - **Data collection:** Tracking students over five or more years to measure attendance, parent satisfaction, and academic growth. ## Timeline & Sequence - **Childhood memory:** Speaker picking up her 4-year-old from Punakoko; encounter with the teenage girl. - **Early Career:** Enrolling at ʻAliʻi at Kaku and spending the next 5 years as the school's director. - **Current Role:** Directing Hakik at the Kamehameha schools. - **Reporting period:** Data gathered over the past 10 years of the Hawaiian Focus schools. - **Long-term tracking:** Student data tracked for five or more years. ## Named Entities - **Punakoko** — School where the speaker was picking up her daughter. - **Kaku** — School attended by the speaker; she later directed ʻAliʻi at Kaku. - **Punokako** — Spelling variant or name associated with the initial school encounter. - **Hakik** — Current location/directorate supported by the speaker. - **Kamehameha schools** — The overall system the speaker is associated with. - **ʻAliʻi** — A specific program or level at Kaku. - **Va'a Pani** — The name of one of the boys involved in the fight incident. ## Numbers & Data - Speaker's daughter's age during the initial incident: **4 years old**. - Years the speaker spent as director at Kaku: **5 years**. - Number of Hawaiian Focus schools supported: Over **17**. - Enrollment increase in the past 10 years: **Quadrupled**. - Rate of parent satisfaction: **More satisfied** than the Public School System. - Tracking duration: **Five or plus years**. - Time frame for comparing achievement: **10 years** (Hawaiian Focus) versus **100 years** (Public School System). ## Examples & Cases - **The Initial Encounter:** Walking with daughter, the girl loses her *khalipa* (a bag/item), and a teenage girl in a blue uniform retrieves it, sealing the speaker's commitment to Hawaiian education. - **The Plant Gift:** Receiving a *Pō Hina* plant from a panel presentation, which the speaker's 6-year-old daughter asked about, leading the speaker to realize the demonstration of Hawaiian education was her connection to people and surroundings. - **The Physical Fight:** Two boys argued into a fight during recess at a Hawaiian focused charter school; a female student intervened with words, ending the fight and leading the boys to self-correct and apologize. ## Tools, Tech & Products - **Pō Hina:** A plant gifted to the speaker, used as a metaphor for education's value. - **Standardized Testing/Common Core:** Mentioned as a measure that the current system is compared against. ## Trade-offs & Alternatives - **Hawaiian Focus Education vs. Public School System:** The speaker asserts the Hawaiian model achieves what the public system has failed to accomplish in the last 100 years within the last 10 years. - **Quantitative Data vs. Qualitative Experience:** Acknowledgment that "many researchers... can give you all the research," but the speaker chooses to share stories instead. ## Counterarguments & Caveats - **Data Expectations:** The audience is expected to ask for data/statistics, which the speaker preemptively addresses by confirming that they *do* track data (attendance, satisfaction, etc.) but chooses storytelling instead. - **Perfection:** The speaker states, "I'm not telling you that our schools are perfect." ## Methodology - **Anecdotal Evidence:** Reliance on deeply personal and community-observed events to demonstrate the model's effectiveness. - **Longitudinal Study:** Tracking student outcomes over 5+ years. - **Comparative Analysis:** Measuring outcomes against established (but insufficient) public school benchmarks. ## Conclusions & Recommendations - The speaker urges the audience to identify and share their own *khalipa* or *moolo*—the defining moments of understanding what is right. - The purpose of sharing is to encourage more people to join the path toward self-determination. ## Implications & Consequences - The model suggests that community accountability and cultural embeddedness (*Ohana*) can create a profound sense of self-correction and care superior to external disciplinary measures. - The continued success of Hawaiian Focus schools supports the path toward self-determination. ## Verbatim Moments - *"a Viv baby we got to go"* (Said while holding her daughter's hand). - *"Atita kipa"* (Said by the teenage girl). - *"I cannot get and experience the kind of care and Aloha"* (Describing the Punakoko moment). - *"Plant and it was a Pō Hina."* (The object received at the panel). - *"she had a connection to our AA to her people and to her surroundings more than I could imagine."* - *"Today we call that trans transformational that's amazing that education does that"* - *"Are they just naive or are they totally brilliant?"* (Paraphrasing the underlying question raised by the plant story). - *"The boys are watching now."* (The crucial line uttered by the girl stopping the fight). - *"I can tell you what the data says..."* (Stating the empirical findings). - *"I leave you with this haaha khalipa"* (Final concluding phrase).