ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Pacific Partnerships: The University of Hawai'i-American Samoa Cohort Teacher Education Project
Author: Haleck, Peggy A.
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Partnerships in Education,Intercollegiate Cooperation,Inservice Teacher Education,Elementary School Curriculum,Program Descriptions,Curriculum Development,Federal Aid,Grouping (Instructional Purposes),Consultation Programs,Preservice Teacher Education,Teacher Education Programs

For the past thirty-one years, the University of Hawai'i (UH) has worked in collaboration with the American Samoa Department of Education (ASDOE) and the American Samoa Community College (ASCC) to upgrade the professional level of American Samoa's elementary teachers. During these early years of the partnership, several UH professors served as consultants to the ASDOE in specific areas of curriculum and educational administration. These professors also provided in-service teacher training in the form of workshops during the school year and more extensive training programs in the summer. Typically, faculty members traveled to American Samoa for four to five weeks during the summer to teach two classes attended by 20-25 students at the community college. Beginning in 1975, the ASDOE began sending a small number of teachers to off-island universities in order to earn their degrees. Additionally, a government scholarship program supported Samoan students earning bachelor degrees in a variety of fields with the understanding that graduates would return to work for the American Samoa government. Many of these graduates became teachers. This article discusses the UH-American Samoa cohort Teacher Education Project. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)
The Cohort Program in American Samoa: A Teacher's Perspective
Author: Tauiliili, Paul
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Constructivism (Learning),Program Effectiveness,Grouping (Instructional Purposes),Foreign Countries,Teaching Methods,Student Centered Curriculum,Educational Practices,Classroom Techniques,Elementary School Teachers,Teacher Education Programs,Instructional Effectiveness,Elementary School Curriculum,Teacher Attitudes

A paradigm shift is occurring in the approach to teaching in the education system of American Samoa. This shift can be characterized as the movement from a traditional, teacher-centered approach to a constructivist, student-centered approach. One factor that has contributed to this shift arises from the training of teachers through the University of Hawai'i cohort program. In this article, the author focuses on the impact that the cohort program has had in American Samoa's elementary schools. While discussing the impact of the program, the author draws upon the discussions that he has had with teachers, administrators, and others who are most closely connected with the program.
Teacher Education at the American Samoa Community College
Author: Kneubuhl, James
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Community Colleges,Foreign Countries,Teacher Education,College Role,Institutional Evaluation,Institutional Characteristics,Educational Development,Educational Indicators,College Outcomes Assessment,Teacher Certification

A number of circumstances make it difficult for aspiring teachers in American Samoa to earn certification and/or advanced degrees. Young men and women who graduate from the territory's high schools have two options available to them if they plan to continue their education. They can pursue a two-year degree at the American Samoa Community College (ASCC), or they can enter a four-year program at an overseas institution. Unfortunately, the distance between overseas schools and American Samoa, as well as the expense and other complications involved with local students living and studying away from home, results in only a limited number of them having the opportunity to pursue their educational career as far as their abilities might merit. Of the students who do earn degrees overseas, some eventually enter the field of education in the territory, but many others choose to seek more lucrative opportunities away from home. With teachers' salaries in American Samoa substantially lower than in Hawai'i or the US mainland, few highly qualified teachers are willing to travel from off-island to work in the territory's schools. As a result, both the American Samoa Department of Education (ASDOE) and the private schools face an ongoing challenge in recruiting and retaining qualified staff. ASCC plays a vital role in the process through which both pre-service and in-service teachers in the territory can earn or advance their credentials. While it should be noted that the long history of teacher education in American Samoa pre-dates the establishment of ASCC, for the last three decades the community college has facilitated significant advancements in the training of instructors for the territory's schools. This article describes teacher education at the ASCC.
Meeting the Challenges of Public Education in American Samoa--A Collaborative Approach
Author: Gurr, Donna
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Educational Change,Leadership,Public Education,Organizational Change,Participative Decision Making,Transformational Leadership,Curriculum Development,Standardized Tests,Educational Administration,Change Strategies

In this article, the author proposes to describe some of the developments that have taken place in public education in American Samoa in the past few years. This has really been a period of rapid change and although many challenges remain, there has been considerable progress on several fronts. One of the fundamental organizational reforms that has taken place lies in the new management approach of the American Samoa Department of Education (ASDOE). This can be characterized as a move away from a top-down management style to a more shared-decision-making model. For many years, decisions have been made at the central office and then handed down to school principals who passed them along, in turn, to teachers. The current director of education, Malaetele Dr. Lui Tuitele, however, has adopted a much more collaborative approach that is designed to be more inclusive. His leadership style is very open and accessible. He welcomes suggestions from educators locally and abroad, as well as from the community-at-large, and encourages individual initiatives. He understands the importance of educational partnerships and other collaborative endeavors in making change happen. Under his directorship, he has encouraged people to work together so that there has been a more widespread participation in educational decision-making processes. He has been very supportive of the initiatives discussed in this article. This new approach to management has resulted in a deliberate effort to involve teachers and school administrators in important decisions that affect their work at the school. Teachers have, as a result, been closely involved in the process of developing standards for their grade level and in the creation of new assessment measures. Partnership is therefore an important value and commitment in how educational change is approached, whether it is partnership with the USDOE, Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL), the University of Hawai'i cohort program, or one of the many local partners in education.
Beliefs and Practices of Samoan Teachers: From BEd Cohort Program to Master's Degree
Author: Greene, William L.
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Teacher Education,Grouping (Instructional Purposes),Foreign Countries,Beliefs,Educational Practices,Reflection,Educational Experience,Professional Development,Teacher Education Programs,Interaction,Teacher Characteristics

Four and a half years have passed since four teachers from Cohort VI in American Samoa graduated from the University of Hawai'i with bachelor of education degrees and with teaching licenses from the state of Hawai'i. This article highlights changes and developments in the beliefs and practices of these four teachers who, in the midst of full time teaching, are now taking graduate courses in pursuit of master's degrees offered by the University of Hawai'i in American Samoa. Siamaua Ropeti, Lisa Vaivao Ino, Denise Ah Sue, and Faleula Sappa wrote reflections about their personal development as teachers based on these prompts: (1) What were your early, pre-cohort, beliefs about teaching and learning?; (2) What are your current beliefs or philosophy about teaching and how does that look in your classroom practice?; and (3) Describe some of the influences that have shaped your current approach to teaching. Their reflections and insights are included in this article. The article concludes with an analysis of how the voices of these teachers add to the literature on teacher preparation and the development of new teachers.
Educational Resources in the ASCC Library
Author: Lin, Steven
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Educational Resources,Professional Development,Library Role,Library Services,Library Development,Learning Resources Centers,Library Automation

After two years of construction, American Samoa Community College opened its new library on September 2, 2003. The library is located on the east side of campus and is equipped with ten computer workstations, four online public access catalogs, three copying machines, and an elevator that is in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The library provides an attractive, accessible, safe, and comfortable environment for its users. The Educational Resources Room was opened to the public on May 31, 2005. It is on the library's second floor and is devoted to housing educational materials such as curriculum resources, reference works, and journals. In this article, the author describes the contribution that the new Educational Resources Room at the ASCC library makes to the professional development of teachers.
Lost in Translation: Transcending the Boundaries of Critical Literacy in American Samoa
Author: Wellington, Yuriko C.
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Social Justice,Childrens Literature,Foreign Countries,Professional Development,Critical Reading,Literacy Education,Teaching Methods,Multicultural Education,Inservice Teacher Education,Teacher Attitudes

This article describes how four Samoan teachers used critical literacy in their classrooms after they first encountered the idea in a children's literature course that the author taught over a five-week period in Samoa in 2005. The author explores the impact of multicultural pedagogical methods on teacher professional development and in-service teacher education. The author offers documentary accounts of the experiences of four educators from American Samoa who implemented critical literacy units developed as part of a five-week professional development course. These educators created their own thematic unit plans with an emphasis on critical literacy. Their units explored the implications of literacy practices in their own classrooms and teaching. Each teacher describes her efforts to change the curriculum to include critical literacy and social justice issues. [Denise Ah Sue, Donna Vaitu'utu'u Achica-Talaeai, Faleula Sappa, and Liza Sauni also contributed to &quot;Lost in Translation: Transcending the Boundaries of Critical Literacy in American Samoa.&quot;]
An Indigenous Approach to Teacher Preparation for American Samoa
Author: Hunkin-Finau, Salusalumalo S.
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Samoan Americans,Educational Change,Foreign Countries,Indigenous Knowledge,Indigenous Populations,Culturally Relevant Education,Heritage Education,Background,Teacher Education,Teaching Methods,Educational Practices,Cultural Maintenance

In spite of the changes that 100 years of Americanization have produced, the American Samoa people overwhelmingly identify themselves with their culture. They are proud to be Samoan; they are committed to the &quot;fa'a-Samoa&quot; or the Samoan way of life. The desire to balance American ways with the unique values that make up the Samoan sense of identity presents important challenges to the people of American Samoa. In this article, the author explores how this problem has permeated the educational system, especially raising important questions about how Samoans should prepare teachers in their community. The author counts the costs to American Samoa of linking educational policies and actions so closely to U.S. thinking. She argues passionately that Samoans must take a more indigenous approach to education and educational reform. If one of the vital responsibilities of the public schools of American Samoa is to transmit the culture, language, and values of its society, then it is important that the people who teach in the schools are properly prepared to discharge this important task.
Teachers at Work with Imaginative Education: Philosopher Pirates--Teaching over Their Heads
Author: James, Caitlyn
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Imagination,Nontraditional Education,Nontraditional Students,Teachers,Antisocial Behavior,Crime,Semiskilled Workers

Pirates capture the imagination, span centuries of history, have great clothes, conform to surprising codes of conduct, and invite a wide variety of themes and subjects for teaching. Piracy can be a seductive topic for all ages. In spite of the imaginative appeal of the topic, piracy is insufficient as a starting point for a well-connected social studies, science, math, and English unit until teachers ask challenging questions, like what are the deepest meanings of this theme? How is the topic useful emotionally, spiritually, and academically? In this article, the author describes how she developed a piracy unit and shares her experience teaching the topic to alternate school students. Following a narrative is a complex intellectual task of fitting things together, identifying what is important, constructing emotional meaning, and synthesizing the parts into a reasonable whole. Some teachers do this well, but others struggle to identify important themes, or fail to connect emotionally with the subject. For this reason, the author argues that teachers would benefit from occasionally acting like philosopher pirates when they teach their children. As she contemplates the success of her pirate unit, the author looks for significant events and considers her project as it relates to imaginative teaching and learning. (Contains 1 footnote.)
Using Imagination in the Math Classroom
Author: Wilke, Jarrett
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Imagination,Cultural Pluralism,Mathematical Concepts,Grade 10,Mathematics Instruction,Mathematics Teachers,High School Students,Mathematics Activities,Student Characteristics,Teaching Methods,Thinking Skills

Students must be encouraged to think for themselves by tapping into their imaginations. Only when mathematical concepts are presented in an imaginative way will students fully benefit from their experience. Both teachers and students must engage themselves in this creative realm of thinking, where imagination plays a vital part in learning and teaching. In this article, the author describes how she used imagination in her tenth grade math class. She discusses the characteristics of her math class that made it so effective in an imaginative way. She presents examples of using imagination in the math classroom and describes imaginative techniques that she used in her lesson. The author argues that it is the responsibility of educators to engage students in meaningful and exciting lessons that aid in learning course material. It is the teacher's task to develop various activities that challenge students to think in creative and innovative ways. (Contains 1 footnote.)
The Pronoun Rules
Author: Han, Kelly
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Sentences,Nouns,Literacy,Teaching Methods,Form Classes (Languages),Philosophy,Creative Teaching,Grammar,Linguistic Theory,Cognitive Processes

Pronouns take the place of other nouns. In the case of personal pronouns, they often take the place of nouns that identify persons. The pronoun highlights the difference by being formed differently, and by being placed in different spots in the sentences. Pronouns point out the differences as they change form, and vary their representational function: the pronoun is the mouse pointer of language. In this article, the author shares ideas about how to teach personal pronouns in an imaginative way. The author discusses personal pronouns within the "romantic" framework with a touch of the "philosophic"; this type of unit aims to encourage students with fairly complete literacy skills to begin forming a more abstract theory of pronouns, of grammar, and of language. The pedagogical underpinnings of the lesson, specifically the types of cognitive tools utilized and expanded therein, should also make it easier to justify the methodology to parents, students, administrators, and colleagues. The author highlights the enormous potential of humanizing the subject so that it engages students emotionally.
Using Role Play in Middle-School and Secondary Classes
Author: Wilson, Asia
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Role Playing,Middle School Students,Elementary School Students,Imagination,Teaching Methods,Student Motivation,Creative Teaching

Role-play is one of the most engaging instruments for imagining what is not actually present. Role-play can take a variety of forms: student(s) enacting; teacher(s) enacting; and student(s) and teacher(s) enacting together. In this article, the author examines a number of different ways for teachers to incorporate role-play in their classrooms to make student learning more participatory, stimulating, and imaginative. Her work with a broad range of students over the past five years, in terms of age and ability, has allowed her to see that role-play works with students of all ages.
Implementing an Imaginative Unit: Wonders of the Water Cycle
Author: Hrennikoff, Margo
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Animals,Water,Space Sciences,Paleontology,Physical Sciences,Biological Sciences,Science Instruction,Science Curriculum,Earth Science,Plants (Botany),Evaluation,Figurative Language,Story Telling,Science Education

The grade three curriculum set out by the British Columbia Ministry of Education has four categories for science: Processes of Science, Life Science, Physical Science, and Earth and Space Science. Within each of these categories there are numerous topics to teach. For example, the physical science curriculum requires students to learn about magnetism, energy, matter, and sound. In addition, students are expected to be able to classify, demonstrate, describe, create, distinguish, identify, evaluate, classify, compare, and infer different aspects of each of these topics as needed. This is an overwhelming task and covering all the material in a meaningful way, so that every child develops and expands their concepts, is a challenge, to say the least. In the Integrated Resource Package that outlines the curriculum for life science, students are to learn about the life cycles of different plants and animals and compare them. Students are to learn what each needs for survival, discuss the environment, fossils, endangerment, and extinction. In an effort to tie these topics together, the author decided to introduce the water cycle as a basis for understanding what students are required to learn about plants and animals. The unit presented in this article is based on Kieran Egan's "mythic framework". The author's aim is to introduce the students to how plants and animals (including humans) are connected to the water cycle and explore these topics in depth in later units. As future science units will explore these topics in greater detail, this unit will provide a basis for future learning. Interconnectedness is the main concept to be developed in this unit.
Theoretical Concerns: Vygotsky on Imagination Development
Author: Gajdamaschko, Natalia
Date: 2006-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Curriculum Development,Imagination,Cognitive Development,Teaching Methods,Learning Theories,Comparative Analysis,Piagetian Theory,Language Role

Lev Vygotsky (1986-1934) was an educational theorist and psychologist of extraordinarily wide knowledge whose major writings deal with the entire learning-teaching-development experience. Despite a wide-ranging interest in Vygotskian theory, the issue of imagination remains outside of the main line of general inquiries into his work. Thus, there is a gap in the list of "Vygotskiana" topics that are studied in North America and Vygotsky's writings on the imagination and its development have only recently become a topic of discussion. This article attempts to fill the gap. The author discusses Vygotsky's notion of the development of imagination and summarizes Vygotsky's views on development. She illustrates the theoretical differences between Piaget and Vygotsky about the nature of imagination. She then briefly explores why it is important to understand more about how culture is mediated by cognitive tools, and how this changes one's entire understanding about imagination. Lastly, the author discusses Vygotsky's alternative approach to curriculum and instruction development--one that involves a greater use of the imaginative capabilities of students.
Teaching for Tolerance and Understanding during the Japanese Internment: Lessons for Educators Today
Author: Banks, Cherry A. McGee
Date: 2007-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Democracy,War,Japanese Americans,Relocation,School Role,Ethnicity,Group Unity,Cultural Differences,Adult Students,Graduation,Immigrants,Intergroup Relations,Unions,Citizenship,Ethnocentrism,Intergroup Education,Teachers

Following the Japanese attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the nation was thrown into a state of fear and hysteria. On February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order No. 9066 which resulted in more than 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry being either interned in relocation centers, drafted, or imprisoned. In communities throughout the Western part of the United States, lessons about democracy, tolerance, and brotherhood were mediated by the reality of the Japanese internment. The internment of Japanese Americans during World War II at the same time that students were being taught about democracy, intolerance, and brotherhood is an example of the mixed messages that were given to students and teachers. The issues and groups have changed since World War II, but educators today continue to face the challenge of helping students understand and develop the skills, knowledge, and habits of heart to be effective citizens in pluralistic democratic society. Balancing unity and diversity is a critical component of that challenge. In this article, the author stresses the important role of schools in helping to resolve the tension between unity and diversity. She argues that giving students the opportunity to grapple with real questions and issues that give prominence to the tension between diversity and unity can help them understand that there are no easy answers and that while they may not find immediate solutions they can help create an environment where the issues can continue to be explored and ultimately resolved. By learning from history, recognizing the ways in which elements of history continue to be present in contemporary society, and taking action to right an old wrong, they gave individuals a glimpse of how schools can educate students who understand the unity-diversity tension and act accordingly.(Contains 1 endnote.)