Hanahauoli School
Introducing Progressive Philosophy & ...

It is with great pleasure that we write this inaugural post for our newly established blog, “Progressive Philosophy and Pedagogy: A Blog for Progressive Educators”. Designed to support the development of school communities that promote a better future society for today’s children, this online publication aims to further the worldwide progressive education movement by creating a collective thinkspace for progressive educators. Characterized by community, collaboration, diverse perspectives, social justice, the thoughtful exchange of ideas, inquiry, reflection, and informed action--this electronic publication will function as a cyber-commons of sorts. It is a place where progressive philosophers and practitioners, from across the globe, can connect through community and inquiry as they work together to carry out the movement’s important commitment to the intersection of democracy and education.

2025

The Power of the Expressive Arts in Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Work with Children

“Art has the role in education of helping children become like themselves instead of more like everyone else.” – Sydney Gurewitz Clemens


This quote from the influential American educator Sydney Gurewitz Clemens speaks to what I see as the power of the use of the arts in educating children and adolescents. Whether it’s through the drawing out of their ideas, the enactment of characters in a student-created play to demonstrate learning, or the creation of poetry around their observations of the natural world, the arts allow each student to communicate their thinking through creative products that are unique to that individual. Additionally, when an individual student’s creative products are viewed and witnessed by others, it not only helps to deepen connections to learning content, but also between the individual artist-creator and their peers and teacher. 

Cultivating “Mitori:” Reflections from a Progressive Education Exchange Between Japan and Hawai‘i

Located in Fukui Prefecture, “The Happiest Prefecture in Japan” (Japan Research Institute, 2024) and noted as providing high quality of education (MEXT, 2021, Sony Life, 2022), the University of Fukui is one of four flagship teacher training universities designated by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT, 2022). We believe part of that result is from a strong focus on community and education throughout Fukui.

Democracy Has to Be Born Anew Every Generation, and Education Is Its Midwife

We have taken on a new venture at the Hanahau‘oli School Professional Development Center–printing apparel with hallmark progressive education quotes meant to inspire and spread the message of the ongoing progressive education movement. Characterized by a distinct philosophy and practice that emphasizes experiential, child-centered, and hands-on learning, progressive education at its core is also dedicated to ensuring the future of our democracy. It is for this reason that we selected this quote from John Dewey (1916) to print on our inaugural line of t-shirts: Democracy has to be born anew every generation, and education is its midwife” (p. 138 - 139).

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Junior Kindergarten Insect Unit: Insects, Spiders, and Bugs, Oh My!

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It was restaurant day, a culmination of our eateries unit, which explored how an eatery works, the importance of eateries, roles and responsibilities in eateries, and how eateries help the community. Children collaborated in small groups, demonstrating their learning about how an eatery functions and how to work as a team. Amongst the groups was the “Mexican Burrito Restaurant” team. They were working in our outside garden space, and while they were highly engaged in the task at hand, they also kept getting “distracted,” as most children their age do. The head chef in this group was crafting beautiful tacos using leaves as a shell and flowers as her filling. Another child was taking pride in the restaurant’s money box he had created in our Idea Box Center, where recycled materials are used for inventions. The pressure to film a final video to document their presentation of learning in this unit loomed over my head, but not theirs. As they continued to define roles and negotiate who would do each job in their restaurant, one of the students observed a small caterpillar munching on a leaf above their heads. 

A Magnanimity of Spirit: Resiliency and Inner Development for Progressive Educators

It's back to school season. At this time of the year, educators and leaders are thinking about many things: materials to buy, curriculum to plan, classrooms to prepare. But what about our inner preparation as educators? I have found over the years, in my own work and in working with teachers around the world, that it's not what we've planned, but how we've prepared ourselves that will determine our success in the classroom.

For the Intellectual Commons: Electronic Scans of Original 1930s Progressive Education Association Conference Speeches and Evaluation Reports from the Eight-Year Study

To wrap up my Summer 2025 blog series featuring a number of speeches given at Progressive Education Association (PEA) annual meetings held in the late 1930s, I present complete electronic scans of the booklets to all who find mutual excitement and curiosity about learning from the progressive education movement’s history. For those of you who missed my first blog in this series, I stumbled upon the PEA booklets during a trip to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Hamilton Library. Nestled on the same shelf as another book I was looking for lay a stack of eight delicate publications titled, “PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION BOOKLET: PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION”.

The Progressive School, a Leader in Educational Movements: Lessons from “The City Goes to the Country” By Leila V. Stott 1937

This blog is the third in a series to disseminate a number of speeches given at the Progressive Education Association (PEA) annual meetings in the late 1930s. The Progressive Education Association 1937 – On Teacher Happiness , Excerpts On Progressive Education from “The Contribution of Education to the Improvement of Human Relations” By Mary Shattuck Fisher 1937, and Will Machines Replace Humans? Why This Question (and Others) Are Not New For Progressive Educators. The PEA was a networked group of individuals who were dedicated to the spread of progressive education in American schools from 1919 to 1955. I recently discovered a stack of booklets at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Hamilton Library containing the published lectures and I’ve been eagerly reading them throughout the summer as they prove to be rich in ideas and essential to the organization’s guiding objectives:

Will Machines Replace Humans? Why This Question (and Others) Are Not New For Progressive Educators

In two previous blogs, The Progressive Education Association 1937 – On Teacher Happiness and Excerpts On Progressive Education from “The Contribution of Education to the Improvement of Human Relations” By Mary Shattuck Fisher 1937, I recounted my story of discovering a number of “Progressive Education Booklets” published by the Progressive Education Association (PEA) in the late 1930s. Established in 1919, the PEA was a networked group of individuals who were dedicated to the spread of progressive education in American public schools up until 1955. This included expanding the reach of progressive education philosophy and pedagogy and engaging members in critical discussions about the social and political issues of the day. In my November 5, 2024 blog I shared how each booklet contained the transcripts of speeches given at national PEA conferences, and how they each had this similar inscription (with small differences depending on the date and location of the meeting the booklet was documenting) explaining:

Excerpts On Progressive Education from “The Contribution of Education to the Improvement of Human Relations” By Mary Shattuck Fisher 1937

In a previous blog, I recounted my story of discovering a number of “Progressive Education Booklets” published by the Progressive Education Association (PEA) in the late 1930s. Established in 1919, the PEA was a networked group of individuals who were dedicated to the spread of progressive education in American public schools up until 1955. This included expanding the reach of progressive education philosophy and pedagogy and engaging members in critical discussions about the social and political issues of the day. In my November 5, 2024 blog I shared how each booklet contained the transcripts of speeches given at national PEA conferences, and how they each had this similar inscription (with small differences depending on the date and location of the meeting the booklet was documenting) explaining:

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Big Ideas in Early Childhood Mathematics: Learning about Relationships Between Quantities

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“It’s equal!” squealed the Kindergarten student who poured pebbles from a tall, narrow container into a short, wide container. As many progressive educators know, young mathematicians find joy when they have the freedom to explore and observe their world. They also appreciate that teachers have opportunities to leverage such moments to introduce or confirm math concepts and terms. For example, children often recognize ”same” or “different”, but they may not know how to articulate what exactly they see as the same or different. In the illustration above, the two containers might be different in height, shape, or even color. Yet when they discover that the same quantity of pebbles that filled one container also fills the other, this opens into a teachable moment about equality and proof, albeit within a context that young mathematicians can grapple with.

Learning by Doing: How Literacy Clinics Are Transforming Teacher Preparation at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa

At the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (UHM) School of Teacher Education, our mission is to prepare future K-12 educators through field-based experiences that bridge theory and practice. One of the most critical aspects of our teacher preparation program is ensuring that teacher candidates have authentic teaching opportunities before they enter the profession. As a part of the process, we also want to ensure that we are serving the students, teachers, and communities that we partner with to provide real life hands-on teaching experiences. This is the simultaneous renewal of schools and the education of educators promoted by progressive educator, John Goodlad expanded on this previous blog.

Teaching Democracy Now: Reflections from Scholar in Residence Dr. Diana Hess on Her Recent Visit to Hawai‘i

The excerpts above are taken from Diana Hess and Paula McAvoy’s (2015) The Political Classroom: Evidence and Ethics in Democratic Education. I first learned about the book and the study described in the publication while attending the American Educational Research Association (AERA) annual conference as a junior faculty member at the University of Hawai‘i. I was and continue to be deeply impressed with the book’s in-depth research, encompassing both qualitative and quantitative data, and its exploration of the ethical dilemmas teachers encounter when teaching about political issues.

Schools of Tomorrow: The Enduring and Pressing Role of Education in Sustaining a Democracy

“[Progressive schools demonstrate] tendencies towards greater freedom and an identification of the child’s school life with his environment and outlook; and, even more important, the recognition of the role education must play in a democracy” –Preface, Schools of Tomorrow. The quote above is taken from the preface of the book Schools of Tomorrow. Written by John Dewey and his daughter Evelyn Dewey, it was first published in 1915. At its issuance, the book aimed to advocate for a progressive philosophy of education by “show[ing] what actually happens when schools start out to put into practice, each in its own way, some of the theories that have been pointed to as the soundest and best ever since Plato (Dewey, 2023/1915, preface). The Deweys accomplished this by writing a book that integrated John’s philosophical essays with narratives from Evelyn’s on-site observations at progressive schools across the United States. Ultimately, the book had a profound influence on the growth of the progressive education movement, giving credibility to the small number of already existing progressive schools and inspiring the founding of new schools that emphasized hands-on learning and student-centered approaches over traditional, rote memorization.

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Aloha ʻĀina Curriculum at Waiʻanae Intermediate: Connections to Progressive Education

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For the past decade, I’ve dedicated myself to teaching and developing an Aloha ʻĀina curriculum at Waiʻanae Intermediate. It is my mother, Natalie Oana, who taught science through a Hawaiian lens at Hālau kū mana who inspired me to become a teacher. In my first year of teaching, when I found myself at Waiʻanae Intermediate with no curriculum, I thought back on what she taught me. I took a lot of professional development classes and began to include moʻolelo in my lessons, and began to see a considerable difference in student engagement.

Whose Bread Is It Anyway?

Ever scroll through LinkedIn and feel like it’s the movie, Groundhog Day? Same creator, same viral posts. 1,000 comments every time.

What’s his secret? AI-generated content, including his video avatar explaining the daily showcased app.

Picture an AI-assistant chef in your content kitchen, perfectly chopping thoughts, accurately seasoning sentences, and plating paragraphs in just the way your diners like it.

But how much creativity is there in the work if you’re only adjusting settings and hitting “generate” until credits run out? Did the creator infuse any of his personality to craft something unique?

Honoring Excellence in Social Justice Education: Announcing the 2025-2026 Hawai‘i Social Justice Educator Award Recipients

Since its inception in 2018, the Social Justice Education in Hawai‘i Project has been empowering teachers to affirm and uplift the diverse student populations of Hawai‘i. Established through the generosity of Jana and Howard Wolff, and led by a partnership between the Hanahauʻoli School Professional Development Center and the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa College of Education, the multiyear project has included numerous professional development workshops on topics such as antibias education, civic education, engaging in challenging and controversial conversations with students, place-based and culturally relevant learning, and much more. The program likewise offers opportunities for teacher networking and collaboration, university-level coursework for credit, and an award to recognize and uplift educators who are advancing social justice in their schools and communities.

99 Perspectives on Progressive Philosophy & Pedagogy

In June 2021, the same year that the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa College of Education’s Progressive Philosophy & Pedagogy masters degree program was started, the Hanahau‘oli School Professional Development Center launched this blog to create a collective thinkspace for progressive educators, in hopes of furthering the worldwide progressive education movement. In just a few short years, our readership has grown to over 3,600 educators, philosophers, scholars and community members. In celebration of our 99th post, we share a few of our favorite reflections by Hanahau‘oli School’s faculty and staff below. 

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From the PD to Practice: The Hidden Factors in Professional Development Success

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In 2024, I completed my doctoral research publishing a dissertation titled, “Predicting Professional Development Learning Transfer with the Theory of Planned Behavior: A Non-Exploratory Correlational Study.” This study was inspired by years working with anti-bias educators around the world. In this blog I share how my recent research revealed that the successful transfer of professional development learning to classroom practice depends heavily on school culture, particularly individual and shared beliefs about teaching and learning. I also learned, that when a school's pedagogical approach aligns with the training content, teachers are more likely to implement new strategies, but culture alone isn't enough.

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Revisiting the Connection Between Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences and Progressive Education Assessment Practices

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At the end of the Fall 2024 semester, I was reminded of the wonderful impact that Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences (introduced to me close to 25 years ago) continues to have on my teaching practice. It was the last day of class for the second cohort of our University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa College of Education Progressive Philosophy and Pedagogy masters students. In addition to the incredible amount of reading, writing, and dialogue they had engaged in over the course of the semester, the group was invited by my co-teacher (Dr. Chad Miller) and I to give a presentation of learning using a modality that would best communicate and illustrate their growth. In the presentation criteria we encouraged them to use a medium that would, “capture the spirit of who you are becoming as a progressive educator and philosopher.” It was a small parameter embedded into this end of semester assessment activity, a piece of criteria that ultimately yielded a very moving set of deliverables. 

The Joy of Art Experience: Designing School Structures for Sustaining Progressive Education Teaching & Learning for Children & Adults

At a Friday assembly in December, Hanahau‘oli School children were enthusiastically introduced to a brand new Joy of Art experience that would take place in January 2025. The children’s excitement was felt throughout the day as they talked with one another at recess and at lunch, sharing their reactions to the new learning opportunities presented and articulating their preferences of which Joy of Art experience they were most interested in with their friends. That night, children went home and continued to talk with their parents and caregivers about the two days of choice-driven learning they would get to participate in at the start of the new year.