1. Program Names

Kahalewaihoʻonaʻauao
The STE Secondary Program, Kahalewaihoʻonaʻauao is a place of learning where pedagogy is developed and teaching practices are refined. The metaphor of wai, fresh water, is used throughout the secondary program as a symbol of life and growth. Kahalewaihoʻonaʻauao honors our host culture as a symbol where life giving waters of knowledge flow forth. These waters of educational teachings and learnings foster a sense of self in the field of education with our teacher candidates. Throughout the program you will participate in three huis: Waiola, Kawaikini and Kahuewai.

  • Waiola (Whole Group) Hui
    Waiola is life sustaining waters. As we gather together as in a large group, Waiola recognizes the gifts, talents and voices that are brought forth by the many individuals in the program.
  • Kawaikini (Interdisciplinary Groups) Hui
    Inter-disciplinary groups will be known as Kawaikini. Kawaikini honors the revered peak on the island of Kauaʻi, challenging us to strive and work to achieve the highest levels of excellence. Kawaikini literally means the many waters, recognizing here the inter-disciplinary groupings that will prepare our teacher candidates with strong pedagogical foundations.
  • Kahuewai (Disiplinary) Hui
    From a Hawaiian worldview, ka huewai, or the water gourd was used to transport fresh water when traveling from place to place. Metaphorically, we use kahuewai as the symbol for our content area groupings, where each individual literally creates their own personal gourd of research-based best practices in instruction and learning.

2. Program Mission

The STE Secondary Education, Kahalewaiho‘ona‘auao Program at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa is grounded in our deep passion and commitment to creating an equitable and socially just society. We offer a transformative learning experience that prepares educators to develop deep wisdom for teaching rooted in place and community action as a foundation for sparking students’ wonder and imagination about how to live in the world. We prepare teachers who contribute to crafting schools and designing learning experiences that inspire and provide students with opportunities to develop agency to create a peaceful, democratic society.

We prepare teachers who contribute to crafting schools that inspire and provide students with opportunities to develop dispositions, knowledge, skills, to contribute to problem solving, reasoning, collaborating, and communicating effectively in order to enact their agency to create a thoughtful and compassionate democratic society.

3. The Five Pillars

The STE Secondary Program is grounded in five pillars: Community, Wisdom, Wonder, Design & Reflection. The goal is to prepare teachers who are:

  • Active members of the community who value diverse learners
  • Collaborative practitioners with the wisdom and capacity for leadership
  • Caring and effective educators who inspire wonder and imagination
  • Innovative designers of learning experiences
  • Reflective about the practice and craft of teaching
  1. Community Action
    • Identify, describe, analyze and participate in various in-school communities and existing and potential community resources/partnerships, and ways classroom and school can serve the larger community.
    • Identify the knowledge, inquiry skills, and civic dispositions that teachers need to promote social justice, and take informed action in schools and/or communities.
    • Participate in “civic engagement activities” as both a means of learning and applying knowledge.
    • Identify ethics and policy frameworks in relation to professional decision making.
    • Identify strategies/models for how teachers can engage students in opportunities to adapt and apply their work in the disciplines to take informed action.
  2. Wonder
    • Identify and explain the activity of inquiry as an instructional practice, especially the practice of grounding instruction in students asking questions.
    • Describe how philosophy, wonderment, and inquiry can be utilized to aid students in making sense of their world.
    • Describe how progressive approaches to education leverage children’s natural curiosity in order to promote a more meaningful, rigorous, and relevant learning experience.
    • Live the “examined life”; Engage in the wonderment of your discipline in your life.
  3. Wisdom
    • Explain key educational theories including: critical pedagogies, adolescent development, and philosophy for children.
    • Explore and increase knowledge of “place” and “sense of place” (e.g. school placement, history of Hawai‘i, geography and place names, local politics. etc.).
    • Examine dimensions of teaching including professional practice, professional dispositions, professional ethics, and regulatory frameworks.
  4. Design
    • Describe theories of design.
    • Describe design thinking process and how it relates to authentic learning practices.
    • Engage in design work including: 1) building individual lesson plans, 2) building thematic unit plans and 3) critically consuming curricular resources.
  5. Reflection
    • Explain how teachers use inquiry and reflection to improve professional practice.
    • Use inquiry and reflection to improve professional practice and develop a philosophy of teaching, and teaching identity.
    • Collect and analyze data from initial teaching experiences to reflect on how to improve professional practice.
    • Formulate personal and meaningful connections across the “pillars” of the program.
    • Describe how students can use reflection to promote intellectual, social, and emotional growth.

4. Standards & Objectives

Standards describe what teachers and students at all levels should know, are able to do, and care about. In an effort to bring the five pillars of the STE Secondary Program to life and to connect to larger movements of education, three sets of standards have been used to design the learning objectives in the STE Secondary Program. The three sets of standards are: Nā Hopena A‘o, Learning for Justice Social Justice Standards, and the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board, Teacher Performance InTASC Standards. These three sets of standards are a part of all learning experiences in the STE secondary program and they are used to drive all learning through all three terms. Below are the three sets of standards at a glance:

Nā Hopena A‘o

The Hawai‘i Department of Education outlines six Nā Hopena A‘o, learning outcomes, including Belonging, Responsibility, Excellence, Aloha, Total Wellbeing and Hawai‘i as integral to the K-12 learning journey. These learning outcomes were adapted for the Secondary Program, so that graduates of the program develop:

  • An understanding of lineage and place and a connection to past, present, and future.
  • A love of teaching and learning in their field and the pursuit of skills, knowledge and behaviors to help each student reach his or her potential through instruction.
  • A commitment and concern for the values, needs and welfare of students, families, community and the larger society.
  • Empathy and appreciation for the symbiotic relationship between a teacher, students, families, and communities.
  • An ability to create positive learning environments that improve the mind, body, heart and spirit.
  • A sense of Hawai‘i through an appreciation for its rich history, diversity and indigenous language and culture.

Learning for Justice- Social Justice Standards

The Social Justice Standards are a road map for anti-bias education at every stage of K–12 and now University  instruction. Comprised of anchor standards and age-appropriate learning outcomes, the Standards provide a common language and organizational structure educators can use to guide curriculum development and make schools more just and equitable. Divided into four domains—Identity, Diversity, Justice and Action (IDJA)—the Standards recognize that, in today’s diverse classrooms, students need knowledge and skills related to both prejudice reduction and collective action.

Details on the Social Justice Standards

Hawaii Teacher Standards Board (HTSB), Teacher Performance

In addition to Nā Hopena A‘o and the  Social Justice Standards, the ten Hawaii Teacher Standards Board Teacher Performance Standards are also used to drive learning in the STE Secondary Program. These ten standards are aligned to the three pedagogical tasks for which every good teacher is responsible: (1) Planning for instruction and assessment. (2) Instructing and engaging students in learning. (3) Assessing student learning. They are also aligned to the Charlotte Danielson Framework (CDF), which was used to design the program assessments.

Details on the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board, Teacher Performance Standards

Here is a table that aligns the HTSB standards to the CDF Domains.

InTASC standards to the CDF Domains

5. Program of Study

STE Secondary, Kahalewaiho‘ona‘auao program offers a cohesive, standards, field and place- based experience that encourages teacher candidates to integrate educational theory and practice in cooperating secondary schools. Students can participate in STE Secondary, Kahalewaiho‘ona‘auao as undergraduate (BEd) or post-baccalaureate (PBCSE) students.  Upon successful completion of the program, graduates will be recommended for licensure to teach 6-12th grade in a subject field in the state of Hawai‘i. The STE Secondary Program offers teaching majors in the following fields

  • Art
  • English Language Arts
  • English Language Learners/Multilingual
  • Health & Physical Education
  • Mathematics
  • Music
  • Science
  • Social Studies
  • Theater/Dance
  • World Languages

B.Ed.

Students completing a B.Ed. start their education coursework in the Spring of their junior year. Prior to beginning education coursework, B.Ed. students need to complete 90% of the content coursework related to your selected area of licensure. BEd students are also encouraged to complete EDEF 310 and EDEP 311 prior to starting the full STE Secondary, Kahalewaiho‘ona‘auao program. There is also the possibility for BEd students to earn two degrees by concurrently majoring a content area (e.g., History, Mathematics, etc…) to earn a BA and majoring in education to earn a BEd. It is strongly recommended that students interested in a concurrent major begin meeting with the Office of Student Academic Services (OSAS) early in their undergraduate career.

PBCTE – Secondary

The PBCTE – Secondary is designed for students who have a BA or BS degree and wish to obtain initial basic teacher certification. To enroll in PBCTE, students must have completed an academic content major appropriate to their proposed teaching subject or pass the PRAXIS Content knowledge test. The PBCTE program consists of nine interrelated courses totaling 33 credits. Students who complete this initial teacher licensure program are encouraged to continue their professional growth. PBCTE student may apply up to 12 course credits from the PBCTE to a College of Education (COE) master’s degree program. Students must negotiate course transfer at the time of application to the master’s program.

Prospective teachers across the state who do not have geographic access to licensure programs (priority admission granted to applicants from the islands of Maui, Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i, Moloka‘i and Lāna‘i) may enroll in the Statewide PBCTE Program. A certificate program is offered in the content areas of Math, Science, English, Social Studies, World Languages, Art, Dance, Theater, and English as a Second Language (ESL) in an online/hybrid format with fieldwork requirements conducted on the candidate’s’ respective islands.

6. Timeline

ITE Secondary Education teacher candidates take the following core teacher education courses:

** PBCSE additionally takes EDEF 610 & EDEP 631 any time prior to term 3

** B.Ed. additionally takes EDEF 310 & EDEP 311 any time prior to term 3

UHM Catalogue Course Descriptions for STE Courses:

Term 1 (Spring)

STE 401: Principles & Methods of Literacies Within & Across the Disciplines (3)

Examines how reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, technology, etc. are tools for learning content and engaging diverse adolescents across all disciplines. Includes a disciplinary literacies framework influencing curriculum planning, classroom culture, and assessment practices. A-F only.

STE 440 (3): Multicultural & Social Justice Education (3)

Exploring social justice and multilingual, multicultural education with attention to Hawai‘i as our place of learning and teaching. (Cross-listed as EDCS 440).

STE 402N Teaching Practicum (3)

Observation, analysis, participation and teaching in middle or high school. A seminar accompanies the field experience. Subject field: (N) interdisciplinary

Term 2 (Fall)

STE 402 (Alpha) Teaching Practicum (3)                                                                                                                                    

Observation, analysis, participation and teaching in middle or high school. A seminar accompanies the field experience. Subject field: (B) art; (C) business and marketing; (D) language arts; (E) physical education; (F) industrial arts/agriculture; (G) mathematics; (H) science; (I) social studies; (J) foreign language; (K) music; (M) home economics; (N) interdisciplinary; (P) English as a Second Language. Repeatable one time. CR/NC only. Pre: admission to COE Secondary Teacher Education Program and 401. Co-requisite: 404 or consent, 404P for (P).

STE 404 (Alpha) Teaching in the Subject Field (3)

Purposes, procedures, curricula, evaluation in secondary school subject field: (B) art; (C) business and marketing; (D) language arts; (E) physical education; (F) industrial arts/agriculture; (G) mathematics; (H) science; (I) social studies; (J) foreign languages; (K) music; (M) home economics; (N) interdisciplinary; (P) English as a Second Language. Repeatable seven times for (P). A-F only. Pre: 401 or consent. Co-requisite: 402.

SPED 445 Educating Exceptional Students in Regular Classrooms – Secondary (3)

Teaching secondary students with disabilities and those who are gifted/talented. Meeting academic/social needs, classroom management, motivation, peer interaction. Collaboration between special and regular educators. Includes an emphasis on instruction in writing. (Cross-listed as ITE 445)

Term 3 (Spring)

STE 405 (Alpha) Teaching Residency, Secondary (6-9)

Full-time student teaching experience in school. Student teachers will receive training and evaluation for oral communication, organization, and planning skills. Subject field: (B) art; (C) business and marketing; (D) language arts; (F) industrial arts; (G) mathematics; (H) science; (l) social studies; (J) foreign languages; (K) music; (M) home economics; (P) English as a second language. CR/NC only. Pre: successful completion of all required courses; pass the content test(s) required by the state teaching licensure

STE 406 Seminar in Teaching Residency (3)

Analysis and resolution of current ethical issues and practices in classrooms; teaching skills and strategies; curriculum planning, professional growth and development; and integration of teaching experiences with professional standards. Instruction in preparing an extensive written portfolio. A-F only. Pre: successful completion of all required courses or consent.

*EDEF 610/EDEF 310 Foundations of Educational Theory (3) Must be taken before Term 3

*EDEP 631/EDEP 311 Adolescence and Education (3) Must be taken before Term 3

7. Integrated Pillar Approach

An Overview of the Integrated Nature of ITE Secondary, Kahalewaiho‘ona‘auao program

This program seeks to build a more social justice society through secondary education. All work of the program is grounded in five pillars: Community Action, Wisdom, Wonder, Design, and Reflection by engaging in an integrated set of teaching and learning opportunities across three terms (Spring 1, Fall, and Spring 2) that connect to the topics and themes addressed in all of the program’s required courses. For each semester, there will be shared information about the integrated courses and the three learning communities or “hui” that you will work with over the duration of the term.

8. Contacts

Contact information for the ITE Secondary Program faculty and staff.  Click on “View full directory entry” for more info on any given individual.

9. Learning Huis

The Three Learning Hui

Throughout the program you will have the opportunity to work in a variety of group settings. In order to provide consistent and continuous support, you will be assigned to three learning hui; Kaiwaiola, Kawaikini and Kahuewai. A brief description of each hui is described below.

  1. Kaiwaiola (Whole Group). Throughout the program, we will have a number of opportunities to meet as a large group. This large group will include all of the students in the ITE Secondary program. Large group meetings will be co-taught by a team of ITE Secondary professors and will take place when we have guest speakers, orientation meetings, celebrations and so forth.
  2. Kawaikini (Interdisciplinary Small Groups). Over the course of each semester, we will have the opportunity to meet in interdisciplinary small groups. These small groups will include students from a variety of content areas and disciplinary foci (e.g. math, social studies, ELA, Science, Music, Art, and World Languages). Interdisciplinary small group meetings will be taught by one or more ITE Secondary professors.
  3. Kahuewai (Disciplinary Small Groups). Over the course of  semester, we will have the opportunity to meet in content specific (e.g. math, social studies, ELA, Science, Music, Art, and World Languages) small groups. These small groups will include students from the content area and disciplinary focus of your selected licensure field. These small group meetings will be taught by the ITE Secondary professors who specializes in your particular content area.

10. Signature Assignments

ITE Secondary Education Teacher candidates are required to successfully complete all Signature Assignment as a program exit requirement.  The details of these assignments will be shared with you in your courses.

11. Shared COE Assessments

The COE has developed four shared assessments that are being used across all teacher preparation programs. Here is a summary of all four shared assessments:

  1. Assessment A: Candidate Ability to Plan Instruction. The purpose of this assessment is to demonstrate your ability to plan instruction for P12 learners. Your evidence for this assessment is a minimum of three lesson plans, which will be scored on Domain 1 (Planning and Preparation) of the Charlotte Danielson Framework for Teaching (CDF). This assessment is completed before you advance to student teaching.
  2. Assessment B: Student Teaching Evaluation. The purpose of this assessment is to demonstrate your competence as a teacher candidate in the four domains of the Charlotte Danielson Framework for Teaching (CDF): (1) Planning and Preparation, (2) the Classroom Environment, (3) Instruction, and (4) Professional Responsibilities. This assessment is completed during student teaching and is cumulative across your entire semester of work.
  3. Ho‘opa‘a: Strengthening  Student Learning (Assessment C, Student Teaching) The purpose of this assessment is to demonstrate your ability to plan, teach, and assess a unit of instruction/sequence of lessons. This assessment specifically addresses your ability to plan and teach a unit of instruction/sequence of lessons, analyze student learning through assessment data, and reflect on your teaching practice to improve your instruction. Your work will be scored on designated components and elements of the CDF. This assessment is completed during student teaching.
  4. Ho‘oulu: Growing as a Professional (Professional Dispositions). Establishing and maintaining appropriate professional dispositions are essential to being a successful teacher. Teacher candidates must demonstrate appropriate dispositions in all aspects of their professional lives, including: UHM classes, field-based courses, public and private settings, face-to-face and online. This assessment is a tool to reflect on candidate performance, engage in relevant discussion about dispositions, and help candidates work to maintain and/or develop appropriate dispositions. Candidates, UHM faculty, and applicable school partner personnel (mentor teachers, principals) may initiate the use of this form at any time and as program policies dictate. Candidates/applicants are scored on their professional dispositions using the rubric.

Note: The CDF illustrates a continuum of growth and provides a shared language about teaching for teachers at all levels. Your instructors will work with you on expectations for teacher candidates prior to student teaching.