HSESI Scholar Series: How Do We teach Pacific Island Matters in High School Ethnic Studies Curricula?

How do we teach Pacific Island matters in High School Ethnic Studies Curricula?

Whatever students are in front of you, you're making sure that you're providing sliding doors, windows, and mirrors.

Estella Owoimaha-Church

Event Description

On March 18th, the UC Berkeley High School Ethnic Studies Initiative held the scholar series panel discussion, “How do we teach Pacific Island matters in High School Ethnic Studies Curricula?” Moderated by undergraduate students Fine Ashley Tuitupou & Kahel Joem Zedekiah and featuring guest speakers Estella Owoimaha-Church, Angel Halafihi, & Andrew Vai, discussants addressed how high school Ethnic Studies educators can incorporate conversations about Pacific Islander communities into their curriculum.

Panel

Introduction: Angel Halafihi, Assistant Director, Asian Pacific American Student Development at UC Berkeley (APASD)
Panelist: Estella Owoimaha-Church, Executive Director, Empowering Pacific Islander Communities (EPIC)
Panelist: Andrew Vai, Ethnic Studies Instructor, Chabot College
Moderator: Fine Ashley Tuitupou, UC Berkeley Undergraduate
Moderator: Kahel Joem Zedekiah, UC Berkeley Undergraduate

I know how lonely I was at the institution as a student...I was hungry to acknowledge my experience...so I carry that as an instructor.

Andrew Vai

Community Advocacy and Social Justice Resources

Educational Resources and Curriculum Development Resources

Youth Engagement and Support Resources

Event Key Takeaways

Community Advocacy and Social Justice

Black Pasifika Alliance

Black Pasifika Alliance is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting individuals of Africana/Pasifika or Melanesian heritage. It focuses on addressing anti-blackness, white supremacy, and developing cultural competencies within these communities. Founders Jason Finau and Courtney-Sāvali Andrews emphasize empowerment through education and advocacy.

Empowering Pacific Islander Communities (EPIC)

EPIC advances social justice by engaging Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islanders in culture-centered advocacy, leadership development, and research. They envision a world where these communities are thriving and empowered, advocating for liberation for all. EPIC also manages the Pacific Islander Leaders of Tomorrow (PILOT) program, fostering leadership within the Pacific Islander community. They advocate for the importance of Ethnic Studies and culturally responsive curricula in the Bay Area.

Regional Pacific Islander Taskforce (RPITF)

RPITF, established in 2015, was created to address the lack of data and reporting on Pacific Islander population health and related disparities across different Bay Area health departments. Originating from the Samoan Community Development Center, and supported by Pacific Islander community elders and organizers, RPITF produces essential data and research to address the health needs of Pacific Islander communities throughout the Bay Area.

Educational Resources and Curriculum Development

Atlas, by Terisa Siagatonu

"Atlas," by award-winning Samoan poet and arts educator and Bay Area community organizer Terisa Siagatonu, discusses the often overlooked divisions of the Pacific Ocean on traditional maps, which de-centers and invisibilizes Pacific Islanders. UC Berkeley Pacific Islander Initiative Program Manager Angel Halafihi references Atlas to advocate for a cartographic reorientation that unites the Pacific Ocean, promoting a deeper understanding of Pasifika issues and solidarities. Siagatonu's “Atlas” provides a profoundly influential introduction to Pacific Islander studies and epistemologies in K-12 classrooms.

Asian Pacific Islander Education Association (APIEA)

Established in 2016, APIEA supports Asian Pacific Islander students, faculty, and staff at Chabot College by promoting their cultural traditions and contributions. This organization hosts critical events and opportunities for students including the Asian Pacific Islander Graduation Celebration, APIEA Scholarship, Lunar New Year Celebration, and a mentoring program. APEIA also helps coordinate the Nesians Unite program.

Critical Pacific Studies and Oceania Studies Program

The Critical Pacific Studies and Oceania Studies Program at City College of San Francisco (CCSF) is an interdisciplinary academic program that centers on the voices of Native Pacific Islanders, exploring themes like colonization, militarization, social movements, and immigration, through academic and community-based scholarship. The pioneering program advances Pacific Islander Studies and provides students a pathway to accreditation in Pacific Islander studies.

Liberated Ethnic Studies (LESMC)

LESMC promotes advancing and implementing interdisciplinary approaches to Ethnic Studies courses and programs, including Pacific Islander Studies. It focuses on improving students' academic achievements, educational equity, community-based scholarship, and leadership skills. LESMC promotes the integration of local history, resource sharing, and ongoing support for Ethnic Studies educators. LESMC's curriculum includes a chapter on Asian American and Pacific Islander Studies, and structured lesson plans that delve into the specific experiences and contributions of Pacific Islanders, emphasizing a comprehensive understanding of their cultural identities and struggles within the broader context of Ethnic Studies.

Pacific Islander Initiative at UC Berkeley

A student-fought and centered program at UC Berkeley, the Pacific Islander Initiative addresses the evolving needs of Pacific Islander communities. This Initiative represents a critical campus space for Pacific Islander students to advocate for their communities' needs and learn about their historical and cultural contexts.

Pin@y Educational Partnerships (PEP)

PEP is a service-learning/learning-service program focused on creating “triangular partnerships” between the university, public schools, and communities to cultivate barangay (community) and critical educators and culturally responsive curricula. This program trains educators to create impactful assignments that teachers can use in their Ethnic Studies classrooms, such as the “Soundtrack of Life.”

Polynesian Panthers: Pacific Protest and Affirmative Action in Aotearoa New Zealand 1971 - 1981

This book details the history of the Polynesian Panthers, a Pacific rights and social activist group, that emerged in New Zealand in 1971 to combat racism and discrimination against Pacific peoples. From 1971 to 1981, this group organized community-based advocacy programs that included prison visitations, sports and debate teams for inmates, halfway-house services, educational programs, financial services, legal aid, and food assistance for hundreds of families. The Polynesian Panthers demonstrated solidarity among the New Zealand Pasifika diaspora, showing how Black Power movements in the Bay influenced Pacific Islander communities in enhancing their community and political empowerment efforts.

Samoan Community Development Center (SCDC)

SCDC is dedicated to creating an inclusive environment in the San Francisco Bay Area, ensuring that Samoan and Pacific Islander communities are heard, served, and thriving. Executive Director Empowering Pacific Islander Communities Estella Owoimaha-Church recognizes SCDC as an essential resource for Samoan and Pacific Islander communities and a valuable tool for educators looking to incorporate present-day examples of Pacific Islander community work into their lessons. As a pillar for Pacific Islander community organizing in the Bay Area, SCDC offers rich historical and current contributions to the local Samoan and Pacific Islander communities. Teachers seeking to incorporate local Pacific Islander history can turn to SCDC for examples of significant community service and engagement.

The Classroom as a Metaphorical Canoe: Cooperative learning in Pacific Studies

This article uses a canoe as a metaphor to re-conceptualize the educational process as a journey rather than a destination. It discusses traditional and innovative ways Pasifika people can emulate their ancestors' practices. This reflective piece is pivotal in emphasizing Pacific Islander studies and Pasifika epistemologies. Teaiwa’s work provides a compelling introduction to Pacific Islander scholarship and is also the first article read by participants in Empowering Pacific Islander Communities's Pacific Islander Leaders of Tomorrow (PILOT) program.

The Road to Home (2015)

The Road to Home chronicles the life of Benny Wenda, a Nobel Peace Prize-nominated West Papuan independence leader, and his ongoing struggle to liberate his people from Indonesian colonial rule. Following his dramatic 2002 escape from an Indonesian prison where he was isolated and tortured as a political prisoner, Benny has tirelessly campaigned internationally to end the oppression of his people by Indonesia's brutal colonial regime. By integrating "The Road to Home" into their teachings, Ethnic Studies educators can enrich their curriculum with a multidimensional view of Pacific Islander studies, enhancing students' understanding and engagement with complex global issues.

Youth Engagement and Support

Camp Unity

Camp Unity is a free learning journey for youth in San Mateo County and the Bay Area. Their participants get (re)acquainted with Pacific Islander culture, language, heritage and so much more, utilizing self-awareness and connectedness to their identity as a portal to transformation.

Similar to other PI-oriented youth programs in the Bay, Camp Unity can serve as a blueprint for others seeking to start similar initiatives for PI communities in other areas of the country.

College of San Mateo (CSM)'s Mana Learning Community

Mana is a transition support program that centralizes intensive retention strategies needed for success throughout their academic journey in community college. MANA provides a Critical Pacific Studies & Oceania Certificate, a specialized curriculum, and a wraparound support community. This program is designed to increase the number of Oceania students who complete the requirements for an Associate of Arts Degree or transfer into a four-year institution of higher learning. “Mana” refers to a belief widely held in the Pacific that describes a supernatural power capable of manifesting miracles.

Mana is an example of the many emerging, grassroots community-college-level Pacific Islander support programs throughout the Bay.

My World - Brianna Fruean (Coconet TV)

This short documentary features young Pasifika climate activist Brianna Fruean as she receives the Global Citizen Prize for her work. Brianna speaks to the urgent issues of climate and land degradation in the Pacific Islands. Other videos produced by Coconet TV can serve as helpful resources for teachers to introduce PI studies into their classrooms.

In Fruean’s feature, she talks about how for Pasifika cultures, land is living and a relative. Her activism points to how the environmental degradation of the Pacific represents not just a loss of land for those indigenous to the islands, but a loss of family and relatives. For many in the diaspora, this loss is felt on another level as many have not gotten the opportunity to return home.

Nesians Unite at Chabot College (NU)

NU was founded in Fall 2017 as a student-led club to create a community for the Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander (NHPI) populations navigating higher education. The term “Nesians'' encompasses the regions of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. NU provides networking opportunities and resources for mentorship, self-advocacy, and academic success.

Nesians Unite’s intentional centering of NHPI students’ experiences within the larger landscape of API support services at Chabot College speaks to the importance of designating spaces and initiatives that specifically address the needs and histories of Pasifika students.

Pacific Islander Wellness Initiative (PIWI)

PIWI provides free prevention and early intervention counseling services in Alameda County for Pacific Islanders. To connect with them, please visit their Facebook page or contact them at:

22712 Foothill Blvd, Hayward, CA, United States, California
(510) 856-9760
piwi@ramsinc.org

Pacific Islanders Encouraging Fund, Engineering, Science & Technology (PIEFEST)

PIEFEST is dedicated to improving Pacific Islander representation and increasing access to STEM-related careers. They engage youth by sharing hands-on STEM activities, events, and programs. Estella shared the initiative as another way that Pacific Islander youth and families have built community throughout the Bay.

Not only does PIEFEST help get PI youth involved in the arts and sciences, but it can serve as a blueprint for other programs that similarly want to provide pathways and services for PI communities in other areas of the country.

Taulama

Taulama for Tongans is dedicated to guiding its community by increasing awareness among Tongans and other Pacific Islanders about local health programs, resources, and services available to them. This initiative is crucial for providing mental health services to Pacific Islander communities in the Bay Area and recruiting therapists from within these communities.

Nuances and History of the Term “Pacific Islander” (PI)

Geographically, the term “Pacific Islander” encompasses Melanesian, Micronesian, and Polynesian communities. However, within the diaspora, some groups like Melanesian and Micronesian communities are rendered even more invisible within an already marginalized community. It’s important to consider who is included in the narrative, inside and outside the term “Pacific Islander.”

(Around 16:17) Geographically, the Pacific is broken into three sections: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. In the US, there has been heavy representation of the Polynesian perspective. However, we’re starting to recognize that Melanesian and Micronesian perspectives need to be represented. - Andrew Vai
(Around 19:40) In Pasifika communities, it’s common to introduce ourselves as “where” we are from instead of “who” we are. Pieces of our names point to different islands. It’s important to center those most marginalized within Pacific Islander communities because often when we think PI, we think Polynesian—and there is so much more to the diaspora than that. - Estella Owoimaha-Church
(Around 21:32) “As Pasifika folks, our identities are very much geopolitical and 100% have been out of our control.” - Estella Owoimaha-Church

Complexities of and Challenges to the Term "AAPI"

Historically, the creation of the term “Asian American” enabled diverse ethnic Asian communities to come together and resist oppression, especially within social movements like the Third World Liberation Front. Although Pacific Islanders (PI) have been pulled into the now larger term "Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI)," they often have to navigate AAPI spaces and make room for their communities within institutions. Now more than ever it is critical to carve out spaces explicitly for the growth of PI community spaces and scholarship.

(Around 22:21) So many similarities run deep throughout the islands, but there is also so much uniqueness. When communities get lumped into the term AAPI, it’s already a disservice to our siblings who identify as Asian American. Lumping PI communities into the term tends to make us even more invisible. - Estella Owoimaha-Church
(Around 24:24) There is political power in the term AAPI because there is power in numbers. However, considering the growth of PI studies in recent years now is the time to start creating spaces intentionally meant for Pasifika communities. It’s a yes/and. We will always stand in solidarity, and it’s time for us to have studies and programs that stand on their own. - Estella Owoimaha-Church
(26:40) The term AAPI originated during a historical social movement led by the Third World Liberation Front when Asian communities sought to reclaim their identities from racist terms like "orientalism." This effort was part of a broader initiative to establish their distinct identity within the diaspora. Pacific Islanders were pulled into that term during the 1970s. Although it often fails to capture the vast diversity of Pasifika communities, PI scholars within higher education today still have to navigate within the term AAPI because it is the term that is used within institutions that can give PI communities the possibility to grow. - Andrew Vai

Tapping into Local PI Community Resources

Pacific Islander (PI) Studies and community initiatives have deep, rich histories in the Bay Area. Instructors who are looking to tap into local community resources can turn to the many trailblazing PI elders who have advanced countless initiatives to serve the Pasifika community in the Bay. Groups from other areas can also use these programs as blueprints to start similar initiatives in their local communities.

(Around 32:16) PI Studies originated as a discipline at the University of Hawai’i Manoa and also developed in Australia and New Zealand. The history of PI Studies in the Bay Area is intrinsically connected to the history of the TWLF strikes. During this crucial point in history, PI students organized and mobilized to demand the opportunity to learn about their communities in higher ed. Today, the highest concentrations of PI students are at community colleges, which has led to many grassroots community college Pasifika studies programs emerging. It’s important to support these grassroots efforts. - Andrew Vai
(Around 35:35) The Bay Area is so fortunate to have so many PI community elders based here. Instructors can refer to countless examples of programs to see the extent of local PI community resources. The Samoan Community Development Center stands as an excellent example of this. There are so many blueprints in our area for us to draw on. - Estella Owoimaha-Church

Pasifika Epistemologies and Honoring PI Scholars

When introducing students to Pasifika's ways of knowing, it is crucial to remember that one person could never fully capture the vast diversity within the Pacific Islander community. Groundbreaking scholars like Teresia Teaiwa remind teachers that practicing ancestral ways of knowing can happen formally and informally.

(Around 40:33) There’s no way that we can replicate exactly what our ancestors did, but it shouldn’t deter you from trying. One incredibly impactful way this happens informally is through representing Pasifika people in roles. It’s a critical time to know where students are coming from, know their cultural names, make them feel seen, and let them lead. - Andrew Vai
(Around 43:52) One of the most impactful takeaways from Teresa Teaiwa’s work is the idea that “there is no one brush to paint our entire community,” and acknowledging that none of us can ever be an “expert” in Pacific Islander studies. We must give ourselves grace as educators, seeking other resources to support and supplement classroom work. We can bring this through in art, and theater. “Provide sliding doors, windows, and mirrors” - Estella Owoimaha-Church

Resources for PI Research

Despite the ways that Pacific Islanders have been systematically excluded from academia, other ways of passing down historical and cultural knowledge have emerged. For example, the use of oral histories has allowed young Pasifika scholars to document their stories, filling in the gaps that demographic data has left.

(Around 47:54) Oral narratives, histories, theater, and storytelling are valuable tools to capture the stories of those who have been left out of research. These methods of preservation are also common in Black studies. The data will never fully capture who we are, and because of that, our narratives become even more important as data points. - Estella Owoimaha-Church
(Around 51:03) While institutions like the University of Hawai’i and Australian National University can be good resources, the scholarship they produce mainly represents the diasporic experience there. Studies of the diasporic experience in the US are still coming to fruition. Young PI scholars should own the fact that they are partaking in the creation of brand-new scholarship and research. It’s important to get scholars who support you to co-sign your work because the institution will always find ways of saying no. - Andrew Vai

Addressing the Impacts of Environmental Degradation, Climate Change, and Resource Extraction

The impacts of climate change are inextricably tied to systems of imperialism and capitalism. The effects of climate change are felt first and foremost by those living in the Pacific, or the vā. It’s important to understand PI migration and the diasporic condition as connected to the environmental degradation of the Pacific.

(Around 54:51) As diasporic peoples, we live in the comfort of not seeing it and feeling the effects of climate change, but our communities on the islands do. For many Pacific Islanders who still live in the Pacific, their homes are disappearing. This devastation is ultimately due to the capitalistic system that prioritizes profit overall. - Andrew Vai
(Around 57:43) For many of our Pasifika cultures, the land is living, the land is a relative, and the land is us. When our relatives are gone, we believe our families return to the land. Many Pacific Islanders in the diaspora have to sit with the devastating reality that they might never see home because of environmental degradation. Then, they face the cruel paradox that empires can destroy their homelands and deny them refuge. This is why cultivating PI community resources for people in the diaspora ensures they can thrive in the ways they are accustomed to. - Estella Owoimaha-Church

Teaching PI Studies in High School

When teaching PI Studies in high school, one of the most powerful things teachers can do is give students tools to tell their own stories. Ethnic Studies has the potential to touch on and connect so many topics, and instructors have the power to turn seemingly singular topics into teaching moments that span multiple communities.

(Around 1:01:26) You’re always going to feel overwhelmed. Having grace for yourself is super important, especially among the growing shortage of educators. You get in where you fit in and teach wherever your content areas are via Ethnic Studies. It will always feel impossible to do it all, but you can find ways to get creative and mix it into content areas where you teach. - Estella Owoimaha-Church
(Around 1:06:59) Give students tools so they can tell their stories. The Soundtrack of Life Assignment developed by Pin@y Educational Partnerships (PEP) is a great example of how you can give students tools (music) to understand their lived experiences. In that sense, you don’t carry the burden of accurately representing Pacific Islander communities; you let the students tell you about it. - Andrew Vai