Over the years, I have had the ultimate pleasure of getting to know Dr. Alfred L. Castle. Al is a historian, author, and the Executive Director of the Samuel N. and Mary Castle Foundation. The mission of the Foundation is to provide resources that improve the lives of Hawaii’s children and families, especially the quality and quantity of early education. The Samuel N. and Mary Castle Foundation concentrates its efforts on creating greater social equality and opportunity through increasing access to high quality pre-K education, and since its inception has been deeply invested in growing the American progressive education movement in Hawai‘i and beyond.

In February 2026, I (Junya Kubo), together with my colleague Ryo Kumagai (Associate Professor, Miyagi University of Education), had the opportunity to visit Hanahauʻoli School. There, we observed children engaging in self-directed learning based on their own interests, within an environment that ensured both safety and security. This was seen in a variety of settings throughout the school day: morning circles; student engagement in interdisciplinary thematic units of study; free choice time; arts integration; and each Wednesday when the students are supported by a Philosopher in Residence from the University of Hawai‘i as they participate in Philosophy for Children (P4C) sessions with their peers and teachers. While this overall progressive education approach differs significantly from the school environments we are familiar with in Japan, it does reflect the kind of learning environment we aspire to create when doing P4C in Japanese schools. Our time spent on campus at Hanahau‘oli also reaffirmed that progressive education, especially doing philosophy with children, can be essential for the most vulnerable children.

In a previous blog, I shared about the Hanahau‘oli School Entering Teacher Cooperative. Unlike traditional new teacher orientation programs–which rely on stand-and-deliver presentations of overwhelming amounts of information and rapid fire introductions to key people on campus–the Hanahau’oli ETC is a year-long, structured induction and mentoring program designed to onboard new faculty and staff into the school's progressive education philosophy, multiage teaming approach, and, more broadly, its culture. And just as the cooperative and collaborative Hanahau‘oli School classroom is made up of “entering” and “continuing” students, the ten month ETC experience creates opportunities for entering and continuing faculty and staff to learn from one another.