By Lia Woo
Hanahau’oli Head of School Lia Woo is a “student of little children '' (Sprague Mitchell, 1987, p. 290) during her 2019 visit to the Shirley G. Moore Laboratory School at the University of Minnesota
Hanahau’oli School celebrated 100 years of joyous work in the 2018-19 school year. At the time, the Board of Trustees called on Hanahau’oli Head of School Lia Woo to think about her vision for the school for the near term. Woo studied the school’s history and educational philosophies, and reflected on her own personal experience learning and growing at Hanahau‘oli as a student to identify timeless and universal themes. The themes helped to provide a framework for thinking about the current and future world and helped to lay the foundation for her vision moving forward.
At the time, like the rest of us, Woo had no indication of the ways in which COVID-19 would dramatically change the world. She had no signs that the plans she was developing would soon be put aside to deal with more urgent needs and priorities. With that said, the focus of her vision remains more relevant now than it did in 2018. To follow is Woo’s prescient vision -- to deepen Hanahau’oli School’s capacity as a unique “living laboratory” where “scientific” exploration and discovery of ourselves, one another, our place (environment), practices and culture will build a foundation to understand and strengthen the education we offer students in our complex, ever-changing world.
Founded in 1918, Hanahau‘oli is regarded as a preeminent independent elementary school in Hawai‘i because of its adherence to its mission that validates childhood as the time of learning, the years when the foundation is laid for life-long commitment to the values that sustain our families, our neighborhoods and the global community. Derived from bold beginnings, Hanahau‘oli represented a radical departure from more traditional approaches to schooling at its founding. In her memoir, the school’s creator, Sophie Judd Cooke explains,
Our school was ‘progressive’ in every sense of the word. We tried new methods and broke with the stilted formal type of instruction which was common at that time... we persisted, and I note that many of the methods - of correlating the work and ‘learning by doing’ - have been widely adopted in the public schools (Cooke, 1964, pp. 78-79).
Throughout our school’s history, the goal has remained the same: to nurture children’s initiative in developmentally-appropriate ways, respecting each child. Aligned with progressive principles, the key to achieving this aim is to provide a learning environment that helps children feel emotionally secure, find the joy in learning and develop responsibility for self, others and the world.
Foundational to progressivism is the constancy of change. “Progressive education is a moving, dynamic, changing education... a living thing, growing, continuously having to change because of the three great changing elements with which we deal - children, environment and civilization or culture” (Palmer, 1937). As such, progressive education “...indicates watching life and children alertly” (Palmer, 1937).
As I pause to reflect on today’s world, the complexities abound - the onset of climate change, dominance of technology, exponential advances in artificial intelligence, growing inequality, and prevalence of disinformation - with serious implications for the future. I believe it is critical now more than ever to instill in children initiative, intellectual curiosity and self-assurance while reinforcing the tremendous value that comes from being a contributing member of a vibrant, respectful, diverse and interdependent community. After a century of progressive education, Hanahau‘oli is poised to articulate its current progressive pedagogy, grounded in research, science and relationships and attuned to the changing world.
My vision for Hanahau‘oli for the next 3-5 years is to re-energize our learning community as a unique “living laboratory” where “scientific” exploration and discovery of ourselves, one another, our place (environment), practices and culture will build a foundation to understand and strengthen the education we offer students in our complex, ever-changing world.
As a “living laboratory,” we will systematically draw upon the research on learning and development, progressive education principles and the reflections of joyous work in practice to not only grow as a learning community but also support others in the field of education and beyond. All Hanahau‘oli community members will dedicate time to developing the scientific habits of “explorers,” namely observing, feeling, wondering, discovering, connecting, creating, and reflecting to understand and appreciate the concepts that underpin a thriving democratic society: diversity, equity, relational trust and interdependence. The aim is that through this iterative process the community will:
be continually strengthened by the joy and power of learning and belonging;
understand the infinite resources within our community and ourselves, and
carry forth the responsibility to help shape a better society.
Children will experience a childhood, brimming with play, experiential learning, authentic experiences, and intimate relationships, at a pace that supports growth through deep reflection and inquiry. Faculty will learn from teaching instead of for teaching. Stanford University College of Education professor and researcher Linda Darling-Hammond captures it well, “Viewing teaching as a process of ongoing investigation is integral to an approach to teacher professional learning where the goal is to promote a lifelong ability to learn from teaching rather than short term learning for teaching” (Darling-Hammond, 2014). In short, teachers will be “students of little children” (Sprague Mitchell, 1987, p. 290).
Within the “living laboratory” all community members (children and adults) should:
Feel empowered to pursue their curiosities and interests and supported to seek challenges and persist
Appreciate the arts as an integral and essential means of learning, expressing, communicating and finding comfort and joy
Be familiar with change as a constant, while recognizing the value of tradition
Embrace diversity in its many forms
Be able to draw upon one’s strength and courage to critically question, creatively problem-solve and clearly communicate in the pursuit of one’s goals
Faculty and staff will prioritize completion of the work we have begun - to articulate and activate common understanding of our progressive pedagogy and the continuity of our curriculum - through daily teaching and learning with our students and families and in our reflective work as colleagues.
To close, I leave you with the words of biotechnologist and Hanahau’oli School graduate, David Watumull (class of 1994):
“This desire to understand how things work and why things are - and directing this knowledge towards new questions or problems - is a fundamental basis of science... I attribute the incubation of this mindset to Hanahauoli, which fostered a culture of high-level thinking and unleashed an innate thirst for understanding.”
As the world continues to remind us of our interdependence, let’s embrace our shared responsibility to one another, to continual learning and growth through inquiry, observation and reflection, and to building a better, more rational, and humane world.
Works Cited:
Cooke, S. J. (1964). Sincerely Sophie. Honolulu, HI: Tongg Publishing Co., LTD.
Darling-Hammond, L. (2014) Strengthening Clinical Preparation: The Holy Grail of Teacher Education, Peabody Journal of Education, 89:4, 547-561, DOI: 10.1080/0161956X.2014.939009.
Palmer, L. (1937). Speech About Progressive Education at Hanahau‘oli.
Antler, J. (1987) Lucy Sprague Mitchell: The Making of a Modern Woman. New Haven: Yale University Press.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Lia Woo draws upon her 15+ years of experience in education, specializing in curriculum and educational technology, to lead Hanahau‘oli School. A lifelong learner, Ms. Woo views learning as a source of inspiration and a means to intentional positive change. Ms. Woo’s association with Hanahau‘oli school dates back to 1980 as an entering student in Junior Kindergarten. After graduating from Hanahau‘oli and Punahou School, Ms. Woo received a B.A. in Communications from Boston College in 1998, a M.A. in Learning, Design & Technology from Stanford University in 2002, and a M.Ed. in Private School Leadership from the University of Hawaii in 2016. After curriculum leadership roles at Kamehameha Schools, It’s All About Kids LLC, and Hawaii Pacific University, she returned to Hanahau‘oli in 2012 to teach for four years in Kulāiwi (2nd and 3rd Grades). Thereafter, Ms. Woo served for two years as the School’s first Director of Curriculum & Innovative Technology. Since June 2018, she has served as Head of School. Click here to learn more about Lia’s work at Hanahau‘oli School.
