“View of Smallpox Hospital” by Paul Emmert, c. 1853-59
(Hawaii Historical Society, Wikimedia Common)
COVID-19, the Latest Hawaiian Epidemic: Educating for Health, Responsibility, and Resilience Through a Place-Based, Cultural Lens
Dates: July 13, 15, 17, and 20
Times: 3:00-5:00 PM (Hawaii Standard Time)
Beginning at 6:00 PM Pacific / 8:00 PM Central / 9:00 PM Eastern
Location: Online via Zoom
Workshop Costs: $15 per event or register for all four to receive a $15 discount. If paying by school purchase order, please select the "Pay by Invoice" option upon checkout. Registered participants will receive copies of the curriculum and recordings of the workshops for which they are registered via email, in consideration of time differences and in a desire to share resources with communities that can use them.
As we holomua, continue on, persisting in our own lives, how can we as educators and community members support others in building resilient, growth mindsets in this time of the COVID-19 pandemic? What can we learn from Hawaiʻi’s values and practice in the context of epidemics that killed 90% of Native Hawaiians after western contact and connect it to our shared experiences with this novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2? It continues to generate information educators need to understand, interpret, and apply.
In this 4-part, interactive series Professor Pauline Chinn, teachers Kaleolani Hanohano and Alison (Kaʻolinokaimana) Yasuoka, and GA Hawaiian translators Riley (Kauʻi) Wells and Kyle (Kolomona) Nakatsuka will present interdisciplinary lessons that examine Hawaiian historical timelines and science phenomena associated with COVID-19. We will compare and contrast leaders from Hawaiʻi’s past to leaders of today and the impacts of their decisions. These lessons will include hands-on activities, simulations, models, metrics, interactive discussions, historical resources, Hawaiian language newspaper articles, and up-to-date information on COVID-19 that you can use in schools and communities.
The workshops and COVID-19 curriculum are presented with support from a National Science Foundation award for teacher leadership and place-based curriculum development.
Workshop 1: The Hawaiian Kingdom, Newspapers, and Public Health Past, Present, and Future
Lawe li'ili'i ka make a ka Hawai'i, lawe nui ka make a ka haole
Death by Hawaiians takes a few at a time; death by foreigners takes many.
Monday, July 13, 2020, 3-5 pm HST
Instructors: Riley (Kauʻi) Wells, Kyle (Kolomona) Nakatsuka, Pauline Chinn, Alison (Kaʻolinokaimana) Yasuoka, Kaleolani Hanohano
Hawaiian language newspapers were the broadcast media for Hawaiʻi’s highly literate citizens. John Papa ʻĪʻī wrote in Ka Nupepa Kuʻokoʻa of ancient epidemics from Kahiki: “every island where they went...fatal diseases spread among the chiefs and commoners.” Post western contact, epidemics, rapid cultural and economic change, and deaths of kūpuna led the Aliʻi to call for sharing knowledge in over 100 Hawaiian language newspapers published from 1834-1948. The nupepa helped maintain the practices, knowledge, language, cohesiveness, and resilience of the Hawaiian Kingdom and its people even as the population declined by 90% and Native Hawaiians became a minority in their homeland.
John Papa ʻĪʻī’s report is not just a story, it shows medical kahuna were trained on the history of diseases back to the first incidence. We now know this as contact tracing. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 mutates every few months, enabling tracing of strains to their first recorded occurrence. We will present a timeline of epidemics in Hawaiʻi, simulate contagion, discuss contagion between people and animals, compare COVID-19 to familiar viral diseases, and discuss the race for a COVID-19 vaccine in the context of Hawaiʻi's 1853 smallpox epidemic. This workshop includes Hawaiian and English newspaper articles to explore how culture, economics, politics, and access to health care contribute to greater impacts of past and present epidemics on some ethnic groups than others. No matter what subject or grade you teach you will find something you can use.
Workshop 2: We Are All In This Together -- He Wa`a He Moku, He Moku He Wa`a (The Canoe Is An Island And The Island Is A Canoe)
Scientific, Evidence-Supported Perspectives
Wednesday, July 15, 2020, 3-5 pm HST
Instructors: Alison (Kaʻolinokaimana) Yasuoka, Kaleolani Hanohano, Riley (Kauʻi) Wells, Pauline Chinn
Awareness. Critical thinking. Scientific, Evidence-Supported Perspectives.
How can we use science + history to tell the compelling narrative of this novel coronavirus? In examining the impacts of COVID-19 and how to increase our safety in navigating through it, it has become imperative that we not only consider our individual, personal needs, but the needs of others--our immediate family members, our extended family members, and the community at large. How can these seemingly simple, proactive measures--washing our hands, physical distancing, wearing masks be so powerful in constraining COVID 19? As we reopen our state and the economy, why is it still important to maintain these practices--to have restraint, and to be self-disciplined? How can understanding the science phenomena behind washing our hands, physical distancing, and wearing a mask drive us to make the right decisions in constraining COVID 19’s spread? What roles do data and metrics play during a pandemic? How can we make use of the information gathered across space and time to help us make the best, data-driven decisions? During this pandemic, science and history step into the limelight as precious resources to reveal the story of how the decisions we make can flatten the curve or create spikes in the curve. Let’s examine how the decisions we make as a collective today can impact the curve tomorrow. We are all in this together… He waʻa he moku, he moku he wa’a. Control-Contain-Suppress.
Workshop 3: The Future Is Found In The Past -- I Ka Wā Ma Mua, Ka Wā Ma Hope (In Looking To The Past, We Can Inform The Present And Future)
I ka wā ma mua, ka wā ma hope.
The future is found in the past.
Friday, July 17, 2020, 3-5 pm HST
Instructors: Kaleolani Hanohano, Alison (Kaʻolinokaimana) Yasuoka, Riley (Kauʻi) Wells, Pauline Chinn
Hawaiian language newspapers are important primary source materials that chart decisions made by Kanaka ʻŌiwi leaders of the past that can inform and guide leaders of today. In this session, we will examine the decisions that individuals and communities in Hawaiʻi, on the continent, and worldwide are making. We will also examine and reflect upon the impacts of these decisions. What are the factors that drive people and leaders to make decisions when faced with the challenges of this novel coronavirus? How do the decisions of our Kanaka ʻŌiwi, our Aliʻi from the past compare to the decisions that are being made today? What mindset, intent, and perspectives drove the Aliʻi to make these incisive decisions?
Workshop 4: From Knowledge to Practice: Teaching for Resilience in the Face of Change
He ‘a‘ali‘i kū makani mai au; ‘a‘ohe makani nana e kula‘i.
"I can hold my own even in the face of difficulties."
`A`ali`i, a deep-rooted native plant, is a symbol of resilience.
Monday, July 20, 2020, 3-5pm HST
Instructors: Riley (Kauʻi) Wells, Pauline Chinn, Kaleolani Hanohano, Alison (Kaʻolinokaimana) Yasuoka
Bring your questions, concerns, and ideas. Guest speakers Drs. Alika Maunakea, John A. Burns School of Medicine and Ruben Juarez, Social Science will discuss the greater impact of COVID-19 and diabetes, a contributing factor, on some ethnic groups and communities in Hawaiʻi. Kauʻi Wells will join them to share research with Maʻo Farms interns that suggests that how and what we teach can have a positive impact on student and community health outcomes. This final session will provide opportunities to share lessons and thoughts on the roles that culture and values play in preventing vs. reacting to disease. We end the series by sharing thoughts and strategies for teaching for resilience in the face of changes now and in the future.