Rural Native Hawaiian Perspectives on Special Education

Abstract

Native Hawaiians are an involuntary minority group who became Americans through an overthrow of their monarchy and colonization in the late 1800s. They have a history of separate and substandard schooling, and political and economic oppression. Currently, Native Hawaiians are overrepresented in special education, due in large part to the mismatch between western schooling and Hawaiian culture and speaking Pidgin English as their first language. In addition to overrepresentation, special education issues for Native Hawaiians include conducting unbiased assessment, providing culturally-relevant instruction and behavior management, and supporting families of students with disabilities. These issues overlap significantly with higher education challenges of recruiting and retaining Native Hawaiians in special education teacher preparation programs and developing culturally competent special educators.

Colonialism in Early Education, Care, and Intervention: A Knowledge Synthesis

“…However, this review identified a body of work that focuses on Indigenous childhood disability in the fields of health, early childhood education and care, and EI services internationally and in Canada. Articles reviewed were predominantly focused on Indigenous populations in Canada (Ball, 2009;Gerlach, 2008), the United States (Ogata, Sheehey, & Noonan, 2006;Tepper & Tepper, 2004), New Zealand (Lyons, 2013), and Australia (D' Aprano, Carapetis, & Andrews, 2011; Nelson & Allison, 2004). Some Indigenous African (Owusu-Ansah & Mji, 2013) and South American perspectives (Bailey et al, 1999) were also found.…”

Standing Behind and Listening to Native Hawaiian Students in the Transition Process

“…Although there has been a slow but steady decline in the percentage of NH students receiving SE, NH students continue to be overrepresented in SE accounting for approximately 28% of all public school students, but one third of the SE enrollment (Kamehameha Schools, 2009). Ogata et al (2006) Developing a better understanding of possible reasons for the overrepresentation of NH students in SE and unlocking keys to understand and thus better serve students from the NH culture provided an impetus for this study. PSE, only 25% left because they had graduated or completed their program.…”

“…Extensive research has been conducted on conflicts between students from minority cultures (e.g., collectivist orientations) and the individualist culture of educational institutions (Ogata, Sheehey, & Noonan, 2006; Yamauchi, 2003). Differences between collectivist and individualist cultures appear in matters such as (a) societal cooperation versus competition, (b) individual versus family or group orientation, (c) time orientation, (d) gender roles and family responsibilities, (e) interaction styles, and (f) self-determination (SD) and autonomy versus family or group responsibilities (Triandis, 2001).…”

How Do Pre-service Teachers Cope With a Literacy Intervention Program in a Remote Indigenous Community? The Community Action Support Program in the Northern Territory, Australia

“…This can lead to disengagement and a cynical approach to learning through "pleasing the teacher" (Harrison, 2008) or the devaluing of Indigenous ways of thinking as students learn that they are being "enlightened" by white learning (Harrison, 2007). In illustrating this inequity, it is claimed that the overrepresentation of Indigenous Hawaiian students in special education is partly through the failures of standardized testing, but more through teachers' interpretation of "inappropriate" behaviour (Ogata, Sheehey & Noonan, 2006). Indigenous learners face the possibility of negative assessment based on unconsciously held and culturally specific notions about interpretations of student behaviour (De Plevitz, 2007).…”