Model Hawaiian Immersion Curriculum

    Work is underway to establish a model program for developing Hawaiian language immersion materials . Joint cooperation with native speaker consultants, university faculty, classroom teachers, and students who are prospective teachers of the Hawaiian language will enable the creation of an integrated, culturally-based curriculum that is responsive to the immersion community it serves. Although the language of focus is Hawaiian, the outcomes of this project are expected to be of broad utility in the more general areas of immersion curriculum development and teacher education.

    To date, the project has established a community-based network of relevant agencies and organizations that are involved in developing curriculum and teachers for the Hawaiian immersion schools. An instrument for assessing needs and interests at the schools has been field tested and revised. A handbook of pertinent language resources for those schools has been compiled for distribution, along with a DVD, Immersion curriculum development project: A model in Hawaiian, that documents the progress of the project. Specific teaching materials which encompass language arts, social science, and science are also being produced for dissemination. A report documenting the means of achieving a working model for integrating the various interested parties into a working group for the advancement of immersion education will be the final product.