Broadening Understandings of the Cultural Value of Aloha in a Teacher Educator Program

This study examined how pre-service teachers’ in a mainstream teacher education program expanded their understandings of the Hawaiian cultural value of aloha to reflect the integrity of the translation of aloha as originating in Hawaiian ancestral text.  Data were collected from 10 elementary and 11 secondary pre-service teachers’ personal written reflections at the end of each of day of a three-day course. A post-course questionnaire was collected 10 months post-course completion, after pre-service teachers’ student teaching experience.  As a result of qualitatively analyzing their written reflections and post-course questionnaire three patterns emerged to reflect the shifts in their understanding of the word aloha:  1) Common Understandings of Aloha; 2) Methods for Activating Aloha; and 3) Sustainable Practices.  16 out of 21 or 76% of the pre-service teachers confirmed that they experienced a shift in their understanding of aloha.  The remaining five responded that their understandings of aloha did not “shift,” but rather used the following words to indicate that their understanding of aloha: “expanded,” “strengthened,” “influenced,” “renewed,” and “broadened.” In order for pre-service teachers to be comfortable with the language and meanings associated with a cultural value laden concept like aloha they personally connected with the meaning of the word, expanded understanding through academic learning, and reflected upon new understandings. While tensions and discomfort about using language and cultural concepts from “outside” one’s own ethnic and racial background may still exist, we are encouraged by the idea that pre-service teachers can commit to broadening and embracing understandings of aloha as a meaningful part of their daily classroom practices and lives

An experimental investigation of the design variables for NACA submerged duct entrances

Information concerning the parameters and design variables affecting an NACA submerged duct design is presented

The university and the city: Spaces of risk, decolonisation, and civic disruption

This paper responds to a recent EPA Exchanges paper by Eric Knight, Andrew Jones and Meric Gertler ( Knight et al., 2021). It concurs with their argument for the significance of economic geography for explaining the “local-global” dilemmas facing the university in contemporary society. In response, it will propose three additional optics for understanding the role of the university in the contemporary city. First, as a space of risk, where the neo-liberal university is now undertaking various modes of financing their real estate models, drawing on bond markets to finance future growth, soliciting politically risky philanthropic donations, and betting on future student recruitment trends – including the high-risk international student sector – as being sufficient to fund capital investments in buildings and facilities. Second, as a space of decolonisation, where the university must seek to locate campus development within discussions about the university's responsibilities within systems of settler colonialism, and racially inflected gentrification. Third, as a civic disruptor, where the university campus is seen as more than just a backdrop or context to the university's governance, culture, and business models, but also as a front door to understanding the city and economy within which it is embedded