• Recognize that Leeward Community College has a very important history.

• Acknowledge this course as a part of the Teacher Education program.

• Review syllabus and requirements for this course.

• Introduce yourself to your instructor and classmates.

• Create habits for a positive classroom culture by communicating with fellow classmates.

• Analyze your identity, your experiences, and your goals. 

• Share important information with people who are prepared to support you. 

• Develop commitments to follow instructions and procedures, and create academic routines. 

One of the foundations of a positive and supportive learning environment and classroom is a deep connection to the history of your community and school and recognizing its history in relation to your purpose. 

At the end of the day, each and every one of us are here for a reason. Some of these reasons are community-driven and some of them are our individual motives. As individuals participating in a group, we need to consider for ourselves why we are here, who came here before us, and who might come in the future. 

In thinking about these questions and concepts, we are participating in identity formation within our role in education.  Identity development is a stage in the life cycle. For most, the search for identity begins in the adolescent years but continues throughout life. During these earlier years, individuals are more open to ‘trying on’ different behaviors, thought patterns, and "goal-driven" appearances to discover who they are and what is important to them. In an attempt to find their identity and discover who they are, individuals in new environments are likely to explore a number of identities (some for reinforcement and others for adoption) to find one that suits them best. Developing and maintaining identity is a difficult task due to multiple factors such as family life, environment, and social status. Research suggests that this process might be more accurately described as identity growth, rather than formation because we engage in a process of change in both content and structure of one’s thoughts about the self. This is no different than embarking on your journey to become an effective educator. 

Finding out who you are in the Teacher Education Program (TEP) or who you are in a classroom in front of students means taking into consideration who you are as a person, where you come from, who your family is, what your community cares about. You should consider these in relation to your decisions to study education and classroom management at Leeward CC and wanting to get credits towards a degree or credential that will help you to make additional money or get a better job. 

However, it can go much much deeper...

For example,  while traveling in Australia to do educational research on environmental education and in aboriginal communities in Australia, Michael came across this story. It was in the Victoria Museum exhibit about contemporary Australians, and in particular "Australian of the Year". This young man who immigrated to Australia and had experienced significant life challenges.  He was able to overcome them and contribute in a meaningful way to his people, himself, and his society. Higher education provided him with this opportunity. 

We are not to say that this is directly related to our identity and our experiences, but we can see the power of an individual participating in transformation, realized potential, and unique opportunity through this man's academic experiences.  

So, when you think about it, what is your why? Who are you? Who will you be?

Born into poverty in Sudan, at age six Deng was snatched from his mother and forced to fight in the civil war that besieged his country.

As a child soldier, Deng was taught to use a gun before he even knew how to brush his own teeth. He was forced to wield a huge AK-47 rifle, although his body was barely big or strong enough.

Life in the army as a child soldier was hard, and Deng didn’t have much of a childhood. “A child with a gun is somehow not a child anymore–-they’re a soldier, a killer,” Deng said.

Brainwashed by the army and routinely tortured, he lost friends in the war and sustained a range of injuries-–shrapnel wounds from exploding landmines and bombs, and bullet wounds--and contracted a series of diseases like measles, cholera, and chickenpox.

Even when presented with an opportunity to escape he returned to the army. “That’s how brainwashed I was. You don’t want to escape you just want to go back,” Deng said.

This mindset was eventually shaken when he received an unlikely visit from his brother, whom he had long presumed dead. It was his brother who managed to convince Deng to finally leave the army.

“He told me: ‘if you leave with me, you’re going to go to school, study. You could be somebody.’… I thought: Ok, fair enough.”

So one night Deng, with the help of his brother, made his escape by hiding inside a corn sack on the back of a truck. The brothers somehow miraculously made it through all the checkpoints out of Sudan and across the border into Kenya.

Through another very lucky turn of events the brothers befriended an Australian family in the Kenyan refugee camp who in 1998 helped them relocate to Australia.

By this stage Deng was 15-years-old, illiterate, did not speak a word of English, but for the first time in a long time he had a sense of freedom.

Through perseverance and a lot of hard work Deng learnt English, finished his HSC at TAFE, and eventually went on to study law at university. He now works as a lawyer in Blacktown Sydney, where he is determined to help other Sudanese refugees navigate the court system.

His dream is to one day return to Sudan as an environmental lawyer to address what he sees as the root cause of the conflict: the mismanagement of precious water resources.

https://www.globalcitizen.org/fr/content/child-soldier-to-refugee-lawyer-this-is-den-thiak/

Some of you may have heard that LCC was often referred to as Last Chance College (similar to where Michael is from and his local community college, ECC, being called "Easy Credit College"). In many places, and in the past, community colleges were looked down upon as lesser than educational institutions. 

In the present day, this could not be further from the truth. Education, learning, experiences, and knowledge are some of the greatest pleasures in life and a gateway to allowing you to choose how you want to live. At community colleges, educational and academic experiences are more likely to be local, thoughtful, caring, and personalized. 

Think about it briefly: students have said, "I chose Leeward because it was my last choice and my only choice."

Think about this... is this your perspective? Why are you here? What do you want? What do you need? What are you expected to do? What are you being called to do? 

I told her, "Wake up and smell the Kona coffee."

Honestly, to get where you want to go, you need to be socially and emotionally invested in your learning! Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions. Your mind, with your commitment to learning, is ripe for growth and changes. 

More information about SEL can be found here or just take a few extra minutes to watch the video. 

Generally speaking, those schools with the highest need for quality teachers also have the greatest amount of teacher turnover. 

Whatever your motivating factors, we have an opportunity to learn and we should seize it. You almost have a guaranteed job in your community when you complete your degrees and get your teaching license!

Leeward Community College and the TEP program have an incredibly knowledgeable and dedicated staff of instructors, counselors, peer mentors, club presidents, and aides trying to make this program the best on offer anywhere. We know that the work we do influences many, many people. It is a great responsibility. Our staff is a mix of really caring, intelligent, experienced, and thoughtful people who want nothing more than to see you succeed. With your success (becoming a college graduate and teacher) we can support you in the changing of your world ONE STUDENT AT A TIME!  We have graduated over 1,000 students over the past 10 years, making us one of the most successful academic programs in the state. We have EAs, vice-principals, principals, many Master's degrees, a Ph.D., and even a Teacher of the Year from our program, and we will continue to gain more accolades. 

You are not joining a class when you join the Teacher Education Program, you are joining a community of professionals and caring teachers and educators! We care, we collaborate, and we value effectiveness!

Remember, your success is our success. 

We are here for a reason-- and that reason is a context-based solution! 

1. Address the teacher shortage here in the state of Hawaiʻi.

2. Provide good jobs to local people. 

3. Make sure that our students are receiving the best education.

4. Connect communities and cultures in schools by developing relationships.

5. Prepare Hawaiʻi for the future that we all wish to have. 

6. Embody Local and Hawaiian forms of educating and learning that are grounded in cultural values and ‘āina.

However, we recognize that recruiting teachers from the Continental United States is not sustainable. The average teacher from the US usually lasts about 2-5 years in Hawai‘i.  Many of these teachers come while they are young and inexperienced, get trained, and then go back to their communities as they move on towards family age and they want to go home to their communities and serve there. This leaves us with having to replace him/her with another beginning teacher. 

Again, it is great for Hawaiʻi that many people are willing to come and help out the state and people for a few years. But, after this, they go home, and the state is left to rehire someone from Michigan, New York, Connecticut, California, etc. I know many, many teachers who are living in Hawaiʻi that have come from the Continental United States. Plenty of teachers from the Continental United States are some of the “best-educated” people in the country. They are often very talented, creative, and driven. But.....

• • What do they know of the struggles of military families making it through multiple deployments?

  • What knowledge do they have to make the connections to the learning of young students with their knowledge of local places and local peoples?

  • What do they know about working at Dole Cannery?

  • What do they need to know to embody Hawaiian forms of educating, grounded in cultural values and ‘āina?

  • What do they know about local agriculture, cooking, and sustainability? 

In the beginning, probably, not much! 

This is not to say that these individuals are a great asset to the state of Hawaiʻi. They are bringing ways, customs, and values from their communities, college, and Continental United States society here to the islands. It is usually never a bad thing to expose students and people to all kinds of thinking and ways of doing. This helps them grow into wise and experienced adults. 

But, It also gives Hawaiʻi the opportunity to decide what is best for Hawaiʻi. We can see some of the clear differences between cultures and people and we can say, "No, this is our way." 

Right now, the Teacher Education Program (TEP) is trying to ensure that our students in the state of Hawaiʻi are exposed to the best of local peoples, local knowledge and ways, and all of the diversity that is Hawaiʻi.  We want our students to grow into the types of adults and citizens that the people of Hawaiʻi and its communities feel are best for the state.

What we need is for you to listen and act!  I urge you to begin to understand your place in passing on knowledge or continuing local customs and local values to support the needs of local children and communities. 

I do not want to put you in a place of competition against Continental United States teachers, upper-class people, outside values, or ideas, as we will all have to work with many types of people from different cultures, places, and countries. All good values and people should be respected and treated in a caring and professional manner. Sharing and caring are important messages we need to pass on to the youth and our students in particular. Respect the diversity of opportunities that might impact students.  

Of course, our main mission is to create public school teachers in areas of teacher shortage (SPED, English, Math, STEM, ELL, etc.), but you may also want to work in a private school, home daycare, home school, immersion school, open a business focused on education, be a cultural expert, become an educational assistant, skills trainer, classroom aides, teach drama, teach band, homeschool, become a vice-principal, principal, reading specialist, school psychologist, child welfare worker, social worker, counselor, or policymaker.  You will have the opportunity to think about this over your time in the various institutions and programs here to support you!  UH-Manoa, Chaminade, West Oahu, Hilo, Continental United States, Ka Lama, Kamehameha, etc. are all interested in seeing you become a professional educator!

We are going to do it right here!  We need local solutions to local problems. And in case you did not realize, your family, the taxpayer, the state, and the federal government is pulling for you too!  We all want you to succeed. Just check out the new education building to support the development of local teachers!

Michael Cawdery's Meet & Greet

I admire people who can change their habits by opening their mind. These people always amaze me. This person has a growth mindset. I want you to think about developing this mindset as well. A growth mindset is about believing that intelligence and skills, and life is not already predetermined, but rather something that can be changed and built according to new skills that are routinely presented to us at different stages of our lives. I mean if smiling, even fake smiling, convinces your brain that you are happy... learning must convince it that you are smart!

Check out Arthur and His Transformation - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX9FSZJu448&ab_channel=DDPYOGA

At the end of the day, I am looking forward to a great semester. The semester is going to gather momentum each week.  Get in the flow and keep paddling. Prepare yourself by opening your mind and beginning the journey of becoming a learned one in your community, state, and society. We have a great responsibility as teachers.

We hold the knowledge that builds the bridges we cross, designs the boats we sail, seeds the dreams we weave, and gives wind to the wings we help spread. Take this opportunity to develop relationships with your classmates. We are only as strong as our weakest link. Let us become caretakers of this chain which will soon include many students of our own.

• Leeward CC - Learning Resource Center, online writing tutors.

• Leeward CC - Learner Support Services

• Leeward CC - Laulima Orientation

Becoming a teacher is a long process…but first you must deeply understand and master LEARNING.