NOAA Staff Collaborate on Hawaiʻi Teacher Workshop on Climate Change

After six months of collaborative planning, the ambitious E Kū Ana Ka Paia: Workshop for Building Climate Change Resilience successfully brought together 60 middle and high school teachers from Hawaiʻi, Maui, Molokaʻi, Oʻahu, and Kauaʻi. The workshop was held simultaneously at three NOAA facilities: the Daniel K. Inouye Regional Center on Oʻahu; the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whales National Marine Sanctuary Visitor Center on Maui; and the Mokupāpapa Discovery Center for Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument on Hawaiʻi. The three-day workshop was synchronized across sites, setting a shared foundation while localizing activities and content to best fit each island. The workshop was created with the intent to provide tangible NOAA-based climate change classroom activities, reflect a Hawaiian cultural worldview, provide locally relevant climate change resources, explore student engagement opportunities, and build an active Hawaiʻi Educator Climate Change Community of Practice. Teachers were active creators in this experience, and were able to access curriculum development funding through HOPE: The Hawai‘i Online Portal for Education in order to build or locally adapt climate change units for their classrooms.

The workshop reflects an effort to interweave ‘Ōiwi (Native Hawaiian) knowledge systems with NOAA and partner climate change resources. Native Hawaiian members of the planning team spent significant time working on this process, consulting with other cultural experts, and adapting or co-developing materials to fit the workshop goals. The entire planning team drew from expertise across multiple NOAA line offices including staff from ONMS (PMNM, HIHWNMS, PIR), the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer, the Office of Coastal Management, and Fisheries. Expert speakers and content development support came from staff with NOS Education, the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Weather Service and the Global Monitoring Laboratory (Mauna Loa Observatory). Other partners providing local resources and curricula included the County of Hawaiʻi, University of Hawaiʻi (UH) and UH Sea Grant Program, the National Park Service (Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park), USGS, Heʻeia National Estuarine Research Reserve, the Kumuola Marine Science Education Center under Kamehameha Schools, the Teaching Change Program, Learning Endeavors, and the Hawai‘i Science Teaching Association.

Teachers from each island were also selected to serve as Climate Teacher Fellows. In addition to supporting the workshop, they are tasked with organizing monthly sessions with the full teacher cohort, nurturing the development of the Hawai‘i Climate Change Community of Practice, and helping to adapt and pilot climate change lessons utilizing NOAA resources.

Participant Data - Combined Sites

O'AHU & MAUI EVALUATION RESPONSES

WORKSHOP VIDEOS

TEACHER TESTIMONIALS

"The Keynote Speaker presentations really gave me a new perspective on teaching and delivering cultural connections through science. It was awesome!" -Elementary school educator, O'ahu

"This was a well-thought out and strategically planned event. Even with the quick change due to Covid, it was a really powerful grouping of field professionals and resources packed into three days." -Elementary school educator, O'ahu

"This workshop was a great balance of speakers, engagement, and resources for me - very enriching, mahalo!" -High school educator, Maui

"I feel more confident about my knowledge base and being able to share/teach about climate change and hopefully inspire students to work towards resiliency!" -High school educator, Hawai'i