Hawaii teachers say they want to prioritize civic education — but they need more help

At Kalanianaole Elementary and Intermediate School, Denise Mazurik and her students were frustrated that the local beach park had been closed for years. Generations of families had enjoyed access to the Big Island park, Mazurik said, and she wanted the same opportunity for her students in 2020.

When Mazurik saw that Hawaii County Council had scheduled a meeting about closed beach parks, she tasked her seventh-grade students with submitting written testimony. No immediate change came from the meeting, but Mazurik said it was important for her students to connect with their local government.

“I think the kids felt empowered by writing their testimony, so it’s a win,” Mazurik said.

Hawaii teachers have faced increased pressure in recent years to improve civic education amid concerns over the state’s dismal voter turnout rate and changes to state education standards aimed at increasing the type of hands-on learning Mazurik incorporated in her classes.

But teachers say it’s difficult to help students learn about and engage in their communities with limited training and few lesson plans related to Hawaii’s history and government.

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Hawaii is one of 43 states that require a class in civics, according to the educational nonprofit CivXNow. Students in the DOE must take four years of high school social studies, including a semester-long class on government and the Constitution.

Since DOE revised its social studies standards in 2018, teachers in Hawaii have also been tasked with nurturing a new generation of active citizens by getting students to take lessons from the classroom and apply them to real-life situations.

“Action can be small but meaningful,” said DOE social studies specialist Rosanna Fukuda, adding that civic engagement can range from writing to legislators to having student discussions on appropriate classroom behaviors.

While some teachers have embraced the revised standards and tasked their students with testifying at the Legislature or participating in community meetings, others say they’ve made few changes in their classrooms in the last six years.

“I think we’re a long way from where we need to be,” said Rep. Amy Perruso, who previously taught social studies at Mililani High School. Perruso also serves as vice chair of the Commission to Promote and Advance Civic Education, which was formed in 2021 through the state Supreme Court.

A Need For More Training

High-quality civic education should allow students to engage with the lessons they learn in the classroom, said Colin Moore, an associate professor of political science at the University of Hawaii Manoa.

Students need to know about the three branches of government and the Constitution, he added, but it’s equally important for them to learn how to vote or advocate for an issue.

“Both of those are essential. You can’t be effective as a civic actor if you have no idea what’s going on,” said Moore, who helped develop the social studies standards DOE adopted in 2018.

Under DOE’s revised standards, every social studies class should incorporate civic education, said Amber Makaiau, an associate specialist at UH Manoa’s College of Education. These classes range from Pacific Island Studies to World History and Culture across grades kindergarten through 12.

The standards require students to develop the skills of active citizens, like collaboration and critical thinking, which teachers can develop through hands-on projects or class discussions, she added.

“These are everyday human skills that we need if we’re going to have a democracy,” Makaiau said.

But, Moore said, DOE needs to help teachers put the standards into practice. Not all teachers feel confident teaching civics, he added, and schools typically undervalue social studies because it doesn’t show up on standardized tests in the same way as math or reading.

In DOE, Fukuda is the only curriculum specialist overseeing resources and professional development for social studies teachers. She’s supported by two resource teachers, but neither of the positions are permanent, Fukuda said.

Fukuda estimated that she’s held up to 200 training sessions on the new standards since 2018. But it’s difficult to reach nearly 260 schools across the state, and she sometimes relies on complex area administrators to relay their standards training to local teachers.

“It’s almost never enough,” Fukuda said.

Eighth-grade teacher Aaron Kubo said the social studies department at Hilo Intermediate School has discussed the new standards since 2018, but he doesn’t remember attending a formal DOE training.

“I can’t honestly say there was a huge push by our Hawaii DOE to push social studies education to the forefront,” Kubo said. He added that additional training may not have been necessary at his school, since teachers have always encouraged students to develop the critical thinking skills valued under the new standards.

At Aliamanu Middle School in Salt Lake, Ehren Meinecke thinks the new standards have encouraged some teachers to include more civics into their lessons.

For example, leading up to the November elections, Meinecke said he’ll discuss political parties and the history of voting rights with his students. Students will then participate in Kids Voting Hawaii, which simulates the state’s general election and allows students to cast votes online.

“I think it does give them more of a boost of why they want to learn this,” Meinecke said.

Curriculum Shortages Remain

Every other year, UH law professor Troy Andrade holds teacher workshops on the Supreme Court case Korematsu v. United States, which upheld the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. In his presentation to middle and high school educators, Andrade offers suggestions on how they can teach about the case, Japanese American incarceration camps and their connection to Hawaii.

While lesson plans on the federal government and U.S. history are readily available online, Andrade said, there’s a lack of materials that specifically tie civics to Hawaii.

“Those resources, right now, are just not there,” Andrade said.

It can take several hours to develop a single social studies lesson plan, Mazurik said. She wants to find a curriculum that discusses Hawaii’s history and local government, but she often has to develop the lessons herself, she added.

“We don’t have the time to create materials that are what our students deserve,” Mazurik said.

Earlier this year, a DOE task force evaluating civic education in Hawaii found that social studies educators needed more resources and lessons that could be used in grades kindergarten through 12.

Hawaii’s American Judicature Society hopes to address the gap in curriculum by developing an online bank of lesson plans focused on civic education that are aligned with DOE standards. The materials will focus on Hawaii’s government and history, said AJS Director Sylvia Yuen. She hopes some plans will be available by the end of this year.

The state grant funding the project expires in December, Yuen added, but AJS hopes to receive more support to cover the costs of developing additional lesson plans in future years.

Makaiau said she always welcomes more classroom resources. Students need exposure to civic education throughout their school careers, Makaiau said, and teachers play a crucial role in keeping democracy alive.

“It’s not a one-and-done,” Makaiau said. “It’s something that we all constantly have to remain vigilant about.”

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This story was originally published by Honolulu Civil Beat and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.