This article presents an interview with Andrew W. S. In, professor and dean in the University of Hawai'i's College of Education from 1951 to 1984. Born and raised in Honolulu, In attended Royal Elementary, Central Junior High, and McKinley High schools, graduating from McKinley in 1938. He then attended the University of Hawai'i Teachers College…

This article presents an interview with Harlan Cleveland, political scientist, diplomat, public executive, author of dozens of articles and books, and eighth president of the University of Hawai'i. Harlan Cleveland was born in 1918 in New York City. He was the son of Stanley Matthews Cleveland and Marian Phelps Van Buren Cleveland. Cleveland…

For the past thirty-one years, the University of Hawai'i (UH) has worked in collaboration with the American Samoa Department of Education (ASDOE) and the American Samoa Community College (ASCC) to upgrade the professional level of American Samoa's elementary teachers. During these early years of the partnership, several UH professors served as…

A paradigm shift is occurring in the approach to teaching in the education system of American Samoa. This shift can be characterized as the movement from a traditional, teacher-centered approach to a constructivist, student-centered approach. One factor that has contributed to this shift arises from the training of teachers through the University…

A number of circumstances make it difficult for aspiring teachers in American Samoa to earn certification and/or advanced degrees. Young men and women who graduate from the territory's high schools have two options available to them if they plan to continue their education. They can pursue a two-year degree at the American Samoa Community College…

In this article, the author proposes to describe some of the developments that have taken place in public education in American Samoa in the past few years. This has really been a period of rapid change and although many challenges remain, there has been considerable progress on several fronts. One of the fundamental organizational reforms that…

Four and a half years have passed since four teachers from Cohort VI in American Samoa graduated from the University of Hawai'i with bachelor of education degrees and with teaching licenses from the state of Hawai'i. This article highlights changes and developments in the beliefs and practices of these four teachers who, in the midst of full time…

After two years of construction, American Samoa Community College opened its new library on September 2, 2003. The library is located on the east side of campus and is equipped with ten computer workstations, four online public access catalogs, three copying machines, and an elevator that is in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.…

This article describes how four Samoan teachers used critical literacy in their classrooms after they first encountered the idea in a children's literature course that the author taught over a five-week period in Samoa in 2005. The author explores the impact of multicultural pedagogical methods on teacher professional development and in-service…

In spite of the changes that 100 years of Americanization have produced, the American Samoa people overwhelmingly identify themselves with their culture. They are proud to be Samoan; they are committed to the "fa'a-Samoa" or the Samoan way of life. The desire to balance American ways with the unique values that make up the Samoan sense of identity…

Pirates capture the imagination, span centuries of history, have great clothes, conform to surprising codes of conduct, and invite a wide variety of themes and subjects for teaching. Piracy can be a seductive topic for all ages. In spite of the imaginative appeal of the topic, piracy is insufficient as a starting point for a well-connected social…

Students must be encouraged to think for themselves by tapping into their imaginations. Only when mathematical concepts are presented in an imaginative way will students fully benefit from their experience. Both teachers and students must engage themselves in this creative realm of thinking, where imagination plays a vital part in learning and…

Pronouns take the place of other nouns. In the case of personal pronouns, they often take the place of nouns that identify persons. The pronoun highlights the difference by being formed differently, and by being placed in different spots in the sentences. Pronouns point out the differences as they change form, and vary their representational…

Role-play is one of the most engaging instruments for imagining what is not actually present. Role-play can take a variety of forms: student(s) enacting; teacher(s) enacting; and student(s) and teacher(s) enacting together. In this article, the author examines a number of different ways for teachers to incorporate role-play in their classrooms to…

The grade three curriculum set out by the British Columbia Ministry of Education has four categories for science: Processes of Science, Life Science, Physical Science, and Earth and Space Science. Within each of these categories there are numerous topics to teach. For example, the physical science curriculum requires students to learn about…