Visioning the Tech ʻAuwai

What a journey we have been on in the last few months as we vision our way toward an indigenized, Hawaiian technology education pathway–a “Tech ʻAuwai” if you will. Sometimes it really does feel like pulling an island up from the sea.

Our after school class at Jarrett MS has been going great, and I try to stay focused on the present–what’s in front of us. Students need you to be in the moment with them, attending to their needs as they arise, honoring the emotions in the room and recognizing that kids have a different sense of time and urgency than adults.

But at the same time, there is strategic planning! The world of grants, funders, and grant applications demands a certain level of foresight, structure, and intention. Sometimes it feels like way too much foresight; who can see that far ahead? Can others see what we see?

Our organization comes from a background in agile development and lean startups. We’re used to failing fast and iterating solutions–we have a vision, but something tricky and difficult happens when it comes to putting down on paper a 5-year plan complete with goals, objectives, tasks, measures, and timelines.

So this is the balancing act that’s been keeping us on our toes and providing learning experiences at every turn. We had a board and staff retreat at Kaʻala Farms to try to sort this stuff out, which was an amazing experience that centered us and allowed everyone to understand a little bit more about each other. It was certainly not the last but one of the first of many occasions for conversation about where Purple Maiʻa is heading, who we’re accountable to, and what we can all personally bring to the program.

Out of all this soul-searching, conference-calling, and late-night-revising, I think that a really beautiful vision is getting clearer, more precise, and closer to us. Here are just a few of the insights that are guiding us:

1. There is no contradiction between land-based education and technology education. Technology is a process of thinking, problem solving, and making–with the materials at hand and an understanding of your place within a working system.
2. The ultimate end goal is empowerment.
3. Technology can and must serve the needs of communities and Hawaiians.
4. We can’t ever forget that technology education is just a continuation and extension of ancestral practices.
5. We need a Tech ʻAuwai–a way for students at all ages and knowledge levels to flow meaningfully through their communities as they learn.

There’s so much more, and at some point when my thoughts are less scattered–watch out! More ideas are coming, and more news of our program.

Meanwhile, check out this video of third quarter at Jarrett.