Course Expectations and Timeline

If you are applying to come only to the Summer Intensive see details below. If you are a Hawai‘i Island Teacher applying for the year long program, there will be required workshops, meetings, and gatherings that, when experienced together over one year, will help develop the knowledge, skills, and confidence you need to be a sustainability educator in a School Learning Garden setting.

Checklist for Kū ‘Āina Pā Cohort
PDE3 Section #1 Checklist
PDE3 Section #2 Checklist

Course Credits
A Pde3 course in two sections will be offered for all public and charter school teachers (see Pde3 Course).

Below is an explanation of the six learning modules to be completed by the year one cohort. Following that is a calendar of dates and times for workshops in 2013-2014. Teachers are required to be present at all 12 days of formal class in 2013-2014 and will be expected to complete reading assignments for each of the classes during the year and to participate in class discussions, games, and experiential work. There will also be three school garden visits, two teaching observations by the Kū ‘Āina Pā Team and an Action Research Project with a final presentation of your project in June 2014.

Kū ‘Āina Pā Summer Intensive – June 9-14, 2013
Our year-long course of instruction will begin with a five-day Summer Conference that will be held at both our Demonstration School Learning Garden located at Mala‘ai: The Culinary Garden of the Waimea Middle School and at Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy’s Energy Laboratory (HPA-ELab). We may also visit and work at other school gardens in the Waimea area. See Summer Intensive program.

Participants have the choice of staying in the dorms at HPA for a small fee (see course fees) or staying with family or friends in the Waimea area. If you stay at HPA dorms, a light breakfast will be provided. Lunch will be provided each day for everyone. A required reading list will be sent to you prior to the June Intensive. Books and Teacher Training Syllabus will be included in course fees. More details for the year’s course will be provided during the June Intensive.

Three School Garden Visits will coincide with the three Seasonal 2-day Workshops
Cohort participants will make three visits to school garden programs on Hawai‘i Island during the year to observe and reflect on garden design, structure, and teaching techniques using a course template as a guide. These visits will coincide with our three 2-day Seasonal Workshops that will take place around Hawai’i Island. The template for evaluation and reflection will be provided for you.

Three Two-Day Workshops at School Gardens on Hawai’i Island
Participants will be expected to attend 3 2-day Workshops at various School Gardens and farms on Hawai’i Island. Each season we will visit one area of the Island. For workshops dates see (course timeline). Each workshop will have a specific focus and theme and all workshops will integrate the following:

• Classroom management skills
• Assessment/evaluation tool ideas and models
• Preset and follow-up ideas for lessons
• Place-based and cultural practices
• STEM integration
• Self reflection

Cohort 2 Attendees coming from the outer islands or from distant areas of Hawai’i Island will be given choices for accommodations. Breakfast and lunch will be included each day you are away. Accommodations will be provided at very low cost when possible. We will be updating you on the details of these workshops by the end of Summer 2013.

Year Long Mentoring Program and Teaching Observation
Each participant and school team in the cohort will have an opportunity to work with theKū ‘Āina Pā Educational Team of Amanda Rieux, Ming Wei Koh, and Nancy Redfeather. Each participant will receive a mentor who will work closely with you and follow your progress throughout the year, observing your teaching in a school garden at least twice during the year (Fall 2013 and Spring 2014) with an oral follow-up and a written observation. The criteria for this observation will be found in the Training Syllabus. If you are NOT connected with a school garden, you will want to volunteer at a school garden program near you (suggested 40 hours for the year) with the understanding that you are in a School Learning Garden Teacher Training course and that you will have opportunities to practice teaching lessons at that garden. Programs can be either in school time or in after school programs.

Garden-Based Action Research Project with a presentation in June 2014
Cohort participants by teams or individually will have a year to carry out an Action Research Project.

Action research is a process in which participants examine their own educational practice systematically and carefully, using techniques of inquiry and research. Knowledge is generated through conscious attempts to solve practical and local problems.

The intent is that this research will inform and change the participant’s practices in the future. The results of this research will help to hold us to high standards, and more importantly will add to the knowledge base of the cohort.

The research is carried out within the context of the participant’s environment, in this case the school garden, on questions that deal with educational matters at hand. Much of the data collected is the consistent, regular reflection of the participants, and the consistent regular reflection of the students with whom they work, for example, journaling, photo elicited discussions, artwork, videos, short essays, etc. Topics of research could be:
• How does school garden based learning support writing?
• How does learning about garden biodiversity support students learning about cultural diversity?
• How does students growing vegetables support their consumption of these vegetables?
• How can I integrate mathematics into garden-based learning?

Participants of Kū ‘Āina Pā will learn to conduct reflective action research and integrate it into their teaching practices. Be prepared to present your project results at a one-day School Garden Symposium for Teachers in June 2014. Graduation, awarding of a Certificate of Completion, and a gala luncheon will follow June 2014 presentations.
Vehicle for Sharing Coursework
Kū ‘Āina Pā will develop an electronic vehicle for teachers to share reflections and observations during the course of the year. The aim is to support excellence and innovation among garden educators on Hawai‘i Island, create opportunities for cross- fertilization and seeding of each other’s work, and to build a unified movement.

Course Timeline
1. Summer Intensive – June 9-14, 2013, Waimea, Hawai‘i (see summer intensive agenda).

2. Two-Day Workshops 2013-2014 at Mala‘ai Culinary Garden or other sites from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Lunch will be provided.

Total Credit Hours, June 2013-June 2014:
Summer Intensive Year One contact hours: 48
School year weekend contact hours (three 2-day weekends): 48
Summer Year Two contact hours: 8
Lesson Observation hours: 12
Observations/Reflections at School Gardens and Site Consultations: 6
Action Research and praxis (reading, research, writing): 68
Total: 190 credit hours