Education | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

May 6, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Education in Hawaiʻi

Before the foreigners arrived, Hawaiians had a vocational learning system, where everyone was taught a certain skill by the kahuna. Skills taught included canoe builder, medicine men, genealogists, navigators, farmers, house builders and priests.

The arrival of the first company of American missionaries in Hawaiʻi in 1820 marked the beginning of Hawaiʻiʻi’s phenomenal rise to literacy. The missionaries were the teachers and the chiefs became proponents for education and edicts were enacted by the King and the council of chiefs to stimulate the people to reading and writing.

By 1831, in just eleven years from the first arrival of the missionaries, Hawaiians had built 1,103 schoolhouses. This covered every district throughout the eight major islands and serviced an estimated 52,882 students. (Laimana)

The proliferation of schoolhouses was augmented by the printing of 140,000 copies of the pīʻāpā (elementary Hawaiian spelling book) by 1829 and the staffing of the schools with 1,000-plus Hawaiian teachers. (Laimana)

The word pīʻāpā is said to have been derived from the method of teaching Hawaiians to begin the alphabet “b, a, ba.” The Hawaiians pronounced “b” like “p” and said “pī ʻā pā.” (Pukui)

In 1831, Lahainaluna Seminary, started by missionary Lorrin Andrews, was created in Maui to be a school for teachers and preachers so that they could teach on the islands. The islands’ first newspaper, Ka Lama Hawaii, was printed at this school.

Hilo Boarding School opened in 1836, built by missionary David Lyman, a missionary. Eight boys lived there the first year. This school was so successful a girls’ boarding school was created in 1838.

Oʻahu’s first school was called the Chiefs’ Children’s School (Royal School.) The cornerstone of the original school was laid on June 28, 1839 in the area of the old barracks of ʻIolani Palace (at about the site of the present State Capitol of Hawaiʻi.)

The school was created by King Kamehameha III, and at his request was run by missionaries Mr. and Mrs. Amos S. Cooke; the main goal of this school was to groom the next generation of the highest ranking chief’s children of the realm and secure their positions for Hawaiʻi’s Kingdom.

The Chiefs’ Children’s School was unique because for the first time Aliʻi children were brought together in a group to be taught, ostensibly, about the ways of governance. The School also acted as another important unifying force among the ruling elite, instilling in their children common principles, attitudes and values, as well as a shared vision.

Kamehameha III called for a highly-organized educational system; the Constitution of 1840 helped Hawaiʻi public schools become reorganized.

William Richards, a missionary, helped start the reorganization, and was later replaced by missionary Richard Armstrong. Richard Armstrong is known as the “the father of American education in Hawaiʻi.”

“Statute for the Regulation of Schools” passed by the King and chiefs on October 15, 1840. Its preamble stated, “The basis on which the Kingdom rests is wisdom and knowledge. Peace and prosperity cannot prevail in the land, unless the people are taught in letters and in that which constitutes prosperity. If the children are not taught, ignorance must be perpetual, and children of the chiefs cannot prosper, nor any other children”.

The creation of the Common Schools (where the 3 Rs were taught) marks the beginning of the government’s involvement in education in Hawaiʻi. At first, the schools were no more than grass huts.

Armstrong helped bring better textbooks, qualified teachers and better school buildings. Students were taught in Hawaiian how to read, write, math, geography, singing and to be “God-fearing” citizens. (By 1863, three years after Armstrong’s death, the missionaries stopped being a part of Hawaiʻi’s education system.)

The 1840 educational law mandated compulsory attendance for children ages four to fourteen. Any village that had fifteen or more school-age children was required to provide a school for their students.

Oʻahu College, later named Punahou School, was founded in 1841 on land given to missionary Hiram Bingham by Boki (at the request of Kaʻahumanu.) Bingham gave the land to the mission for the school.

By 1832, the literacy rate of Hawaiians (at the time was 78 percent) had surpassed that of Americans on the continent. The literacy rate of the adult Hawaiian population skyrocketed from near zero in 1820 to a conservative estimate of 91 percent – and perhaps as high as 95 percent – by 1834. (Laimana)

From 1820 to 1832, in which Hawaiian literacy grew by 91 percent, the literacy rate on the US continent grew by only 6 percent and did not exceed the 90 percent level until 1902 – three hundred years after the first settlers landed in Jamestown. By way of comparison, it is significant that overall European literacy rates in 1850 had not risen much above 50 percent. (Laimana)

The government-sponsored education system in Hawaiʻi is the longest running public school system west of the Mississippi River. To this day, Hawaiʻi is the only state to have a completely-centralized State public school system.

For more on this, click the link: Education in Hawaii.

July 30, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Missionaries Lay The Foundation for a System of Public Instruction

Merze Tate, Professor of History at Howard University, wrote a 1961 article titled, The Sandwich Island Missionaries Lay the Foundation for a system of Public Education in Hawaii. The following is taken from that article.

“Aside from conversions, one of the most notable achievements of the Congregational and Presbyterian missionaries sent to the Sandwich Islands under the auspices of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was the development of an educational system for the nation.”

“A broad enlightenment program for the islanders depended upon instruction in the indigenous tongue and this, of necessity, was delayed until the pioneer teachers had learned the language and reduced it to a written form. Nevertheless, before the evangelists were well settled at [Kailua-Kona], on Hawaii, and Honolulu and Waimea, on Oahu, they made a start in English.”

“The missionaries reasoned that if the masses were to be made literate within a reasonable period they would have to be taught in their own tongue.” (Merze Tate)

The cycle of missionary educational endeavor divides itself roughly into three periods: first was a decade of establishment and experimentation, lasting from 1820 to about 1831. Here the language was reduced to a written form, teaching materials were printed and adults learned the rudiments of reading and writing.

The second period, from 1831 to 1840 was characterized by a shift from adult to child education. By improvement in training teachers to teach.

Finally, the following two decades where the missionaries gradually relinquished their control of educational activities; this saw the establishment of public education under governmental control in 1840, and lasted to 1863 when the ABCFM ended the mission in Hawai‘i. (Whist)

“After the first printed sheets came from the press in the Hawaiian language, on January 7, 1822, and all were able to see their own words in print, learning to read, write, and spell was comparatively easy”.

“After the chiefs beheld their language in print they began to manifest a more lively interest in education for themselves and for their children and in the establishment and maintenance of schools for their people.”

“After the public advocacy of instruction by the highest chiefs, in April 1824, similar action came from all parts of the kingdom. Learning also received a great impulse from the personal tours of the vigorous Kaahumanu, who went all through the islands commanding the people to listen to the Kumus, or missionary teachers, and the chiefs to provide facilities for schools.”

“Because of the lack of paper and slates, writing was taught only to a very limited extent, and arithmetic hardly at all until an eight-page pamphlet on the subject was published at the beginning of 1828.”

“By 1825 the people stood waiting for instruction while the missionaries were endeavoring to bring out a new supply of spelling books, which would make possible the doubling of the number of schools.”

“Between April 1 and October 15, 1825, the mission station on Oahu distributed 16,000 copies of their Elementary Lessons [Pi-a-pa], nearly all of which were used in schools. Outside these, however, there were multitudes anxious to learn but could not be furnished with competent teachers or palapala.”

“Men and women as well as children, requested enrollment in the first schools and eagerly sought the materials of instruction by bringing at different times in the course of the season sugar cane, taro, a bunch of bananas, a fowl, or a kid, a bundle of sticks for firewood, a ball of native cord, or the offer of some kind of work to exchange for a spelling book.”

“Obviously, the few missionaries in Hawaii could not, in addition to their primary evangelical duties, personally instruct the multitude of pupils seeking education or give adequate supervision to numerous schools scattered throughout the islands.”

“It was necessary to utilize the services of Hawaiian teachers. For the periodic inspection of the numerous schools two methods were used: quarterly examination (hoike) of as many as possible of the pupils of a whole district in a convenient place, and tours throughout a district or about an island by one or more missionaries or Hawaiians appointed for that purpose.”

“The first method, however, stimulated community interest, made the youth more eager in their pursuit of the new learning, and became gala occasions, ending in a feast.”

“The evangelists’ initial educational work, despite its limitations, produced important and enduring results and laid the foundation upon which they were able to intensify their educational efforts and to establish permanent educational monuments in the 1830’s.”

“There was continued increase in the number of people receiving instruction. In 1828, 37,000 were in school, while two years later the number stood at 41,283, with 20,000 scholars on Hawaii, 10,385 or Maui, 6,398 on Oahu, and about 4,500 on Kauai.”

“The following year there were 1,100 common schools in operation with a pupil enrollment of 52,000. By the close of that year the Pi-a-pa had gone through nine editions to place a total of 190,000 copies in circulation.”

“However, at times during this period of educational expansion schools in some districts were practically deserted for work on the land or in collecting sandalwood in the forests.”

“After the heaviest pressure of adult education was over, the missionaries, realizing that the hope of the nation lay in its children, gave more attention to teaching youngsters.”

“The first school built exclusively for Hawaiian children met in 1832 in a large, badly constructed, unfurnished building which used adobe bricks for seats and desks, and had no glass windows. But even this ‘step in the ladder of progress’ was demolished in an autumn storm.”

“The Sandwich Islands Mission, in June 1831, however, resolved to establish a high school to ‘instruct men of peity and promising talents’ in order that they might become assistant teachers.”

“The school, with Rev. Lorrin Andrews as principal and sole instructor, was delightfully located at Lahainaluna, or Upper Lahaina, on a high elevation about two miles back from the port of Lahaina, on Maui. Governor Hoopili made a grant of land of one thousand acres, which concession was later confirmed by King Kamehameha III.”

“Although started as an experiment to qualify Hawaiian teachers in ‘the best methods of communicating instruction to others,’ the first twenty-five students had already taught and had had some training at the mission stations. Moreover, almost all were married men who brought their wives with them.”

“In 1833, the missionaries resolved to initiate a manual labor system in connection with the studies at the high school and in the following year decided to enlarge and put the institution on a permanent basis/”

“From Lahainaluna, on February 14, 1834, was issued the first Hawaiian newspaper, in fact the first paper west of the Rocky Mountains in the North Pacific, Ka Lama Hawaii, or Hawaiian Luminary, which contained miscellaneous instruction for the school.”

“In addition to Lahainaluna, several other educational institutions were established during the decade of the 1830’s.”

“In 1839, at the request of the chiefs, a family or boarding school was opened in Honolulu for the education of their children [Chiefs’ Children’s School, Royal School]. That these young chiefs should be in school under systematic instruction was considered of immense importance, both for their and the Hawaiian kingdom’s welfare and future.”

“The old chiefs were rapidly disappearing and if their heirs were to fill their places, they must be well prepared. They must either acquire a good education or become extinct as chiefs.”

“Up to 1840, when the mission surrendered the administration of the common schools to the government, the major share of the responsibility for the education of Hawaiian youth was in the hands of the American Protestant missionaries.”

“After that date, as we have seen, they established and continued to operate more select and boarding schools for an increasing number of Hawaiians who were able to pay something toward the education of their children.”

“The station and boarding schools for native Hawaiians which the missionaries founded were their pride, their joy, their hope, and their stronghold of the nation.”

“Through their instrumentality the evangelists expected to raise and influence an intelligent and somewhat educated people, and in this aspiration they were not disappointed.”

“Initially, the Sandwich Islands Mission – for both humanitarian and selfish reasons – resisted the proposal to make English the language of the nation and to teach the subject in all the mission schools.” (Merze Tate)

In a letter to the Sandwich Island Mission, Rufus Anderson, corresponding secretary for the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mission (ABCFM) in Boston, wrote on April 10, 1846: “I trust you will not fall in with the notion, which I am told is favored by some one at least in the government, of introducing the English language, to take the place of the Hawaiian.”

“I cannot suppose there is a design to bring the Saxon race in to supplant the native, but nothing would be more sure to accomplish this result, and that speedily.” (Hawaiian Language Policy and the Courts, Lucas)

The arrival of the first company of American missionaries in Hawaiʻi in 1820 marked the beginning of Hawaiʻi’s phenomenal rise to literacy. The chiefs became proponents for education and edicts were enacted by the King and the council of chiefs to stimulate the people to reading and writing.

John Laimana tells us that by 1831, in just eleven years from the first arrival of the missionaries, Hawaiians had built 1,103 schoolhouses. This covered every district throughout the eight major Islands and serviced an estimated 52,882 students.

The proliferation of schoolhouses was augmented by the printing of 140,000 copies of the pī-ʻāpā (elementary Hawaiian spelling book) by 1829 and the staffing of the schools with 1,000-plus Hawaiian teachers.

By 1832, the literacy rate of Hawaiians (at the time was 78 percent) had surpassed that of Americans on the continent. The literacy rate of the adult Hawaiian population skyrocketed from near zero in 1820 to a conservative estimate of 91-percent – and perhaps as high as 95-percent – by 1834. (Laimana)

Missionary Hiram Bingham stated that the rise in literacy and education, “was like laying a corner stone of an important edifice for the nation.”

“This legendary rise in literacy climbed from a near-zero literacy rate in 1820, to between 91 to 95 percent by 1834. That’s only twelve years from the time the first book was printed!” (KSBE)

“The Missionaries have been the fathers, the builders and the supporters of education in these Islands”. (Lee, December 2, 1847, Privy Council Minutes)

“Thus we may conclude that the educational work of the Sandwich Islands Mission was of incalculable value in disseminating knowledge to all classes of people, in the kingdom, in planting and nurturing religious concepts and some of the better features of western civilization, and in laying the foundation for a system of public instruction”. (Merze Tate)

April 27, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Niʻihau School

Enrollment in Hawaiʻi’s public schools (295-Hawaiʻi State Department of Education (DOE) schools (including 37-Charter schools)) is counted as 167,649 for the 2023-24 school year (about 12,400 of these are in Charter schools.)

The largest public schools (all K-12) are Campbell High (2,875,) Waipahu High (2,516,) Mililani High (2,432,) Farrington (2,072) and Moanalua (1933.) The smallest include, Maunaloa Elementary (43), the Hawaii School for the Deaf and the Blind (52), Kilohana Elementary (79) and Keolu Elementary (91)

Niʻihau High and Elementary School (K-12) is the smallest public school in the state; according to a Hawaii Department of Education report its 2023-24 enrollment was 20-students (twice the number they had 10-years ago).

Ni‘ihau School is near the village of Puʻuwai on the Island of Niʻihau and consists of three classroom buildings and a combination cafeteria and meeting hall.

Enrollment at the school fluctuates as children travel to and from Kauai for several weeks at a time. Students are first taught in English. Niʻihau High and Elementary (grades K-12) primary focus is on improving reading and math skills of students. (DOE)

Elective classes include chorus, drawing and painting, Hawaiian arts and crafts, Hawaiian dance, keyboarding, music appreciation, Polynesian music, ukulele and a writing workshop.

Students at Niʻihau School excel in the area of fine arts, particularly chorus and ukulele. The expression of the arts is evident in community celebrations such as Family Literacy Day and graduation. (DOE)

A photovoltaic-cell system was installed at the school during the summer of 2007; this enabled reliable refrigeration and use of technological hardware.

The 2020 Census noted that the total population on Niʻihau was 84-people; there were 18-housing units. (2020 Decennial Census)

Ni‘ihau is approximately 70-square miles or 44,800-acres. It’s about 17-miles west of Kauaʻi. The island’s highest point is 1,281-feet; approximately 78% of the island is below 500-feet in elevation. Located inside Kauai’s rain shadow, Ni‘ihau receives only about 20 to 40-inches of rain per year. Ni‘ihau has no perennial streams. (DLNR)

“There was no appearance of any running stream; and though they found some small wells, in which the fresh water was tolerably good, it seemed scarce.”

“The habitations of the natives were thinly scattered about; and, it was supposed, that there could not be more than five hundred people upon the island, as the greatest part were seen at the marketing-place of our party, and few found about the houses by those who walked up the country.” (Cook’s Journal)

With limited rainfall and no perennial streams, for people to survive on the island, they likely farmed ʻuala (sweet potato) and/or uhi (yams.) The evidence indicates Niʻihau produced excellent ʻuala and/or uhi.

“The eastern coast is high, and rises abruptly from the sea, but the rest of the island consists of low ground; excepting a round bluff head on the southeast point. It produces abundance of yams, and of the sweet root called Tee … they brought us several large roots of a brown colour, shaped like a yam, and from six to ten pounds in weight.”

“The juice, which it yields in great abundance, is very sweet, and of a pleasant taste, and was found to be an excellent substitute for sugar. The natives are very fond of it, and use it as an article of their common diet … We could not learn to what species of plant it belonged, having never been able to procure the leaves ….” (Cook’s Journal)

For many years Niʻihau was called Yam Island by Western sailors because of the high quality of yams grown there. A map of Yam Bay and the island of Niʻihau appeared in Captain George Dixon’s journal in 1788. (Joesting)

So, while the island has limited rainfall, it was sufficient to grow food and sustain a population of around 500 (according to Cook.) Niʻihau had a population of 790 people in 1853. The census of 1860 reported a Niʻihau population of 647.

In the Māhele (1848,) Victoria Kamāmalu (sister of Kamehameha IV and V) claimed Niʻihau, however returned it and the land was retained by the government. A couple Land Commission Awards were made to Koakanu, as well as a sale to Papapa.

In 1863, King Kamehameha IV offered to sell the island of Niʻihau to the Sinclair family. (Joesting) A final purchase price of $10,000 was agreed upon. (Later, the family includes the Sinclairs, Gays, Robinsons and Knudsens.)

“The whole island is now owned by a Presbyterian family of Scotch origin, who received me very kindly, & who will assist our work there very materially & very heartily. The native population now remaining there is about 250 in number.” (Gulick to Anderson ABCFM (1865,) (Joesting)

“It is said that the transfer of the island involved some hardships, owing to a number of the natives having neglected to legalize their claims to their kuleanas, but the present possessors have made themselves thoroughly acquainted with the language, and take the warmest interest in the island population.” (Isabella Bird, 1894)

The Sinclairs “bought sheep and cattle from the big ranches on Hawaii, and took them, with some fine sheep (they) brought with (them) from New Zealand, (began a) new ranch on Niihau.” (Von Holt) They hired the Hawaiians to help with the ranch and the island.

“The natives on Niihau and in this part of Kauai, call Mrs. (Sinclair) “Mama.” Their rent seems to consist in giving one or more days’ service in a month, so it is a revival of the old feudality. … It is a busy life, owing to the large number of natives daily employed, and the necessity of looking after the native lunas, or overseers.” (Isabella Bird, 1894)

Today, Niʻihau has about 84-people who live at Pu‘uwai village, on the western (leeward) side of the island. Niʻihau is nicknamed the “Forbidden Island,” because the Robinsons (present owners and descendants of the original Sinclairs) strictly limit access to the island.

The island lacks basic municipal infrastructure. There are no paved roads (walking, horseback or bicycle are the only transportation options on Ni‘ihau.) No water and wastewater systems. No stores. No restaurants. No doctors. No police. No fire department. (But it has the only school in the State – and perhaps the only one in the country – powered by photovoltaic.)

October 16, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Writing An Oral Language

When Captain Cook first visited the Hawaiian Islands, Hawaiian was a spoken language but not a written language. Historical accounts were passed down orally, through chants and songs.

After western contact and attempts to write about Hawaii, early writers tried to spell words based on the sound of the words they heard. People heard words differently, so it was not uncommon for words to be spelled differently, depending on the writer.

The planning for the formal written Hawaiian language in the early part of the nineteenth century was started by the American Protestant missionaries who arrived in Hawai‘i, starting in 1820.

A committee of some of these missionaries (Hiram Bingham, C. S. Stewart and Levi Chamberlain) worked on the development of the Hawaiian alphabet. (Hiram was my great-great-great grandfather)

Bingham noted, “To make the spelling and reading of the language easy to the people, and convenient to all who use it, was a matter of great importance, almost indispensable to our success in raising the nation.”

“It was, therefore, a part of our task to secure to the people a perfect alphabet, literal or syllabic, of all the sounds which were then in use, and which would need soon to come into use in the progress of the nation.”

“Those who had attempted to write the names of places and persons in the islands, had materially failed, even in the most plain and common. No foreigner or native, at the islands, could illustrate or explain the peculiarities and intricacies of the language.”

“[W] we found the dialect in use by foreigners often materially misled us, so that none could be trusted as to accuracy; and it required time to detect and unlearn errors.”

“In the oft recurring names of the principal island, the largest village, and of the king of the leeward islands, ‘Owhyhee’ [Hawai‘i], ‘Hanaroorah’ [Honolulu] and ‘Tamoree’ [Kaumuali‘i], scarcely the sound of a single syllable was correctly expressed, either in writing or speaking, by voyagers or foreign residents.”

“Had we, therefore, followed the orthography of voyagers, or in adopting an alphabet, made a single vowel stand for as many sounds as in English, and several different vowels for the same sound, and given the consonants the ambiguity of our c, s, t, ch, gh, & c …”

“… it would have been extremely difficult, if not impracticable to induce the nation to become readers, in the course of a whole generation, even if we had been furnished with ample funds to sustain in boarding-schools, all who would devote their time and labor to study.” (Bignham)

On July 14, 1826, the committee prepared a final report to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions titled “Report of the committee of health on the state of the Hawaiian language.” The report is signed by Hiram Bingham and Levi Chamberlain.

“Aiming to avoid an ambiguous, erroneous, and inconvenient orthography, to assign to every character one certain sound, and thus represent with ease and exactness the true pronunciation of the Hawaiian language, the following five vowels and seven consonants have been adopted: a, e, i, o, u, h, k, I, m, n, p, w.”

“These twelve letters, and possibly eleven, omitting either u or w, will express every sound in the pure Hawaiian dialect. The power of the vowels may be thus represented: – a, as a in the English words art, father; e, as a in pale, or ey in they; i, as ee or i in machine – o, as o in no; u, as oo in too. They are called so as to express their power by their names – Ah, A, He, O, Oo.”

“The consonants are in like manner called by such simple names as to suggest their power, thus, following the sound of the vowels as above – He, Ke, La, Mu, Nu, Pi, We.”

“The following appeared sometimes to be interchangeable: b and p, k and t, l and r, v and w, and even the sound of d, it was thought by some, was used in some cases where others used k, l, r, or t. For purely native words, however, k, l, p, and w were preferred.”

“The slight variation in quantity, though not in quality, of sound in the vowels requires no mark of distinction, any more than in the variation of the sound of a in the English words art and father. Here the quantity may differ slightly though it is not necessary to put a distinctive mark, or make a different character.”

“In the few dipthongal combinations ae, ai, ao, and au, whether more close or more open, each letter retains its original mono-sound. A-i, when sounded in quick succession, resemble the sound of the English pronoun I, and a~u, in quick succession, the sound of the English on in loud; so the Hawaiian word Jiau (hibiscus) resembles the full, round, English interrogative how.”

“In the name of the island, second in size in the group, whether pronounced Mau-i or Ma-u-i, there is no such difference as to cause a mistake in a native hearer.”

“Consonants are not doubled, and never end a word or syllable.”

“Double or triple vowels are never used to express a single sound, and where they occur, are sounded separately, as a-a, e-e, i-i y o-o, u-u. The accent being generally on the former, the latter is a sort of echo, as in the name Ha’-a-li-li-o’, but sometimes the reverse, as Ka-a’-hu-ma’-nu.”

“The convenience of such an alphabet for the Hawaiian language, undisturbed by foreign words, is very obvious, because we can express with simplicity, ease, and certainty, those names and phrases with the sound of which former voyagers were utterly unable to make us acquainted by English orthography.”

“Though it were possible to spell them with our English alphabet it would still be inconvenient. A few names may illustrate the reasons for our new orthography.” (Bingham)

One of the examples Bingham uses is the spelling (and pronunciation) of the chain’s main northern Island. There continues to be discrepancy in how it is spelled and pronounced; but Bingham makes it pretty simple – Kauai is pronounced ‘Cow-eye’ or ‘Kau ai’. (Bingham)

As Bingham concludes, “It could hardly be possible to write any language in the world with a more simple or limited alphabet, and at the same time equally intelligible to the children who use it.”

“A syllabic alphabet of ninety-five characters would have been tolerably convenient for all native words, but not so simple or convenient as the alphabet adopted.” (Bingham)

The Hawaiian language uses two special diacritical marks. The kahakō (‘macron’ consisting of a horizontal line over the vowel) lengthens the pronunciation of the vowel on which it is placed. The ‘okina ( ʻ – glottal stop) signifies a clean break between two vowels.

Planning for the written Hawaiian language and development by the missionaries was modeled after the spoken language, attempting to represent the spoken Hawaiian sounds with English letters.

Interestingly, these same early missionaries taught their lessons in Hawaiian, rather than English. In part, the mission did not want to create a separate caste and portion of the community as English-speaking Hawaiians. In later years, the instruction, ultimately, was in English.

The alphabet of 1826 has stood the test of time.

(Here’s a handy link to translate Hawaiian words: https://wehewehe.org/gsdl2.85/cgi-bin/hdict?l=en)

(Another side note … If using Word and you don’t have Hawaiian fonts, you can find the ʻokina and kahakō in Word by using the “Insert” (typically top/left in the tool bar,) then “Symbol” (typically far right,) then “More Symbols.”)

(We use Character code 02BB from Unicode (hex) for the ʻokina and Character code 0304 from Unicode (hex) for the kahakō. Word allows you to create shortcut keys by assigning keys for repeated use. We use Ctrl ~ for the ʻokina and Alt ~ for the kahakō.)

November 20, 2022 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Vocational Training

100 years ago, a 1920 ‘A Survey of Education in Hawaii’ addressed the Islands occupational needs and opportunities – the implementation of manual labor and vocational training was strongly suggested for Hawai‘i. The 1920 report concluded,

“From the foregoing analysis of the occupational needs and opportunities of the islands it is clear that a course of school study and training which is limited to the usual academic subjects would ignore almost entirely the very heart of the life and work of the islands. …”

“Nevertheless, outside of teaching, the islands offer comparatively few opportunities in the professions; therefore, the great mass of the children and young people now in the schools, if they are to become stable, self-supporting, worthy members of society must find their opportunities either in agriculture itself or in occupations directly related to agricultural enterprises. …”

“It should be required that every boy and girl going through school, no matter where headed, should spend some time each day on the farm in gaining through actual experience a firsthand knowledge of what it means to farm in Hawaii in a practical way. …”

“In connection with the public-school system of the islands there is no work in manual training, cooking, agriculture, industries, music, art, or in vocational activities beyond the meagerest beginnings. An exception to this statement, however, should be pointed out, in that many of the schools have accomplished satisfactory results in developing school gardens and also in encouraging the making of gardens in the homes. …”

“On account, therefore, of inadequate maintenance funds at the command of the educational authorities of the Territory, all those activities which are now generally accepted as being necessary parts of an all-round effective education have been impossible of accomplishment, and in this respect, again, as compared with progressive mainland communities, the educational authorities of the islands are badly handicapped.” (p. 45)

The term manual and industrial education refers to either the manual labor system and/or manual training system in vogue during the 19th century. Charles Bennett coined this term. (Beyer)

“If the term ‘manual training’ seems abrasive to the contemporary reader, it’s understandable. However, at the turn of the century, the term may not have had the connotation of semi-skilled, hard physical labor that it does at present.” (Broadbent)

Manual and industrial education emphasized a curriculum where learning was accomplished by both the hands and the mind. After becoming institutionalized in Europe, it next took root in the United States.

Since the primary sponsors of Western education for Hawaiians were either American Protestant missionaries or their children, who usually returned to the U.S. for their college education, it is apparent that Hawaiian education had an American influence. (Beyer)

Vocational education means “organized educational programs offering a sequence of courses which are directly related to the preparation of individuals in paid or unpaid employment in current or emerging occupations requiring other than a baccalaureate or advanced degree.” (Perkins Act 1990)

The Core of Traditional Native Hawaiian Education was Based on Vocation (that Included Appropriate Protocols)

“The ideals of Hawaiian education are the same throughout its many fields, from what Westerners would consider the most utilitarian to the most intellectual or religious.”

“Indeed, the utilitarian were considered ‘oihana ‘ike ‘professions of knowledge’, and the intellectual and religious always had a practical purpose. As in much Asian philosophy and religion, knowledge should lead to wisdom, competence, service for others, health, long life, and so on.” (Charlot)

Practicality or usefulness is a high ideal of Hawaiian education that is applied to all branches of learning. Knowledge and activity should have a waiwai ‘virtue, value, or benefit’. These ideas continued into post contact times. (Charlot)

Before the foreigners arrived, Hawaiians had a traditional vocational learning system, where everyone was taught a certain skill by the kahuna. Skills taught included canoe builder, medicine men, genealogists, navigators, farmers, house builders, priests, etc.

Learning was accompanied by prayers, kapus, rules, and regulations: Ma na oihana hana a pau o Hawaii nei, ua aoia me ke kapu wale no ‘In all the work occupations of Hawai‘i, they were taught only with the kapu’.

The student had to follow the kānāwai ‘laws’ of learning to achieve effective knowledge, especially in such fields as sorcery, but also in spear throwing, boxing, and wrestling. Laws had to be followed also in the practice of professions such as fishing, tapa making, and house building.

Joseph Emerson states that canoe making “became a religious rite all through.” Hula and other kinds of training demanded sexual abstinence. Kamakau (February 10, 1870) describes the strict kapus enjoined while educating children from chiefly, priestly, or professional families. Education was provided in temples for some occupations. (Charlot)

Post-Contact (after James Cook arrived (1778)), The King and Chiefs Sought Education in Western Vocational Skills

Post contact, this idea of functional education addressing specific skills is exemplified in a letter 15 Chiefs (including King Kamehameha III) signed on August 23, 1836, asking the missionaries to send more teachers. The Chiefs’ focus was on teachers to teach specific vocational skills. The letter (initially prepared and signed in Hawaiian is translated below):

“Regards to you, our friends in America,”

“Here is our hope for the improvement of the lands here in Hawaii. Give us more instructors like those you have in your land, America. These are the kinds of instructors we are considering: A carpenter, A tailor, A house builder, A cobbler, A wheelwright, A paper maker, A maker of lead printing type, Farmers who know the planting and care of cotton and silk, and sugar refining. A maker of fabric, and carts suitable for heavy work.”

“A teacher for the chiefs in matters of land, comparable to what is done in enlightened lands. And if there are other things appropriate for those endeavors, those as well.”

“If you agree and send these teachers, we will protect them when they arrive, provide the necessities to make their professions viable and give our support to these needed endeavors.”

(The letter is signed by 15-chiefs, including Kauikeaouli (King Kamehameha III.) Na Kauikeaouli, Nahiʻenaʻena, Na Hoapili Kane, Na Malia Hoapili (Hoapili Wahine?). Gov Adams (Kuakini), Na Kaahumanu 2 (Kīnaʻu), Kekāuluohi, Paki, Liliha, ʻAikanaka, Leleiōhoku, Kekūanāoʻa, Kanaʻina, Kekauōnohi and Keliʻiahonui” (Awaiaulu MHM Project 2016)

While missionaries with various skill sets had been in the islands since 1820, this letter identifies the kingdom’s need for teachers in new fields of industry and business.

Shortly after, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) sent the largest company of missionaries to the Islands; including a large number of teachers (19, including their wives). The Eighth Company arrived at Honolulu on April 9, 1837 on the Mary Frasier from Boston.

Manual Labor and Vocational Education in Hawai‘i

When the missionaries established schools and seminaries (i.e. the female seminaries, as well as Lahainaluna, Hilo Boarding School, Punahou,) the focus was educating the head, heart and hand.

In addition to the rigorous academic drills (Head), the schools provided religious/moral (Heart) and manual labor/vocational (Hand) training.

Post contact but prior to the arrival of the missionaries (1820), “no one bothered to create a formal school system that would teach the natives any of the skills they would need to compete in the international arena. Then, the missionaries came along.” (Broadbent)

The missionary educators in Hawai‘i began to use manual and industrial education in the 1830s as one of several curricular alternatives; after mid-century, they began to steer all of the schools they controlled or influenced towards some form of this educational system. “One of the first vocations to be taught was printing. The printed word was considered essential”. (Broadbent)

By the early years of the 20th century, manual labor/vocational training was the preferred curriculum in both the private and public schools of Hawai‘i. As a result, in terms of length of time and continuity, it was more preponderant than what was practiced in the US. (Beyer)

Lahainaluna was designed first, “to instruct young men that they may become assistant teachers of religion;” second, “to disseminate sound knowledge embracing literature and science;” third, to qualify native school teachers for their respective duties; fourth, “it is designated that a piece of land shall be connected with the institution and the manual labor system introduced as far as practicable.” (Westervelt)

Reverend William Brewster Oleson was hired from the Hilo Boarding School to become the first principal of the Kamehameha School for Boys. Hilo Boarding school was the first manual labor type school in the Pacific. It instituted a program of rural education based on the idea of learning by doing. (Moe) Oleson brought that philosophy and program to Kamehameha.

While the manual labor system involved the inclusion of working with the hands as part of the curriculum, the manual training system involved instruction of the hands through the specific use of tools. (Beyer)

Later, shortly after the University of Hawaiʻi started (1907,) short courses or ‘special lectures’ of education of “less than college grade” were offered in agriculture as ‘extension’ work.

Nationally, the Cooperative Extension Service was created in 1914 with the passage of the Smith-Lever Act (but it excluded Hawaiʻi.) UH developed its own version of an extension program, which was the basis of a successful appeal to Congress after several years of struggle for Hawai‘i’s inclusion in the Act in November 1928. (CTAHR)

Following adoption of the Smith-Hughes Act, 1917, two types of full-time day classes in vocational agriculture were organized in Hawaiʻi. ‘Type A’ classes (primarily for upper elementary and intermediate grades) are those in which pupils spend approximately half of their school time in the classroom where they receive Instruction in English, mathematics, hygiene, geography, vocational agriculture and other subjects.

The remaining time was spent in the field where the pupils do all of the work on a class project in sugar cane or in pineapple production. Field work was closely supervised by the teacher of vocational agriculture, but all money earned was divided among the boys in proportion to the time they work. They also had a home project.

Under the ‘Type B’ plan (typically for high school students,) pupils did not use a portion of the school time for field work. Practical experience was gained through extensive home project programs. Classroom instruction in agriculture is under the teacher of vocational agriculture, but academic subjects were taken with other pupils of the school under regular teachers of these subjects.

Some schools incorporated the program into their curriculum. Then, the 1967 session of the 4th Hawaii State Legislature resolved that “it is of great urgency to the citizens of this State, adults as well as youths, that there be developed a comprehensive state master plan for vocational education.” A ‘State Master Plan for Vocational Education’ was prepared the next year.

Occupational Needs and Opportunities of the Hawaiian Islands

The 1920 Survey of Education in Hawaii and note that the Commissioner of Education was considering/ implementing manual labor/ vocational training in the schools in Hawai‘i. Of note, the Commissioner of Education’s Survey stated,

“It must be clear that the vocational needs as well as the vocational opportunities of the islands are in large part connected directly or indirectly with the sugar industry, and in a less degree with pineapple growing.”

“Obviously, the educational system of Hawaii must take into account the specific opportunities for employment which the sugar industry affords in all its phases. It is pertinent, therefore, to inquire about the nature of the occupational opportunities which this great industry offers and the qualifications required for success therein.” (p. 32)

The 1920 report goes on to conclude,

“Such a course, beyond that general preparation through securing literacy which an academic course gives, would in nowise minister in any practical way either to the success of the individual in his attempts to find a vocation to which he is adapted and in which he would derive satisfaction, or to the needs of the industries themselves.”

“The schools of Hawaii must see to it that all the children of the islands shall grow up to be literate men and women, and to accomplish this the core of the work of the schools, as of schools wherever placed, must consist of academic studies of the usual type.”

“Furthermore, the schools must see to it that the way is open at the top so that those pupils developing an aptitude for teaching, for law, for medicine, for research work, for linguistics, for the ministry, for journalism, shall secure that broad educational foundation which success in such highly specialized professions demands. …”

“Aside, then, from the core of work running throughout the entire system from the kindergarten to the university which should properly make for literacy, for culture, for general information, for catholicity of view and of interest, the school, at every step of the way, should be laying a foundation for occupational success.”

“The elementary school in this connection, for example, should be devoting much attention to training in the various forms of handwork, manual work, cooking, simple sewing, the making of beds, and the care of the house, [When I was a kid, a lot of those we called ‘chores’ in our house.] the making of school and home gardens, the organizing of pig clubs and poultry clubs, and in the use of tools through making simple repairs and through making articles for use in the home.”

“Every junior and senior high school in the Territory should have near by a well-stocked farm in charge of a practical, progressive, scientific farmer and his wife who herself should be an expert in all those matters properly falling within the field of the duties of a housewife on a farm. …”

“In the classrooms of these schools, a portion of the time could well be devoted to a discussion of those theoretical and scientific considerations which lie back of the problems which naturally grow out of the activities of the farm.”

“The university, aside from offering courses on the campus at Honolulu in applied arts and sciences, could well have a branch set down in one of the islands among the plantations, where the university could send its young men who are looking forward to plantation service in a directive capacity.”

“At such a branch opportunity should be provided whereby a capable young man might spend one-half his time in actual field service and the other half in the college branch working under the direction of persons trained in plantation science. A training of such character, both scientific and practical would offer a satisfactory career to one who wishes to make preparation for it.” (p. 34-36)

The 1920 Survey further called for “for lengthening the school day to seven or eight hours, thereby making it possible effectively to organize agricultural, industrial, manual, and play activities for those children whose parents work in the fields and who but for such opportunities might be running the streets or roads.” (p. 142)

Manual Labor and Vocational Education on the Continent

What was happening at schools in Hawai‘i was consistent with what was happening at schools on the continent.

The rise of the American Education Society in 1815 helped promote the use of manual labor among the theological seminaries. Up to 1829, the most successful manual labor experiment was the one at the Andover Theological Seminary at Andover, Massachusetts. Its voluntary program based upon mechanical labor became the model for other seminaries. In many other schools, it was largely agricultural, and, in the most successful schools, it was compulsory. (Beyer)

The purpose was to help three classes of young men: the “worthy poor” who wanted an education; the “idle well-to-do” who needed proper motives to industry to keep them from dissipation; and the “especially talented” students who needed exercise for the good of their health. (Beyer)

In less than 10 years manual labor became a force as an educational movement. In certain schools, it left a type of work, which grew and became permanent. “In Fellenberg’s academy for the upper classes of society, manual labor was used as a means of physical training. In Fellenberg’s farm and trade school, manual labor was a means of paying for instruction and living expenses.” (Beyer)

“Perhaps the best expression of the need for educating students, who were inclined to favor technical subjects, can be found in the Fourth Biennial Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1870-1875, produced in California.”

“The State Superintendent wrote ‘We shall be a poor and dependent people so long as we import from abroad all of those articles of consumption which require the highest order of skilled labor in their manufacture….’” (Broadbent)

“[T]he history of Vocational Education in the United States can be traced back to 1906 with the creation of the National Society for the Promotion of Industrial Education. … The National Society for the Promotion of Industrial Education had as its two basic purposes the education of the lay population relative to the need for industrial education and the necessity of obtaining federal funding to support this effort.” (Broadbent)

The Need Continues to Be Evident

In Hawai‘i and on the continent (then and now), not every student wants to go or is destined to go to college.

“Vocational education wasn’t designed to prepare students for college. The Smith-Hughes Act of 1917, the law that first authorized federal funding for vocational education in American schools, explicitly described vocational ed as preparation for careers not requiring a bachelor’s degree.” (Hanford)

“Congress, in passing the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917, decided that there would be alternative opportunities available for children predicated on their personal proclivities and preferences in learning styles.”

“The Smith-Hughes Act was very specific regarding the intention of the legislation. It was designed to prepare a substantial portion of the workforce for skilled and well paid employment.” (Broadbent)

“‘The early vocational education was driven by a philosophy of fitting people to their probable destinies,’ says Jim Stone, director of the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education.” (Hanford)

“Vocational education at the secondary level has traditionally had several objectives, including providing students with general employability skills and preparing them to enter paid and unpaid employment in specific occupations.” (National Center for Education Statistics)

“[O]ver the next 78 years Congress incrementally added to the legislation whenever it appeared that some national need existed that vocational educators could possibly solve. In 1929 it passed the George-Reed Act which provided money for agriculture and home economics.” (Broadbent)

“The interest in vocational education in the early 20th century was prompted in part by big economic and social changes. Factory owners were facing a shortage of skilled labor in a rapidly industrializing society. And public schools were seeing an influx of immigrants and farm kids.”

“Many of those kids would have learned farming or skilled trades from their parents in an earlier era. But with the rise of factories, it was no longer safe for kids to learn to work alongside their parents. So they went to high school instead.” (Hanford)

“‘And secondary schools didn’t know what to do with them,’ says Jeannie Oakes, author of Keeping Track: How Schools Structure Inequality.”

“High schools ‘were used to dealing with this very small group of mostly quite privileged children of educated families and they gave them this nice liberal arts education in preparation for the university,’ she says. ‘Well that didn’t seem to be fitting at all for these kids who’d come in from the farms, or these new immigrants. So the idea was, let’s put vocational training into public education and we can solve all of these problems.’”

“By 1937 the enrollment of vocational education had reached 1,500,000 students. Clearly occupationally oriented education or, to use the increasingly archaic term “vocational,” was meeting the educational needs of a good number of students.” (Broadbent)

Today, Hawai‘i has about a 90% high school graduation rate. Pre-pandemic, “The college-going rate had been relatively steady at about 55% for the past several years” (Star Advertiser, March 24, 2021). Today, that puts about half of the post-high school students on the street looking for work. Hawai‘i needs vocational training just as much now, as it did a century ago.