Since living in Hawaii is so expensive a lot of people can’t afford to live here, specifically teachers. Most teachers either move to the mainland or quit teaching altogether. In the 2017-2018 school year, 423 teachers living in Hawaii moved to the mainland. In the 2018-2019 school year, the school system experienced a shortfall of 1,029 qualified teachers, and 352 of those teachers taught special education. An impact of this is more than 60,000 students in Hawaii are not taught by a qualified teacher each year. (Retrieved on March 3, 2021, from https://www.nea.org/advocating-for-change/new-from-nea/hawaii-educators-tackle-teacher-shortage-ambitious-5-year-plan)
Another impact of the teacher shortage is raising teachers’ salaries. Last year the DOE (Department of Education) came up with a plan to raise the salary for veteran teachers. They proposed that hard-to-staff teachers’ pay would get an extra $3,000 and teachers in remotes areas would get an extra $3,000 to $8,000 depending on the area. (Retrieved on March 3, 2021, from https://www.civilbeat.org/2020/01/doe-wants-to-raise-pay-for-experienced-hawaii-teachers/#:~:text=However%2C%20each%20increment%20is%20not,which%20covers%20years%202017%2D2021) It’s good for me to understand Hawaiian culture and contemporary concerns because it’s important I know what is going on in the state I live in. A lot of times I know the basics of a situation happening in Hawaii but I don’t know the details of the issue. If I know more about the issue then I spread awareness, inspiring others to help make a change, and make a change myself. For example, all the trash on beaches. If I can bring awareness to the amount of trash on the beaches then maybe it will inspire others to also bring awareness and do beach clean-ups. I feel like my responsibility in relation to the future of Hawaii is spreading the history and culture. By spreading history and culture, I can help to keep the culture alive. Hawaii’s culture is fading as time goes on and if I and other people spreading the culture then it has a chance of not going away completely. Even though I am not Hawaiian I can still teach my future kids about Hawaii if I ever do have kids. I can also share Hawaiian culture with my extended family who doesn’t live here. |
Reflection
Name of Assignment: Hawaiian Culture Forum Subject: Sociology 100 Facilitator/Teacher: Professor Perry Description of Work/Assignment: In my Sociology 100 class we had to choose an issue in Hawaii and research it. The issue I chose was the shortage of teachers. Which 21st Century Skill do you feel this assignment addresses, and why? A 21st-century skill I used was civic literacy and engagement because I had to research an issue in the community of Hawaii and how it affects the people living here. What are you most proud of from this assignment, and why? The part I am most proud of from this assignment is the research. I found some good information about the teacher shortage to include in my assignment. How did you develop and/or improve upon your 21st Century Skill with this assignment? I developed my civic literacy and engagement skills by finding out what is going on in the community and if there is any way I can help. What was most difficult about completing this task? The hardest part of this assignment was finding a topic to research. You couldn’t do the same one has someone else. By the time I chose my topic a lot of people had already chosen there’s so I had to find one no one picked yet. How could you improve this work? If you could start over, what would you do different? In the assignment, we had to explain how it is helpful to ourselves to know how what is happening in Hawaii and the Hawaiian culture. After turning it in, the teacher asked me if I could be more specific about that part. If I could start over I would try to be more specific so that way I wouldn’t have to add to it afterward. How does this relate to what you have learned in the past? This relates to what I have learned in the past because I learned about different things going on in the Maui community like last year when I had community engagement. |