Place and Environment Commons^™

The Island Earth Field Studio: A High School Summer Program On Polynesian Voyaging In Hawaii, Andrea M. Bachmann

Capstone Collection

The Island Earth Field Studio is a ten-day program for high school students to learn about Polynesian voyaging in Hawaii as a framework to understand non-Western knowledge systems. The program design is grounded in research on the historical significance of voyaging and informed by current literature on adolescent development and place-based pedagogy.

To further refine the program, a needs assessment was conducted using a combination of surveys and interviews with parents and educators in the continental United States (mainland) as well as interviews with local partners in Hawaii. The assessment revealed that cultural learning and community building were viewed by …