Thoughts on Maui Through a Social Justice Educator Lens

In the wake of the devastating fires on Maui, many educators and students are going back to school while continuing to grapple with grief and trauma. We have seen an outpouring of aloha in fundraising, volunteering, organizing, and mutual aid efforts, along with an abundance of resources for supporting each other as we move forward. 

Educators interested in social justice have another way to respond. We have an opportunity and a responsibility to educate ourselves and others about this event in ways that center Kānaka Maoli perspectives and experiences, and by examining the history of colonialism, ongoing settler colonialism, resource exploitation, and how these connect to the current climate crisis.

For me, the definition of social justice education (SJE) includes: 

(1) understanding and responding to the specific histories of our place and communities;
(2) examining existing structures and systems of power and oppression; 

(3) making connections to illuminate and interrogate these systems; and

(4) connecting our learning to action, for ourselves and our students, in developmentally appropriate ways. 

I imagine that in the near future, there will be workshops, curriculum development, and other opportunities to gather, reflect, and consider our roles and responsibilities in light of this tragedy. As educators, we can engage with these experiences with the goal of planting seeds for critical consciousness and supporting anti-oppressive learning and action in our schools. The conversation is complex and ongoing so this is by no means a definitive list, but I share a few perspectives here to provoke some inquiry around the four SJE components above:

Noelani Ahia on cultural loss and erasure of Native Hawaiʻian voices in coverage

Kaniela Ing on historical contexts, structures of exploitation, and the climate crisis

Naka Nathaniel on the human-made disaster generations in the making

Kapuaʻala Sprout and Naomi Klein on water and plantation disaster capitalism

In difficult times, we inevitably look for ways to take action because we want to do something to help. I hope that educators can reach out to each other, strengthen our communities, and collaborate on how to talk, teach, and learn about the Maui fires as we move forward. Perhaps Shanti Alliance or the Hanahauʻoli School Professional Development Center’s Social Justice Educators Gathering Community can be points of contact in such efforts. 

-Jingwoan Chang, PhD, Shanti Alliance Communications and Administrative Associate

Image Credit: Kevin Fujii, Civil Beat, 2023