Model Schools
Waikiki Elementary
With the support of principal, Bonnie Tabor, the teachers at Waikiki Elementary School have engaged in p4c activities for nearly fourteen years. Dr. Thomas Jackson, of the University of Hawai‘i, has worked to develop and sustain p4c at Waikiki School by actively facilitating p4c in the classroom at all grade levels (kindergarten- 6th grade), by recruiting philosophy graduate students from the University of Hawai‘i to work as facilitators in the classrooms, and by offering p4c professional development classes to the Waikiki faculty and staff. Roughly 90% of the faculty at Waikiki includes p4c in the curriculum. Most recently, Matthew Lawrence, a veteran p4c Hawai‘i teacher at Waikiki Elementary was recognized as the 2014 Hawai‘i State Teacher of the Year.
Kailua High School
p4c Hawai‘i first landed at Kailua High School in 2000 when Dr. Amber Makaiau began experimenting with it as an effective pedagogy within the Social Studies classroom during her student teaching. Its success remained within her four walls until 2004 when Chad Miller first brought it into the English department as an effective mode of instruction. Due to p4c Hawai‘i’s continued success with the students at Kailua High School, p4c Hawai‘i has become the foundation of each classroom in the English department, thus being the first high school p4c Hawai‘i department in the world. Additionally, the entire Ethnic Studies curriculum, which serves every student at Kailua High School, was created with the p4c Hawai‘i pedagogy at its core. While p4c Hawai‘i has most heavily been used in these two disciplines, with the support of principal Francine Honda, Dr. Benjamin Lukey served as Kailua High School’s Philosopher in Residence, bringing p4c Hawai‘i into the classrooms and curricula of teachers from other content areas. Currently, Dr. Chad Miller is the KHS Philosopher in Residence, working with more than 35 teachers in order to promote rigorous thinking and deeper student engagement.
Waimanalo Elementary and Intermediate School
With the support of the Principal, Noel Richardson, and former Vice-Principal, Garrett Arakawa, p4c Hawai‘i began officially working with WEIS in January of 2013. Dr. Benjamin Lukey, currently serving as the WEIS Philosopher in Residence, works with teachers and students from pre-K through 8th grade school to promote the creation of intellectually responsible communities of inquiry. Since the vast majority of WEIS students matriculate to Kailua High School, the expansion of p4c Hawai‘i at WEIS offers the opportunity for students to benefit from p4c from Pre-K through high school. In partnership with the UH Uehiro Academy, WEIS has received a major grant from the Hawai‘i Community Foundation (HCF) to support its Philosopher in Residence, p4c Hawai‘i Professional Development, p4c camps, and several other p4c-based initiatives at the school.
Ka'elepulu Elementary
KES is supported by Dr. Miller, Dr. Lukey, and the philoSURFERS.