Peer-reviewed research2017–2026 update
Toward a Framework for ʻĀina-Based Pedagogies: A Hawaiʻi Approach to Indigenous Land-Based Education
This article sets out a Hawaiʻi framework for ʻāina-based pedagogies, grounding Indigenous land-based education in ancestral Hawaiian principles.
What's new
This article describes the characteristics of ʻāina-based pedagogies as a Hawaiʻi approach to Indigenous land-based education across PreK–20 settings. It presents ancestral Hawaiian principles, the learning environments where ʻāina-based education occurs, common teaching approaches, fields of study and purposes of application. The authors ground ʻāina-based learning in a Kanaka ʻŌiwi perspective to help others design, strengthen and evaluate such programmes.
Why it matters in Aotearoa
This Pacific Indigenous framework offers a useful comparison for kaupapa Māori and place-based approaches to outdoor education in Aotearoa.
Putting it into practice
Use the framework's elements of principles, environments, teaching approaches and purposes as prompts when reviewing how a local land-based programme reflects mātauranga Māori.
How strong is the evidence
This is a descriptive framework article. The abstract does not describe how the data were gathered or report outcome evidence.
What to read
The section on ancestral Hawaiian principles of ʻāina-based pedagogies.