Reflective Journey in the Pacific: UOG Culture and Learning Forum

Saturday, October 20, 2012

UOG Culture and Learning Forum

The University of Guam's Enrollment & Student Services in collaboration with the School of Education and Human Resources Office held a meaningful Culture & Learning Forum on October 19, 2012 with focus on "enriching and contextualizing teaching and learning in Pacific Island settings to improve achievement."

Participants were enlightened by various cultural speeches. Among a few of the highlights are the following:

"I have my own story, my own identity, and I need to accept that," said Dr. Isebong Asang, Palau Community College. Asang said that it's essential to have "knowledge, history and truth specific to Palau." MESULANG, Dr. Asang, for the inspirational speech!

Dr. Nicholas Goetzfridt shared that we must genuinely focus on ethnomathematics, the language of numbers. He said that it "requires different people around the world, and in this case the Pacific, to adapt (relevant mathemathetics)."

Traditional ethnomathematics in the Pacific involve "navigators of the past, navigators of the present, and values to live on," Goetzfridt said. He stressed the traditional ideas of patterns and that if the indigenous mathematics is unable to be carried out, it is done through imperial colonial means.

Our traditional mathematics need to be preserved in education, because it is the essence of communal identity. In fact, the UH Project MACIMISE is doing research to recover mathematical ideas and curriculum ideas to be used in schools. This will allow us to imagine with purpose and resolve for our own ethnomathematical identity. To get an insight of the experience on one of the UH candidates' first phase of Project MACIMISE, visit http://projectmacimise-rivera.blogspot.com.

Dr. Frankie Santos Laanan, SOE Dean focused on "Sieving Through Asian and Pacific Island Data on Culture Variation and Achievement." He mentioned about the importance of STEM. He further shared videos and websites to provide explicit, yet meaningful visuals pertaining to its relevance. Check out Pathway2.stemdegree.org for more information.

Students in the videos shared powerful messages, such as the following: "I'm just as good as anyone else in college." Another student said, "I deserve to be here. I work just as hard as anyone here."

The CARE was also highlighted and its relevance in research regarding Asian Americans, risk factors of AAPI students, and other critical areas of research. Laanan also presented statistics and terminologies, such as MSI-Minority serving institution and AANAPSI-Asian Americans Native Americans Pacific Islanders.

Laanan expressed the need to expand knowledge, broaden awareness, and build institutional capacity. He shared DOE and UOG data to stress the critical needs. He mentioned that of the 31,000 students in DOE, there is a high ESL population. This entails that we are faced with the challenge to meet the unique needs of ELLs.

Unfortunately, Guam's latest SAT10 performance data shows low scores. This makes us question what's happening in these areas. "What are we going to do about it? How do we serve these students? What do we do to ensure that they understand?" Laanan asked.

He presented student demographics, trends, enrollment by ethnicity, gender, and status. He also shared that for the UOG English placement, 2/3 placed in developmental English (EN085 and EN100).

Laanan further shared retention and graduation tracking by program statistics, so that we can reflect and analyze the data. He then showed a Robert Feldman video that mentioned we need to take action, so that we don't endanger college student success. We need to provide opportunities for first year experiences before college students arrive on campus.

Dr. Michael Bevacqua focused on decolonization. He said that Guam is a colony and shared the expansive definition of decolonization. He stated that some people think that "if he (colonial power) ever leaves, all the things disappear" or "so long as the colonizer is in power, you are out of luck."

He questioned, "What is the role the university should take in regards to this situation?" He stressed that we should "look more regional for things," because it's important that we tap on our own resources that are within reach.

UOG President, Dr. Robert Underwood, also highlighted the importance of culture and education. "Education is one through which cultural knowledge is formulated," he said.

Underwood said, "It takes the strength of soul for a child to struggle, to travel, to succeed." He reminded participants to make a difference. "As you navigate, you must help them learn," he said.

He highlighted culture as a process and that we must understand where those places are. Underwood further questioned, "What do we do about our students? What do we know about our students? Did we do anything about it (data performance)?"

Enjoy the following snapshots taken during the forum!

Dr. Robert Underwood, UOG President, says his speech on culture and learning.

Dr. Isebong Asang, Palau Community College Professor, conducts her presentation titled, "Palauan Epistemology: Implications on Teaching & Learning."

Dr. Frankie Santos Laanan, SOE Dean, conducts his presentation titled, "Sieving Through Asian and Pacific Island Data on Culture Variation and Achievement."