Acknowledging a need to strengthen students’ foundational learning opportunities, education leaders in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) Ministry of Education (MOE), Public School System (PSS), and College of the Marshall Islands (CMI) have partnered with REL Pacific to develop a culturally relevant and sustaining education framework that is grounded in Marshallese culture, language, context, and ways of knowing. Education leaders believe that students are unable to access the foundational learning they need to support their academic and life goals because of a number of systemic factors that are barriers to student learning. For example, current classroom materials and pedagogical practices reflect Western epistemologies and cultural values that do not necessarily sustain and nourish the rich cultural, historical, and linguistic diversity of teachers and students in the RMI. The purpose of the culturally relevant and sustaining framework developed by the RMI partnership is to provide educators in the RMI with a research-informed model that outlines culturally relevant and sustaining educational practices within the context of the RMI. As a part of these efforts, partnership members are pursuing the long-term goal of developing a systems approach to promoting culturally relevant and sustaining education.
Current Projects
To support the development of a culturally relevant and sustaining Marshallese education framework, core partnership members have requested REL Pacific training and coaching support in collecting and analyzing qualitative data on Marshallese students’ ways of knowing. REL Pacific will also provide coaching support in the collaborative interpretation of qualitative findings. Key learnings will be used by partners to develop a culturally relevant and sustaining Marshallese education framework.
Building on the content learned during the first project, central office staff and school leaders will learn about culturally relevant and sustaining educational research and frameworks and then develop a culturally relevant and sustaining Marshallese education framework and associated classroom checklist.
Completed Projects
No projects at this time.