UH Hilo’s Kanani Mākaʻimoku puts her heart and soul into training Hawaiʻi’s ʻōlelo educators

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UH Hilo alumna Kananinohea Mākaʻimoku’s area of expertise is in Hawaiian language medium education, Hawaiian and Indigenous teacher education, and Hawaiian culture-based curriculum design and development.

Casual portrait of Kanani Mākaʻimoku in an outdoor setting, and an aerial view of Hawaii language college surrounded by forest with a stream running the length of the property.
Kanani Mākaʻimoku and aerial view of Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language. (Courtesy and file photos, respectively)

By Susan Enright/UH Hilo Stories.

Kananinohea “Kanani” Mākaʻimoku, associate professor of Hawaiian language at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, received both promotion and tenure in 2024, which she says provides her with the stability and responsibility to continue serving Hawaiian language revitalization work in meaningful ways.

“It allows me to advocate for teachers, schools, families, and communities with confidence and long-term commitment,” she says. “While we have made significant progress, there is still much work ahead to ensure Hawaiian remains a vibrant, living language for future generations.”

Old schoolhouse with U.S. and Hawaiʻi state flags on high flag poles.
Early picture of Ke Kula ʻO Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu campus in Keaʻau, Puna, Hawaiʻi Island. In 1999, Kanani Mākaʻimoku was among the first five graduating seniors. Learn more about the development of the school. (Photo: ʻAha Pūnana Leo)

Mākaʻimoku started her formal education with Ka Papahana Kaiapuni, a comprehensive K-12 education program in the Hawaiian language through the Hawaiʻi public education system (she later returned to Kaiapuni as a teacher and taught for 16 years). She was educated primarily in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi from ʻAha Pūnana Leo, a nonprofit organization established in 1983 to revitalize the Hawaiian language medium in early education. She went on to graduate with the first class in 1999 from Ke Kula ʻO Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu, UH Hilo’s K-12 Hawaiian language medium laboratory school located in Keaʻau.

  • See Alumni Spotlight in the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education newsletter Hoʻohaʻaheo, Feb. 2025, for interview with Kananinohea Mākaʻimoku about her public school education.

She’s now a proud alumna of UH Hilo, receiving her bachelor of arts in Hawaiian studies, her teaching certificate through the Kahuawaiola Hawaiian and Indigenous Teacher Training Program (for which she is now program director), and her master of arts in Indigenous language and culture education. She is currently a doctoral candidate in the Hawaiian and Indigenous Language and Culture Revitalization program at UH Hilo’s Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language.

Kahuawaiola Indigenous Teacher Education Program

With an area of expertise that includes Hawaiian language medium education, Hawaiian and Indigenous teacher education, and Hawaiian culture-based curriculum design and development, Mākaʻimoku puts her heart and soul into training the next generation of educators for Hawaiian medium and immersion education, and Hawaiian language and culture programs.

She’s currently doing this primarily as program director of the Kahuawaiola Indigenous Teacher Education Program (from which she earned her teaching certificate), a three-semester graduate certificate program delivered through Hawaiian language medium, specifically designed to prepare teachers to teach in Hawaiian language medium schools, Hawaiian language and culture programs in English medium schools, and/or schools serving students with a strong Hawaiian cultural background.

“One of my primary contributions (to ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi revitalization) has come through my role as program coordinator for the Kahuawaiola Indigenous Teacher Education Program,” she says, a role she stepped into during the COVID-19 pandemic, a critical time for educators statewide. “In this capacity, I worked alongside faculty, students, and community partners to sustain the program, expand its reach through external grant support, and organize a statewide convening of Kahuawaiola graduates in 2023 focused on strengthening Hawaiian language medium education, Hawaiian language and culture education, and teacher preparation.”

Mākaʻimoku says that pandemic period reshaped how she approaches teacher preparation. She saw, through teaching online, that hybrid models can meaningfully increase access to teacher education for Hawaiian language speakers across the state, particularly in rural and outer-island communities such as Lānaʻi and Hāna, Maui.

“Since then,” she notes, “Kahuawaiola has continued to offer a hybrid program, resulting in increased participation from outer-island students who may not otherwise have been able to pursue teacher preparation on Hawaiʻi Island. Since 2020, the average number of students enrolling from the outer islands has increased by approximately 56 percent compared to the program’s pre-2020 history.”

Mākaʻimoku also notes Kahuawaiola has produced 164 certified teachers since its inception. Annual completer numbers have remained relatively stable over time, with recent cohorts showing a rebound to pre-pandemic levels.

Three people pose for photo, two in head lei and flower lei.
From left, Kekailiko Medeiros, Kanani Mākaʻimoku, and Kalehua Ontai celebrate the graduation of former students whom Kanani taught at Ke Kula ʻo Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu Iki, a UH Hilo laboratory school. (Courtesy photo)

Answering a critical statewide need for teacher preparation

Group poses in front of stone building.
On the annual Huakaʻi Kipa Kula, Kahuawaiola teacher candidates Kahōkū Hottendorf and Simon Tajiri visit Ke Kula Kaiapuni o Maui ma Lahainaluna, meeting with Kahuawaiola alumni to learn about different models of Hawaiian medium education. From left Kalamakū Freitas, Kauʻi Spitalsky, Kanani Mākaʻimoku, Kahōkū Hottendorf, Simon Tajiri, and Teva Medeiros. (Courtsy photo)

Mākaʻimoku says this hybrid approach is helping address a critical statewide need. As the Hawaiʻi State Department of Educationʻs Papahana Kaiapuni Hawaiian language immersion program has grown by 67 percent over the past decade, the demand for qualified Hawaiian medium educators continues to increase. Expanding access to teacher preparation is one way UH Hilo is supporting the sustainability of Hawaiian language through education across Hawaiʻi.

“Through my role at UH Hilo, I have been fortunate to contribute to the development of culture-based curriculum and instructional frameworks for Hawaiian medium and immersion schools, including the Moenahā framework and Hawaiian language arts projects under the UH Hilo Hale Kuamoʻo Hawaiian Language Center,” Mākaʻimoku explains. “This work has been shaped by collaboration with colleagues, educators, and community partners, and is intended to support teachers in Hawaiian medium and immersion settings by offering culturally grounded, linguistically appropriate curriculum tools.”

Mākaʻimoku’s position has also provided opportunities to support the professional growth of Hawaiian medium educators through professional development and mentorship. “I have been able to facilitate workshops and training sessions with educators across the state focused on curriculum design, instruction, and leadership, and to mentor graduate students and early-career educators as they enter the field,” she says.

Over the past recent years, she notes, collaboration with colleagues at UH Hilo’s School of Education and partners at the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education, as well as Kaiaulu at Kamehameha Schools, has made it possible to reduce barriers for teacher candidates.

“Together, we have worked to secure financial support such as tuition stipends and additional funding for books, fees, travel, and other essential costs, allowing more students to pursue teacher preparation for Hawaiian medium and immersion settings, as well as Hawaiian language and culture settings,” she adds.

Mākaʻimoku was honored for this collective work when she received the UH Hilo 2024 Koichi and Taniyo Taniguchi Award for Excellence and Innovation, an annual award that recognizes outstanding creativity in teaching, scholarship, and artistic production.

Four women stand with honoree who wears a lei. Chancellor is holding award plaque.
At UH Hilo’s annual Awards and Recognition Celebration, April 2024, Kanani Mākaʻimoku received the Koichi and Taniyo Taniguchi Award for Excellence and Innovation. From left, Lecturer Kanoe Kanakaʻole from Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani, Interim Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Keiki Kawaiʻaeʻa, honoree Mākaʻimoku, Chancellor Bonnie Irwin, and Director of Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani Kaʻiu Kimura. (Photo: University Relations/UH Hilo)

Strengthening the community

At its core, Mākaʻimoku’s work supports the revitalization of the Hawaiian language, which is central to cultural identity and community well-being.

“By preparing teachers who are fluent in Hawaiian and grounded in culturally responsive pedagogy, we ensure that Hawaiian language medium and immersion schools can continue to serve families across the state.” she explains, pointing out that education has been one of the most effective strategies for reversing language loss in Hawaiʻi.

“While Hawaiian is still considered an endangered language, the growth of Hawaiian medium and immersion education has helped shift that trajectory,” she says. “My work supports this movement by strengthening teacher preparation, curriculum, and policy in ways that benefit students, families, and communities statewide.”

Current projects

Woman at podium with overhead screen title ʻAha Kaiapuni 2024.
At the inaugural ʻAha Kaiapuni in 2024, organized by the ʻAha Kauleo Executive Board, Kanani Mākaʻimoku, then serving as vice chair, delivers the opening keynote at a statewide convening centered on ʻohana engagement, bringing together parent representatives from Hawaiian language medium-immersion sites across the state. (Courtesy photo)

Mākaʻimoku is currently contributing to several collaborative efforts that engage students, faculty, and community partners:

  • The Kaiapuni Strategic Plan under the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education, an initiative developed to support the long-term sustainability of Hawaiian language medium-immersion education statewide.
  • Supporting student learning beyond the classroom by facilitating opportunities to visit and learn from Hawaiian medium-immersion stakeholders, for example taking teacher candidates to visit school sites on Oʻahu and participation in a statewide ʻAha Kauleo Papahana Kaiapuni (Hawaiian Immersion Program) advisory council meeting, where students can observe how community voices, educators, and policy work come together to support Kaiapuni education.
  • As chairperson of the ʻAha Kauleo Papahana Kaiapuni advisory council, leading ongoing statewide discussions currently including focusing on strengthening speaker-to-teacher pathways for Hawaiian language medium education.
  • Participating in statewide workgroups: 1) The Cooperating Teacher/Mentor Workgroup, which focuses on ensuring that teacher candidates are supported by well-prepared, high-quality mentors during their preparation, and 2) the Hawaiian Focused Workgroup, which provides recommendations to the Hawaiʻi Teacher Standards Board related to licensure, preparation, and ongoing support for educators in Hawaiian language, culture, and history, including those working in Hawaiian language medium-immersion settings.
  • Coordinator for Pillar 2 (Teacher Training) for the National Native American Language Resource Center, supporting Indigenous languages nationwide focused on developing resources, workshops, and support for Indigenous language educators across the United States. See related publication on this work: “So That Our Languages Live On: Indigenous Language Medium-Immersion Programs in Post-Secondary Education,” in Handbook of Language Program Development and Administration (2025, Routledge).

The future

Looking ahead, Mākaʻimoku says she’s “excited about continuing to strengthen and expand the Hawaiian and Indigenous language and culture education pathways and educator workforce.”

“We are exploring possibilities such as an undergraduate education track, apprenticeship-style pathways, and opportunities for teacher candidates to observe and apply their learning in Hawaiian-medium settings,” she says. “These efforts are part of a broader vision to cultivate multiple speaker-to-teacher pathways.”

Story by Susan Enright, public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories. She received her bachelor of arts in English and certificate in women’s studies from UH Hilo.

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