Margary Martin, Associate Professor of Education
With an eye toward equity in action, Associate Professor of Education Martin’s research focuses on how policies and practices in education impede or facilitate the healthy social and emotional development and wellbeing of children and youth.
Posted June 28, 2024.
Margary Martin is a tenured associate professor of education at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo’s School of Education. She aligns her teaching and research in education around educational equity and the social and emotional development of students “grounded in place.”
“I have had some impact in trying to get folks to think critically about the importance of being grounded in place when deciding on interventions for our students, and that beloved learning communities begin with the community,” she says.
“That decision we make about what we ask our students to do is grounded in values, and our values in teaching are our actions, the decisions that we make.”
With over 25 years of experience working in education, Martin began her career as a middle and high school teacher before pursuing her doctoral degree. With an eye toward equity in action, her research and service focuses on how policies and practices in education impede or facilitate the healthy social and emotional development and wellbeing of children and youth. She partners with community groups, nonprofits, and schools to develop participatory, place-based initiatives to create culturally affirming learning environments that allow students to thrive.
Martin arrived at UH Hilo in 2016.
Community-based research
One research project of Martin’s underway in the early-to-mid 2020s focuses on the long-term impact to the socioemotional development of children and youth in Hawaiʻi since the onset of COVID and the extent to which school interventions support or impede their development, an important task when navigating the emerging support needed for students to succeed since the pandemic.
Another evaluation project is supported by the U.S. Department of Education with the Hawaiʻi Department of Education (DOE) to provide local students with adequate mental health services after traumatic experiences.
Martin also is working on an evaluation around a Hawaiʻi DOE-funded program to recruit and retain school psychologists.
She is also actively involved in evaluating how school and community-based partnerships support students mental health and wellbeing of their students and family. She is conducting an evaluation of a multi-partnered initiative called the Resilient Community, Families, and Schools Project, dedicated to socioemotional development in elementary schools.
In terms of future goals regarding her research, Martin hopes to continue those endeavors and conduct deeper case studies on how culture-based mental health initiatives support long-term mental health and well being as part of her longitudinal COVID study.
The Hilo Center
Martin is the creator and executive director of the UH Hilo Center for Place-Based Social and Emotional Development (commonly called the Hilo Center), housed in the UH Hilo College of Arts and Sciences.
Based at the UH Hilo campus, the Hilo Center conducts research and evalution, provides professional development and technical assistance to schools and youth programs, and provides direct services to students. Across all these projects, Martin hires current and former students to work alongside her, connecting them to projects that address community needs.
The inaugural service project at the Hilo Center is the Ka Pouhana Mentoring Program, developed by local students for local students to secure a pipeline to college. The program is funded by the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation Oak Fund. Oak Foundation is a non-profit that supports projects around the world that have an impact on social and environmental concerns.
Ka Pouhana is a kamaʻāina, student-led program started in 2022. It pairs incoming students from Hawaiʻi Island with student mentors also from the island and a faculty mentor. The program continues for a student’s first two years at the university to provide any necessary support.
Creating a community of students and faculty, Ka Pouhana strives to strengthen a sense of belonging and wellbeing in students, nurture their leadership development, and spark their interest in being of service to the community.
Out of all her current projects, Martin is most excited about Ka Pouhana because it addresses her core goals and beliefs around education: provides advocacy, cultivates student leadership potentials, and instills a sense of community. She hopes the program will become a model of mentoring practices for future student generations.
By Susan Enright, a public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of Keaohou and UH Hilo Stories. She received her bachelor of arts in English and certificate in women’s studies from UH Hilo.
