UH College of Education Professor Selected as 2023 Obama Foundation Global Leader

By Jennifer L Parks

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa College of Education (COE) Professor of Mathematics Education Linda Furuto has been selected as one of 105 Obama Foundation Global Leaders. The program trains participants around the world in leadership development and civic engagement to help build their skills and scale their work across public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Furuto will be among just 34 leaders participating in the Asia-Pacific program, representing a cohort of 22 countries/territories across the region.

“I can’t think of anyone more qualified than Linda to represent the COE as an Obama Leader,” Department of Curriculum Studies Chair Patricia Espiritu Halagao said. “Her cutting-edge work with ethnomathematics and involvement as the UH Ambassador to the PVS Moananuiākea Voyage will greatly contribute to better understanding how education can serve our global communities. And, above all, she exudes the values of a humble, caring, and committed servant leader.”

Professor Receives National Language Teaching Award

By Jennifer L Parks

This article originally appeared in the University of Hawai’i News and is reprinted with permission.

A University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa College of Education professor is the recipient of the 2021 Southwest Conference on Language Teaching (SWCOLT) Excellence in Teaching Post-Secondary Award.

With more than 30 years of experience teaching Hawaiian language and developing programs in public and charter schools throughout the state of Hawaiʻi, Alohilani Okamura said she developed a deep respect for learning the language as a graduate student at UH Mānoa.

SWCOLT is a regional world language teachers’ organization in partnership with state teacher associations from Hawaiʻi, Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah. Okamura, who is in the Institute for Teacher Education (ITE) Secondary World Languages, was selected for her exceptional commitment to language education.