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For myself, discussing with my parents
and with some of the elders

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that I’ve been fortunate to spend
time with, you have three basic routes,

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one, you can just go total militant
and just assimilate.

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Another way is you can be
a bicultural person where you can take

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what’s good from the past
and live that and utilize that,

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but also complement with what’s present
and what’s dominant in our society today

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and mix the two in terms
of when it’s appropriate

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to share your Hawaiian values
in a very professional setting.

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For example, when you in a meeting
with a whole bunch

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of Department of Education administrators
and you can come across with examples

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that incorporate Hawaiian values,
that’s the kind of time

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when you can switch that gear
and assimilate the Hawaiian values

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with the dominant value system today,
which is very Western orientated.

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I think one of the things I’d like
to instill that can add on

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with what I’ve learned from the old folks
is giving the kids these kind of tools

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where they can make the choice based
on the experiences that they have

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through the practical application
of what we did, or what we are trying to do

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at our school whereby they would have
more tools to work with,

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with the basic system
that they are being schooled in today,

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they’re being educated in today.

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I’m not saying that one is bad
or one is good over the other.

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All I’m saying is there’s good
in both worlds.

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The thing is to make the conclusion
on their own.

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But the only way they can become rational
to make these conclusions is

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by having the experience.

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You cannot truly learn Hawaiian values
and Hawaiian practices by the book,

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for example, there needs to be
some form of practical interjection

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so that you can understand
or you can get the kaona

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behind the essence of Hawaiian values.

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It cannot be just totally picked up
or absorbed through the book.

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That’s a personal opinion, basically,
but it’s been one that has worked for me

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as well as my methods of working
with at-risk kids or just kids in general

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in the school system.

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I’ve found it’s worked very good for me.

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Aside from that, by giving them that,
I think as they grow older,

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they will have the chance to use that
to make rational decisions and go

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at whatever pace or at whatever route
they want whether it’s Western or Hawaiian

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but hopefully they kind of be
in a bicultural in the sense

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where they’ll use whenever appropriate
the things from their Hawaiian side

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with things that are
from the dominant side.

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I think the best example that I can give
to summarize that point is basically

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what I’m doing at my school right now
is trying to bring these kind

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of practices and activities
on the school campus

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and create a natural living laboratory
where the kids can apply these things,

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whether it’s through the garden
or our ongoing imu that we have

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at the school where the kids go
through the whole process

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of classroom activities of the imu,
going out into the school yard,

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digging the hole,
stacking up the wood, stacking…