Biography
Dr Amber Strong Makaiau is a Specialist at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa (UHM) College of Education Institute for Teacher Education Secondary Program, the Director of the Hanahau’oli School Professional Development Center, and the Director of Curriculum and Research at the UHM Uehiro Academy for Philosophy and Ethics in Education. She has a BA in Psychology and Education from the University of California, Santa Cruz, a Masters in Education and Teaching from UHM, and a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from UHM. She is a dedicated practitioner of philosophy for children of Hawai'i who achieved National Board Certification while teaching secondary social studies in the Hawaii State Department of Education for over ten years. She is also an award-winning educator who achieved the Hawaii International Education Week Honolulu Advertiser 2004 Outstanding Global Educator Award, the 2005 Oceanic Outstanding Educator Award, the 2011 Teaching Tolerance Award for Excellence in Culturally Responsive Teaching, the 2016 C3 Teachers Inquiry Design Model Challenge Award, and the 2017 National Council for the Social Studies College and University Faculty Assembly Kipchoge Neftali Kirkland Social Justice Paper Award. Her current projects apply progressive, multicultural, culturally responsive, social justice, and democratic approaches to education to the creation of a better future society. This includes a brand new Progressive Philosophy and Pedagogy MEd Interdisciplinary Education, Curriculum Studies Program at UHM.
Panel Presentation (2021) | Cultural Resilience
