Oak Foundation, an international grant-making organization founded by Duty Free Shopper originator Alan Parker, has donated $700,000 to the University of Hawaii to support students with learning differences succeed in college.

What You Need To Know

  • The grant was awarded to the Center of Disability Studies, part of UH Manoa’s College of Education, to develop innovative online modules to help faculty, staff and administrators improve their interactions with students with a range of learning differences

  • The modules will also help improve interactions personnel have with indigenous students by reflecting on their current practices and shifting their attitudes toward and awareness of their differences

  • The award also will enable faculty, staff and administrators to boost their knowledge of legal mandates and policies for accommodating such students, and increase their skills to support students with learning differences from diverse cultural backgrounds

  • UH Manoa Provost Michael Bruno said the program will also be able to assess the impact of the pandemic on learning and use of technology by students with learning differences and those from Indigenous groups

The grant was awarded to the Center of Disability Studies, part of UH Manoa’s College of Education, to develop innovative online modules to help faculty, staff and administrators improve their interactions with students with a range of learning differences.

The modules will also help improve interactions personnel have with indigenous students by reflecting on their current practices and shifting their attitudes toward and awareness of their differences.

“This large donation will help our center revamp innovative, online modules, and give our future teachers, faculty, staff and administrators the foundational skills and effective strategies they need to engage and reach all individuals regardless of a students’ preferred learning, studying styles or cultural backgrounds,” said the center’s interim director Kiriko Takahashi.

According to the university, the award also will enable faculty, staff and administrators to boost their knowledge of legal mandates and policies for accommodating such students, and increase their skills to support students with learning differences from diverse cultural backgrounds.

As the university noted, students with specific learning disabilities or who are otherwise neurodiverse (including students with attention deficits, sensory processing disorders and executive function challenges) face multiple barriers to success in higher education. Students with learning differences from underrepresented communities, including Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, face additional obstacles.

Some of the ways educators and their institutions can support such students is by fostering a welcoming classroom, applying principles of Universal Design for Learning, using technology tools and software in the classroom to reach all kinds of learners, incorporating cultural relevance into teaching to reach Indigenous students and demonstrating equity and equal opportunity across all students when teaching students with diverse needs.

“This project is unique in that it will be implemented in one of the most diverse campus environments within the United States,” said UH Manoa Provost Michael Bruno. “Through this project, we hope to identify the strategies that are effective for students with learning differences who are also Indigenous, impacting their access to, retention, and completion of higher education programs of study.

“The pandemic impacted both instructors and students in many different ways,” Bruno said. “With this generous award from Oak Foundation, we can also assess the impact of the pandemic on learning and use of technology by students with learning differences and those from Indigenous groups. Our findings will provide new insights and tools to help our students and educators succeed.”

Michael Tsai covers local and state politics for Spectrum News Hawaii.