Hawai'i Curriculum

Ganbare! Never Give Up! Nisei Soldiers of WWII
A full instructional unit about the sociopolitical effects of Pearl Harbor bombing and the history of Japanese American WWII soldiers.

Project History

In the spring of 2019, the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaiʻi (JCCH) and GFBNEC, in collaboration with the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education (DOE), implemented a pilot testing of their new curriculum, Ganbare! Never Give Up! Nisei Soldiers of WWII. This 40-minute lesson plan was presented in 20 high schools in Oahu and Maui.

Students can learn personal stories of Hawaiian Nisei soldiers and research World War II's effects on the Territory of Hawaiʻi.

Based on feedback from the high school teachers, the lesson plan was expanded to an Inquiry Design Model (IDM) Blueprint, a full instructional unit that presents the history of the Japanese American WWII soldiers and the sociopolitical effects of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The expanded curriculum, which meets two of Hawaiʻi’s Department of Education standards, is framed around the question, “Can Hawaiʻi’’s Aloha Spirit Survive a War?”

Launch

Following a year delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, JCCH and GFBNEC teamed up in February 2021 with the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center (NVMC) and Nisei Veterans Legacy (NVL) to formally roll out the expanded curriculum. Three Oahu high school teachers tested it in their classrooms during the spring 2021 semester.

In order to introduce the curriculum to more teachers, a virtual Teacher Orientation was held in July 2021 so that the curriculum could be presented in the classrooms during the 2021–2022 school year. Teachers who completed all of the requirements, including providing feedback after the curriculum was taught to a minimum of two classes, received a small stipend.