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Author Biography

Mylia Briggs
Mylia Briggs is an educational professional who is passionate about enacting and contributing to initiatives focused on student development and educational excellence in public schools.

Monica Gonzalez Smith
Dr. Monica Gonzalez Smith is an Associate Professor at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, specializing in multilingual education, school-university partnerships, and teacher preparation for diverse classrooms.

Abstract

This practitioner inquiry explores how a Pacific-oriented social-emotional learning (SEL) framework, Nā Hopena A‘o (HĀ: BREATH), can affirm the cultural identities and emotional well-being of Filipino multilingual learners (MLs) in Hawai‘i. Implemented over a 15-week period in a third-grade classroom, the study draws on culturally adapted SEL lessons, student exit tickets and focus groups, and teacher reflections to examine how SEL shifts when grounded in Indigenous values, heritage language use, and community knowledge. Findings reveal three key themes: (1) Cultural Connection Fosters Belonging, (2) Language Visibility Promotes Emotional Safety, and (3) Identity-Affirming Practices Build Confidence and Voice. While students responded positively to lessons that honored their linguistic and cultural strengths, tensions emerged around emotional vulnerability and equitable representation. This study contributes to a growing body of work calling for SEL to move beyond Eurocentric models toward relational, place-based, and equity-oriented practices that reflect the lived experiences of historically marginalized youth in multilingual classrooms.

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