His Story
Jonathan Gillentine spent most of his career teaching preschool in an inclusive classroom on the windward side of O‘ahu. He says that “young children call me to my work,” and that he has often felt a sense of recognition and trust in the gaze of a child he has never met. Families and children call him “Uncle,” an island title that brings trust and inclusion to the whole classroom.
His preschoolers chose from learning centers indoors and out: ramps and pathways, water tubes and siphons, irrigation, building blocks and gardening. He asked open-ended questions, like “Why did the ball fall off the ramp? How might you change it?” and taught that “we don’t give up; we try again!” In a video he uses to train teachers, a three-year-old works out for himself how to fix a ramp that blocks the rolling balls.
He taught children to read faces and feelings with picture cards and role-play, and introduced a rule that a child couldn’t “tell on” someone until he or she had first tried to work it out. He read stories that carried Hawaiian values such as ‘ohana (family), kuleana (responsibility) and pono (doing what is right), and grandparents thanked him for helping their grandchildren connect with their culture. Many of his students with special needs moved on to kindergarten without needing extra services.
Beyond the Classroom
Gillentine earned National Board Certification as an Early Childhood Generalist in 2003 and a doctorate in education in 2005. He served on the Hawai‘i Teacher Standards Board, the state’s licensing authority, and chaired it from 2006 to 2010. He also co-chaired a National Board committee that revised the standards for teachers of literacy in grades P-6. In 2014 he became the first teacher in Hawai‘i to hold the state’s new “teacher leader” license, after serving on the group that recommended it.
A 2007 preschool science lesson plan he submitted won him an early science educator award from the National Science Teachers Association. He has presented at NEA, National Council of Teachers of English and National Board conferences, and to the National Governors Association’s Early Childhood Policy Academy. He has mentored 17 teacher candidates, taught 15 professional development courses on topics such as family engagement, literacy, play and science, and had 14 op-eds and letters to the editor published.
He serves on the board of the Hawai‘i State Teachers Association, is a Hope Street Group fellow, and is a state coach for the NEA, National Board and Center for Teaching Quality Teacher Leadership Initiative. He helped found the Hawai‘i Teacher Leader Network. He has written 15 classroom grants worth about $15,000 and a $200,000 grant-in-aid proposal for teacher professional development and kindergarten transition support.
Philosophy Into Practice
Gillentine believes that teaching and learning “are founded on significant, long-term personal relationships between teachers and students.” As kindergarten has taken on the academics of first grade, he has argued that young children first need “extensive knowledge about their world well before they learn to use literacy and math skills,” and that play, inquiry and multisensory experiences are how they get it. As his district’s early learning specialist he built activities for every Common Core K-3 standard, and he has taught principals and coaches why play matters.
He assesses preschoolers through observations, work samples, video, photographs and children’s dictation of what their drawings mean, and he films his own teaching to reflect on it. He believes that “a vital part of being accountable as a teacher is to continually improve my teaching.”
“I believe that acts of teaching and learning are founded on significant, long-term personal relationships between teachers and students.”Jonathan Gillentine
In His Own Words
“Young children call me to my work.”Jonathan Gillentine
“I modeled a conviction that failure is inherently part of the learning process.”Jonathan Gillentine
“Teacher leaders must serve to inform their colleagues and inspire them also to consider, select, and pursue teacher leadership opportunities.”Jonathan Gillentine
What Others Said
“Jonathan is the type of person who inspires others to be the best person and educator possible.”Alecia Burroughs, special education preschool teacher, Keolu Elementary
“He is highly respected, a mentor, possesses excellent rapport with students, colleagues, and administrators.”Matthew C.W. Ho, complex area superintendent, Castle-Kahuku Complex
“There is no one better suited or more effective in reaching little one’s hearts and minds.”Tracey Idica, NBCT, instructional coach, Aiea High School
“He has shown me that not only do children learn best through play, but adults also learn best when playing.”Kuulei Kaluhiokalani, preschool special education teacher, La‘ie Elementary School
“He made it a priority to understand each of the children as an individual and to find the best ways for them to learn.”Ruiz, parent of a former student