Veteran educator will mentor new HSTA members as part of inaugural leadership cohort
Posted: November 29, 2021
The Hawaii State Teacher Association is kicking off its first-ever Early Leadership Institute (ELI) in partnership with the National Education Association to develop leaders among new educators in Hawaii. From January through June 2022, an experienced HSTA member coach will work with participants to identify and research an issue or problem within the profession and develop solutions.
HSTA worked with its state officers to choose a coach who had experience as a teacher mentor, as well someone with a diverse set of educational experiences. HSTA named Michael Hurst, a Kauai Chapter member and Kapaa Middle School art teacher, as ELI’s first coach. Hurst holds a doctorate in educational leadership and brings more than 30 years of experience working with teachers in a coaching and mentor role to the program. In addition, he has taught abroad and carries expertise in using technology to leverage learning all over the world.
An education career centered around leadership, technology
Originally from Vancouver, Washington, Hurst knew from an early age he wanted to be an educator, especially after benefiting from a formative mentor in high school.
“In high school, I studied welding for four years, and I was the VICA (Vocational Industrial Clubs of America) president for three out of the four years,” Hurst said. “My welding mentor had a big influence on my tenacity to finish the program and lead the club.”
As VICA president, Hurst practiced public speaking, participating at competitions, engaging in debates, and other leadership skills. When it came time to go off to college, education seemed to be the natural fit.
Hurst earned a bachelor of science in visual communication from Western Washington University, concurrently completing the full education sequence and graduating with a certificate to teach in Washington. He went on to earn a master’s of education in technology from Oregon State University and a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Phoenix.
Hurst enjoyed an illustrious teaching career spanning several decades and teaching “every subject you can imagine,” but his specialty was always art and technology.
During his time with Portland Public Schools (from which he eventually retired), he provided building and district-level continuing education on state assessment strategies and computer hardware and networking systems. He also taught STEM classes and recalls the diversity of his school system.
“We had one high school in particular where we had 23 active languages in the hallways,” he said.
After retiring, Hurst went on to his dream job working for the state of Oregon. He served as a training coordinator on a $500 million project to upgrade the state’s social services employees’ computer systems.
“My job was to design the training, train the trainers, and figure out where they were going all over the state, as well as working intimately with Oracle and their programmers to convert the entire state legacy systems to GUI,” Hurst said. It was his dream job because it was “that beautiful mix of training and data analytics.”
Hurst moved on to the University of Phoenix where he taught continuing education for 12 years to teachers all over the world.
“I would teach my students (teachers) how to use technology in their teaching practice in order to leverage learning, because back then, Padlet, online quizzes, and all those things were brand new and hadn’t been heard of yet,” said Hurst.
Teaching English abroad in Thailand, Costa Rica
After his time with the University of Phoenix, Hurst met his partner on a snorkel boat while on jungle retreat in Belize. They eventually moved to Thailand and taught English to Thai students near the Cambodian border. Hurst later began working for an attorney in Bangkok, where his job was to teach English to the attorney’s Thai clients.
After over a year in Thailand, Hurst and his partner relocated to Costa Rica and worked as online English tutors for nearly two years. However, the difficulty of obtaining a work permit there led to their decision to move to Hawaii.
Making a difference in Hawaii
Moving to Kauai felt like a natural fit for Hurst. He visited the island several times since 2011, and finally made the move permanent in October 2019.
He joined the Hawaii State Department of Education in July 2020 and stepped into his current role as an art teacher at Kapaa Middle School where he practices his philosophy of teaching: “know the learner.”
Hurst understands the importance of retaining early educators, as teacher retention was an early part of his first dissertation in 2003.
“We lose so many teachers in the first couple of years,” he said. “It’s so important for teachers to learn who they are, what their triggers are, and learn how to be prepared to be in front of a group of people who are looking to you for guidance.”
“I am not a ‘sage on the stage’ type of educator,” he continued. “I am a facilitator. I will come alongside you and join you on this journey.”
In his ELI role, Hurst looks forward to manifesting “that which I’ve studied for 50 years, which is to help others to find the joy and excitement that I do everyday in teaching.”