Last year when I was the Deputy Principal at Cobham Intermediate, I was asked to be filmed for an EdTalks special on cultural responsive practice and what this can look like in action in a school setting and how we were going about developing a culturally responsive environment. I focused my discussion on the way this happens from a relational position and how the staff at Cobham Intermediate began this journey together working on their practice, and then spread that learning to their classrooms. I tried to outline how important it has been for staff to consider the tikanga in the school and that the values they are developing around this practice will be beneficial for all, while reminding us all that the kaupapa of a school is developed as part of a school’s obligations under the Treaty of Waitangi and being part of a bicultural nation, and that this is an important position for all schools.
As part of our mihi whakatau process and work on a school graduate profile, we have been discussing what we feel is important for our Cobham graduates to have in their kete when they leave us to move onto high school.
We have now embedded tikanga and te reo practices across our whole school that means our kids know two karakia tīmatanga (starting blessings) and two karakia whakamutunga (ending blessings) as well as waiata Manu Tiria, a Ngāi Tahu waiata, who are mana whenua here.
I saw this waiata shared on Youtube by a fellow teacher colleague that is part of my Twitter and Flipped Classroom practitioners network and thought it might be a great one for our kids to learn too - he aha ou koutou whakaaro e hoa mā? (What are your thoughts my friends?)
I have been thrilled to have my babies come home from their school this week excitedly talking about Matariki. They are proud to tell me they "know lot's about Matariki" and we have been getting up early to go outside to try and find ngā whetu o Matariki (the Matariki stars).
Matariki is the Māori name for a group of stars known as the Pleiades star cluster. Contrary to popular belief, there are nine stars in the Matariki constellation instead of seven. The Māori New Year is marked by the rise of this star cluster and the sighting of the next new moon. This year, 2016, Matariki started on 6 June.
There are some amazing resources out there to support teachers sharing the kōrero and importance of Matariki. Firstly, try to connect to your local Māori community to find out if there are any events or local tikanga or history you should know about Matariki (like this awesome Matariki celebration happening locally where I live).
And if none of that helps you learn about the Matariki story, here is one of my daughters telling you what she has learned about Matariki so far...DISCLAIMER: please don't take it as gospel but rather a super cute version of a 5 year old from Aotearoa trying to summarise all the cool new things they have learned about Matariki this week! :)
One thing I have learned throughout my years in education is open and regular communication with your Māori community is a must if you want to establish a positive and meaningful relationship with them.
I strongly encourage schools to take up this wero but many ask for examples of this in action - so here is one we are trying at the moment.
As part of our commitment to increased and improved communication with our Māori community, this year at Cobham Intermediate, we have created 'Pānui Ako', a term report sent out to all of our parents via the school newsletter and our Facebook page and emailed directly to all Māori whānau. We also send copies to all school whanaunga e.g. Burnside Primary, our MoE Senior Advisor, BoT, our local hapū-Ngāi Tūāhuriri, our cluster co-ordinator and other members of our wider school community.
Pānui Ako is designed and written by members of our whānau advisory group, which is made up of several staff, Māori students and some of their parents.
We hope you enjoy learning more about Cobham and our amazing tamariki -koia kei a rātou!
I somehow got thrown in front of a camera to share a little bit about what Cobham Intermediate is doing to celebrate Chinese Language Week, but more importantly, to acknowledge and celebrate our Chinese students and families. Cultural responsiveness is one of our school focus areas for professional development and so far this year, this has been strongly aligned to working with our Māori and Pasifika communities, but with a 21% Asian student population at Cobham, how we welcome, support and celebrate the asian cultures and what they bring to Aotearoa is extremely important to me as an educator, to all of our students and of course to our wider school community. I don't think I will be getting a call from Hollywood anytime soon though ;)
Monday, July 20, 2015
Whakanuia te wiki o te reo Māori
Celebrate Māori language
week
The kaupapa for Te Wiki o te Reo Māori 2015 is ‘Whāngaihia te reo
Māori ki ngā mātua,' with the aim to encourage and support the language development of parents who can then whāngai the language to their children.
Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa. Greetings to you all.
Te Wiki o te Reo Māori /Māori Language Week takes place this year
between Monday 27 July and Sunday 2 August. This special week provides
an opportunity to celebrate and learn te reo Māori, helping to secure its
future as a living, dynamic, and rich language.
I strongly urge and encourage you to really step it up and promote the use
of te reo Māori at school during this week and
hopefully beyond. Here are some practical ideas that I know all of you can
try next week with your class & around home and school: - Greet everyone in person, everyday in te reo Māori (kia ora, tēnā
koe/kōrua/koutou, mōrena, ata mārie, ka kite anō, haere rā, e noho rā) &/or
change your email greetings/signature to te reo Māori using these google
doc ‘Useful Phrases in te reo Māori' - https://goo.gl/ZgB0hH - Always start & end the day/session with our school karakia
- Sing a Māori waiata everyday http://tereomaori.tki.org.nz/Reo-Maori-resources/Hei-Waiata - Learn theseclassroom kupu-https://quizlet.com/subject/classroom-kupu/ & then create labels to stick them to the relevant objects in your
class, use the Māori names of the objects when possible
- Sign up to Te Kupu o te Wiki http://kupu.maori.nz/ - Share with your class everyday a different Whakataukī -
https://goo.gl/QEqJOAor Kīwaha-https://quizlet.com/subject/maori-kiwaha/ - Ensure you and your kids know how to pronounce Māori names correctly
(people e.g. Anaru, Hurihia, Awanui, Ngāriki and places e.g. Akaroa,
Rangiora, Ōtautahi)
- Celebrate all the Māori words you & your kids know already, you might be
surprised - make a class list & identify them all e.g. kai, marae, mana, kaupapa, whānau. Discuss their meaning, practice pronunciation but most
importantly, commit to using the kupu/words you already know in your
everyday conversations
- Know these two documents inside out & use them as key resources for
planning, teaching and assessing te reo Māori at school 1) Te Aho Arataki Marau mō te ako i te reo Māori Kura
Auraki http://tereomaori.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-guidelines 2) He Reo Tupu, He Reo Ora http://hereoora.tki.org.nz/ - Get to know your kids better by learning & sharing your own and as well
as their own mihi
- Identify & discuss important Māori values -
http://tereomaori.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-guidelines/The-importance-of-learning-te-reo-Maori/Exploring-shared-values. Decide as a class how we
can demonstrate, celebrate & promote these values at school
- Share some of the articles, videos, stories from the links below with your
whole class
- If you need help, please just ask. I am always happy to help with
pronunciation, support & encouragement!
Don’t just think about it - commit to it, kōrero Māori e!
Ka Hikitia! Ka Hikitia! The goal of Ka Hikitia to have Māori enjoying educational success as Māori is an admirable one. But one that does not happen overnight and not without a lot of time, effort and work.
When I think of what Māori enjoying educational success as Māori means to me, I think of the needs of Māori learners being met on every level. Academically they are achieving to the best of their ability, socially they are connected and confident, their mana and wairua are strong and their potential is recognised and celebrated. Their language, culture and identity is something to be proud of and the school celebrates and promotes this. It should be cool to be Māori and our Māori kids know it, feel it and own it - our teaching and learning programmes are tailored to their strengths and interests and support is in place when and where needed. Māori preferred learning styles are identified and teachers' practice strategies that engage Māori best. What do you think it means? Have you ever asked your staff and unpacked what it means to them, what is happening in your school currently and what you may need to improve on? Have you ever asked whānau and iwi what this actually means to them?
Being a fully released Deputy Principal, I have several key responsibilities as part of my role. Māori achievement is one I am passionate about. When I interviewed for this position I had read the schools great ERO report and had noticed that one of their recommended steps for improvement was in this area, which appealed to me as I felt I could get my teeth stuck into that. But where do you start? This blog post is about documenting some of the things I have been able to get underway in what has and will be an amazing journey for our kura.
The school had identified meeting the needs of Māori as one of our key priorities this year, so we have dedicated the whole of Term 2 to this kaupapa. One of the first places I wanted to start is with our key stakeholders and most importantly, our whānau and iwi. There had not been a whānau consultation hui at our school for several years. This is where I wanted to start and being an intermediate, you cant afford to muck around, as we lose 50% of our student population every year. So a whānau hui was planned to ask our whānau the following key questions and get their feedback, which was amazing. We had a great turn out and here are some of my tips for ensuring a successful hui:
Hold it in a neutral space, not a classroom
Provide a fantastic kai for your manuhiri, this shows them that you are good hosts who value manaakitanga and remember the mana of the school is at stake
Follow Māori customs if possible. We opened with karakia & waiata from our kaumatua, our principal then spoke in Māori and English and then we did mihimihi - all parents and kids together. After this we had a shared kai as a whole whānau
After kai, the kids left and were supervised by a teacher while we held group discussions with the parents. Provide supervision for kids so parents can come & don't have to worry about a babysitter
Most importantly, LISTEN and ensure you follow up afterwards. Often relationships break down with whānau because they only hear from you regarding negative things and then after a hui they have shared all their hopes and aspirations but don't hear back from the school again about whether any of these are being addressed
All of the parents and teachers who attended our hui had a fantastic time and were really enthused about what we could be doing for our tamariki. We have now developed a whānau advisory group with Māori parents and tamariki. They will meet with me once a term to firstly design an action plan, and then implement it, a step by step plan of how we will bring their aspirations to life.
Also during this term, my principal and I met with a representative from the education branch of Ngāi Tūāhuriri. Ngāi Tūāhuriri, of Ngāi Tahu descent, are our closest hapū, who have mana whenua of this takiwa. Our school is very keen to build a reciprocal and close relationship to our local hapū and so meeting with them was our first step. We are sending most of our staff to a professional development day in the school holidays at their marae Maahunui II, in Tuahiwi, to learn about Ngāi Tahu history and Ngāi Tūāhuriri tikanga and protocols. It is important to us that we uphold the tikanga of our hapū and that our Māori learners are connected to the history, people and land where their school and home is located first and foremost, whether they are of Ngāi Tahu descent or from other iwi. We intend to progress and develop our ongoing relationship with Ngāi Tūāhuriri by implementing some of the following ideas if possible:
Termly newsletters about 'Māori enjoying educational success as Māori' will be shared with all whānau, wider school community and Ngāi Tūāhuriri
Staff attending all PD offered by Ngāi Tūāhuriri and internal staff PD around Te Kete o Aoraki
Sharing of important school events and updates with Ngāi Tūāhuriri and also keeping informed of important events and updates from the hapū so we can support or attend any events that might be appropriate for our school to participate in
Encouraging our whānau to enrol our tamariki in events Ngāi Tūāhuriri are providing e.g. Kia Kūrapa, Taiaha Wananga
Sharing learning and achievements with Ngāi Tūāhuriri, especially those that are related to our Ngāi Tahu learners, Māōri students and any of cultural significance
So with whānau and iwi relationships being developed, it was important to hear from staff and students at school. This term, all staff PD has been planned around meeting the needs of our priority learners, in particularly Māori and as part of how we can best meet their needs, culturally responsive practice is also a main focus. We began the term looking at what does the MoE mean by priority learners, who are our priority learners at school and what do we know about them. We developed a google spreadsheet with all information and data collected about all of our priority learners right across the school. This information includes national standards and OTJs but more importantly it includes information about home life, strengths, interests, iwi links, languages, support agencies, behaviour etc etc. It is a holistic view of each child, shared with every member of the staff so at any time, all of us can read and add to the bigger picture of who this child really is. This information is also used to support teacher inquiries into how we are meeting the needs of these learners. The following week we were extremely fortunate to have Dr's Angus and Sonja MacFarlane present to our staff about cultural responsive practice and what this could look like in a school working with Māori learners and whānau. This workshop was opened up to all schools and staff from our learning community cluster as it is such an important kaupapa and it was such an honour to have them work with us that it made sense to offer this opportunity to as many kaiako as possible!
Next I collected student voice to share back to our staff. I wanted to hear from our Māori kids what it is really like being Māori at our school. Some of their responses were insightful, informative and at times brutally honest. I played the recordings back to our staff so we could hear what our kids thought and reflect on what things were working vs what things were not working. We also broke into groups to work through a 'cultural audit' of things that we are dong well and gaps we think need addressing. The senior leadership team will use all of this feedback, from staff, whānau and stduents to inform our action plan for what our next steps are. We also have Dee Reid, a professional development facilitator coming to take a staff workshop on Ka Hikitia: Accelerating Success and Tātaiako, in preparation for staff looking at how they can utilise the cultural competencies as part of their own goal setting and our appraisal process.
And this is just the beginning! The kaupapa doesn't end after Term 2. We made this the sole focus for this term but just so we could get going and start things off right, with the time and space to really assess where we are at and what we need to do. We have started daily karakia in all classes and model this as staff by also saying karakia together for staff hui and in assembly. I hope that soon when you visit our school, we will have developed our own protocols around how we welcome manuhiri, in line with Ngāi Tūāhuriri tikanga for mihi whakatau. All staff will be learning their mihi and karakia and waiata because we know that unless teacher proficency and confidence is developed, te reo me ōna tikanga Māori in the class will suffer. The whānau advisory group and myself will ensure our action plan is in place and being implemented so we can all develop our practice to better meet the needs of our Māori learners - it will be a journey for us all. And I can't wait!
