Celebrating our Indigenous Language

Excerpt from The impact of colonisation on te reo Māori: A critical review of the State education system by Rachael Ka'ai Mahuta (2011)

The Treaty of Waitangi is a document that was designed to uphold the rights, language and culture of Māori. Instead, the indigenous culture of Aotearoa was subject to the European policy of assimilation. This means that though the agreement in the treaty was that the indigenous culture would be respected and nurtured, the reality was that Māori would simply be absorbed by the Pākehā culture, leaving no room for their language or traditions to be recognised.

In 1847 Sir George Grey introduced the Education Ordinance, effectively ending the incorporation of indigenous cultural identity in schools, going as far as to remove Māori children from their families so they would be completely immersed in European culture. Naturally this was the beginning of the huge decline in indigenous cultural practice. The impact of this language loss on culture and identity within the school environment is vast. In the early 1900's around 90% of students starting school had Te Reo as their first spoken language. By the 1960's it had reduced to closer to 25% (Ka'ai Mahuta, R., 2011) Today that number may be as low as 5%.

In the early 1970's concern for Māori language was expressed, leading to a petition requesting Te Reo be taught in schools signed by 30,000 was delivered to Parliament and Maori Language week is introduced. In the 1980's the efforts increased and the first Te Reo radio stations were broadcast. In the 1990's the Education Amendment Act provides formal recognition for Kura Kaupapa Māori and wānanga, Māori broadcasting funding agency Te Māngai Pāho established to promote Māori language and culture, More than twenty iwi radio stations broadcast throughout the country and the Government announces funding for Māori television channel. Today, the New Zealand Government recognises the errors in how the indigenous culture was treated after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, offering apologies, compensation and rectification of indigenous rights. (Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori)

My schools commitment to celebrating indigenous language is apparent in many different ways and is frequently being reviewed in order to provide the best possible coverage of Aotearoa's founding language and culture. We run a strong Te Reo programme in our classroom, attempting to use the language for a multitude of reasons school wide. For example: greetings, instructions and Waiata. In 2015 a Kapa haka group was introduced to celebrate Māori traditional song and dance. The school leadership programme provides ample opportunity for all our students from a multitude of cultures to join together and create a club that sparks a particular interest while teaching the students strong leadership values. We are encouraged to consider the impact on and upholding Māori values when creating our professional inquiry focuses each year.

Coming from a school that has a heavy population of students who are English Language Learners, it is imperative that we respect all the cultures that make up our small inner city school. With this, it is of equal importance that we show the same respect to our indigenous culture by incorporating it in to our every day schooling. We encourage families to continue speaking their native tongue at home so the students stay strong in their first language, and maintain knowledge of their families culture, traditions and values. As we move forward, we will continue to be inclusive of our school community when considering our next steps. To support indigenous language revitalization and maintenance, teachers must upskill themselves enough to be able to do justice to the cause. I feel a logical step forward in my own practice would be to take further steps in learning Te Reo and about the culture that is native to Aotearoa.

Resources used:

Ka'ai Mahuta, Rachael. 2011: The impact of colonisation on te reo Māori: A critical review of the State education system. Retrieved from: http://tekaharoa.com/index.php/tekaharoa/article/view/97/59

Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori - 'Maori Language Issues: History'. Retrieved from http://tetaurawhiri.govt.nz/english/issues_e/hist/index.shtml

'Māori Language Week', URL: http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/maori-language-week, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 5-Aug-2014

Indigenous positioning within professional contexts

The Treaty of Waitangi is considered to be New Zealand's founding document, but it is a founding document that was built on supposed miscommunication and misrepresentation of indigenous rights for both signing parties. Once signed, many aspects of the treaty were not upheld, meaning the language, traditions and values of the indigenous people dissipated. It hasn't been until recent years that this mistreatment has been tackled by the indigenous community but a result of this has been the crown recognising fault and compensating the effected parties. The inequality that has developed in the years since the treaty was signed is vast. Māori students were forbidden to speak in their native tongue while at school and their culture wasn't nurtured, which has lead to the decline in the awareness of their language and culture we are experiencing today.

How this is addressed within the context of my practice is through various means. As mentioned in my previous blog post, the Newmarket School deputy principal, Eilleen, works hard to build strong, lasting relationships with our indigenous families. Through on-going discussions and feedback from families, she is now addressing concerns through her professional inquiry this year. Part of this is implementing more opportunities for our students to learn about Māori culture, history and traditions. For example: a traditional Kapa haka group. Eilleen ensures she is in constant contact with the school's Māori community, listening to what they want and administering their feedback within the school environment. The developments are shared with the staff and have been implemented in many other staff members inquiry's school wide. Another programme in place at my school is the Leadership Programme. This encourages students to explore a hobby and find like minded students within the school by creating clubs. These clubs are lead by the students with very little teacher intervention, allowing the students to develop their own leadership skills and demonstrate initiative. This is especially rewarding to those who are not achieving academically, as it gives them a chance to show others something they feel comfortable with and are truly good at. Boosting the child's confidence in one area will hopefully transfer in to others. All of the steps we are taking align with that recommended by the Education Review Office and the report they released in June 2010 entitled Promoting Success for Māori Students.

Māori achievement is a major focus of our school, as it is with many others throughout Aotearoa. In a 2013 summary on student achievement completed by Education Counts, the difference between Māori students achieving At or Above in National Standards verses that of European children is substantial. Though in their monitoring they did notice that the gap has lessened between Māori and European achievement, there is still much more that needs to be done to make considerable difference.

Within the context of my own practice, this gap in achievement is a reality as well. With the continued persistence in empowering our indigenous students through understanding and use of their values and traditions it is hoped the students will overcome the inequality that has emerged.

Resources used

Ministry of Education, 2013. Education Counts: National Standards Data and Summary for 2013. Retrieved from https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/statistics/schooling/national-standards/National_Standards

The Education Review Office, 2010. Promoting Success for Māori Students - Schools' Progress. Retrieved from: http://www.ero.govt.nz/content/download/142757/2377914/version/14/file/Promoting+Success+for+Maori+Students+Schools%5C%27+Progress+2010.pdf

SMC History, February 2014. The Treaty of Waitangi Today - Legal Status. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBRf0IdjUOE&t=54

Mohsen al Attar, August 12th 2011. LAW121 - The Treaty of Waitangi. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRn8ly8rj6E

Cultural Context

In this reflective post, I am going to address the following points in relation to the cultural context of my practice:

• How does indigenous knowledge relate to social justice?

• How does this relate to human rights?
• How can I ensure the care and protection of indigenous knowledge within my teaching practice?
• Why is this a responsibility within my context of practice?

Social Justice relates to the distribution of wealth, opportunities and privileges within a society. Indigenous knowledge encompasses the skills, experiences and insights of people, applied to maintain or improve their livelihood (Ellen and Harris, 1996) which are passed on through many generations. The relation between social justice and indigenous knowledge is simple. To have a society that is inclusive of all it's members, we must consider all aspects of that societies make-up. This in turn relates to human rights because every human within a society is of equal importance regardless of wealth, social standing or cultural background. We all deserve equal rights and access to the opportunities that go along with that.

I can ensure the protection of indigenous knowledge within my practice by frequently sharing history and stories that relate to the indigenous past of our country such as the Treaty of Waitangi. I can also contribute by showing my students how this knowledge relates to their lives now and why the knowledge of our countries indigenous culture, past and present, is critical to have. This is incorporated in to my practice through Te Reo in the classroom as well as the inclusion of the Māori and other cultures in the classroom. In our school, the deputy principal works hard to maintain strong relationships with indigenous families, frequently holding discussions and requesting feedback and forward for our school. She willingly shares her extensive knowledge with me and the rest of the staff, giving us a practical and active approach to applying it to our practice. Within the context of my practice, it is my responsibility that I ensure my students have ample opportunity to be involved in Māori enrichment but also the vast collection of other cultures that require recognition within the context of my school. I too must undertake professional development to ensure my indigenous knowledge is thorough and is being actively used in my practice.

Resources used:

Ellen and Harris, 1996. Concepts of indigenous environmental knowledge in scientific and development studies literature: A critical assessment. Retrieved from: http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/Rainforest/SML_files/Occpap/indigknow.occpap_TOC.html 

Putt, J. 2013. Conducting Research with Indigenous People and Communities. Retrieved from https://app.themindlab.com/media/3308/view 

The Love Alliance. 2010, June 13th. What is Social Justice?. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VS20XrHivw 

Applied Professional Ethics

After reading this paper on Applied Professional Ethics by Göran Collste (2012), I found a lot of my personal and professional ethical views were addressed. Collste confronts the ever growing list of ethics that are being applied to areas of human activity, such as medical treatment, use of digital resources such as social media, environmental ethics plus much more. I find that all of the ethical applications I have mentioned are relevant in some form to my practice as a teacher in New Zealand.

When considering medical ethics, the students we teach and families we work with come from all walks of life. With this comes a broad range of medical diagnoses that require varying degrees of privacy and care, but all are in need of an ethical code for a school and the classroom teacher to abide by. These diagnoses range from behavioural and developmental disorders to varying degrees of physical conditions. As a teacher we must be considerate of all who are affected and the impact that this has on their well-being and schooling. Of equal importance is the environmental ethics we must instill in our students. In today's world, where we are in very real danger of diminishing our non-renewable resources such as oil, it has never been more important that environmental ethics become an active part of my professional practice. We must teach to the importance of considering the impact we are having on the environment and encourage proactive effort to make a change.

Probably the most relevant ethical application in my practice to date has been the use of digital resources, especially in relation to students. Collste states that in recent years, the development of some applied ethics relates directly to new moral problems that have arisen due to the new technologies that have been introduced. Education is going through a major overhaul at the moment as our students have access to an extensive range of digital devices and online tools. When it comes to the ethics involved in this development, I believe it is imperative that we as educators are educating our students to the best of our ability so they can become active, digital citizens who use this enormous resource to make a difference in the world, rather than just consuming applications, games and social media. 

When discussing professional ethics, Göran Collste attributes these three common, moral norms in society:

1. Relations to people dependent on professional work and service

These relations include, for example, relations between teacher and pupil, doctor and patient, salesmen and customer. Such relations generate professional moral norms, like honesty, fidelity, care and safety.

2. Relations to workmates

Almost all employees have workmates and colleagues. The relation between workmates generates professional moral norms of loyalty and solidarity.

3. Relations to employers

Much professional work is performed as employment regulated by a contract. A professional stands in relation to an employer. Even these relations generate moral norms, for example, loyalty and confidentiality.

My practice is based around building relationships with students, whānau, school staff and community, which means the professional ethics I must adhere to are vast. The school has a code of compliance that each teacher must follow that illustrates the importance of privacy, confidence and professional conduct. Along with this, there are social, digital, cultural and economic ethics I must consider when applying my practice. As addressed in my previous blog post, the context of my practice is that of a inner city school with a high percentage of non-english speakers, meaning I must proactively pursue relationships with these students and their families to ensure they feel their child is being cared for and is safe in our school environment.

I believe that as a teacher, my profession, alongside whānau, holds the responsibility to prepare each new generation for society. This goes beyond ensuring the student has extensive knowledge of core curriculum areas such as reading, writing and maths. It extends to us providing them with a sound understanding of how the world works and giving them the resources and moral and ethical understanding to become well rounded citizens who actively contribute to our society. 

Resources used:

Collste, G. (2012) Applied Professional Ethics. KEMANUSIAANVol. 19, No. 1,(2012), 17–33. Retrieved from: http://web.usm.my/kajh/vol19_1_2012/KAJH19_1_2012_2.pdf 

My Practice and Community

My area of practice is using technology in the classroom to enhance the students learning outcomes, but also helping families make the transition by developing a strong and meaning full home/school relationship. I have spent a large portion of this year adapting my practice in order to cater to the changing environment in the classroom. A major consideration in my area of practice is how the whānau feel about this change and ensure they are as comfortable with it as the students in my classroom.

Ally Bull, Keren Brooking & Renee Campbell - Authors for an Education Counts research project, inquired in to successful home school partnerships by asking the following questions:

• What are the main features of successful home–school partnerships and how do they operate in practice?
• What are the barriers and enablers to successful home–school partnerships?
• Are the success factors unique to the context?
• What is the impact of successful home–school partnerships on student presence, engagement and achievement?

They concluded that because the idea of actively building home school relationships is relatively new to New Zealand, they were limited in the observations they were able to make, therefore they could not establish a definite impact of building this. However, they have found positive feedback with many schools who are applying the Ministry of Education Home-School Partnership model in ways that suit their own school community. Homework and parent teacher interview structures were changed to encourage more interactive and inclusive tasks that require input from the family to complete. Overall, building the home-school relationship should not be an add on to an already demanding workload, but rather including it in our current practice in any way we can.

When considering my own personal practice, I approach this by maintaining a classroom blog on a weekly basis that contains student work, homework, photos from the week and details of any upcoming events. I also keep a reflective blog, where the community is able to see from my perspective how the classroom is going, progress we are making and challenges we face along the way. All students and their families are encouraged to check the blog regularly and post comments about the blog or ask any questions when they require clarification. The homework is designed to be inclusive of others at home, ranging from having discussions with family members to sharing and reflecting on activities from school. In addition to this, the school hosts curriculum evenings where families are able to participate in a range of workshops that can help them support their child’s learning at home.

A challenge of this, is that not all families have easy access to the blog. We have received feedback suggesting that some members of the community have not used blogs previously and require more information on how to navigate it before they feel comfortable using it. This is where the curriculum evenings the school hosts for the parents  area an excellent opportunity to see how it fits in to school life, and how it is possible for it to fit into their lives at home too.

The context of my practice is in a small, central Auckland primary school where the roll is more than 70% English Second Language Learners. Many of our students have very busy home lives. It is not uncommon for them to have a different extra curricular activity on each evening, or for parents to work long hours that restrict their ability to visit the school or talk to their child regularly about their learning. The purpose of my practice is to enable all students to have a level playing field and these parents to have access to a platform that allows them to see what their child is doing during the hours they are at school. For parents, it is imperative to give them a way to contact the teacher at a time that suits them, as well as ask any question or voice any concerns they have without having to make time to come in to the school. This simply is not possible for some of our busy parents.

The values that underpin my area of specialization come down to simply listening to the feedback we receive from the school community. Parents and other whānau want to be involved with school life, they want to know what is going on and now not only what their child is learning but how they’re learning it. The registered teachers criteria clearly states that as teachers we must engage in ethical, respectful, positive and collaborative professional relationships with whānau and other carers of ākonga and acknowledge and respect the languages, heritages and cultures of all ākonga. By constructing an environment that is open to all languages and families both of these criteria and perhaps others are being thoroughly met.  With this and the other criterion in mind, I inquire in to an aspect of my practice each year using the Ministry of Education Inquiry model.

This year my focus is on building those home - school relationships by making learning visible and clear to students and their whānau. In order to do this it is important to regularly gather and action feedback from the community. My core values are articulated within my organisational culture within the school quite clearly. With such a diverse range of students and home lives, we must work hard to build lasting connections with our families. This means we must be able to listen to and cater to their needs. As stated by Ally Bull, Keren Brooking & Renee Campbell in the 2008 research project into the impact of a home - school relationship, this must be incorporated in to our practice rather than creating 'additional work' that will not be sustainable long term. This doesn't just apply to the teacher but also to the students and their families as well. I have adapted my inquiry to confront this and what it means for my own practice.

To summarise: My practice surrounds the importance of technology in the classroom, but also using it to bridge the gap between home and school. I believe that the whānau understanding what goes on in the day to day life at school, it will be easier for them to support their child's learning at home, resulting in a positive impact on the students learning. However, in order to make this work, I must invest time in to delivering workshops and assistance to those families who need extra support when navigating the blog and other online tools, whether it be due to language barriers or technological capabilities. The New Zealand Registered Teacher Criteria, the Ministry of Education inquiry model and feedback from the community is what supports my view and works as a guildline to my own personal practice.

Resources used:

Bull, A., Brooking, K., & Campbell, R., 2008: Successful Home - School Partnerships. Retrieved from https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/schooling/28415/2

Ministry of Education, 2015. New Zealand Registered Teacher Criteria. Retrieved from: http://www.teacherscouncil.govt.nz/content/registered-teacher-criteria-1

Ministry of Education, 2009: Teaching as Inquiry. Retrieved from: http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-stories/Case-studies/Teachers-as-learners-Inquiry/Teaching-as-inquiry