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