Cultural
responsiveness can be seen in the way that we as teachers interact with our
students and how we interpret and acknowledge their beliefs and past experiences.
We must also be confident in our own beliefs while being receptive to new
learning and reciprocal learning alongside our students.
I believe
that as cultural competent teachers we must be able to use a learners past to
benefit their learning. Allowing a student the opportunity to engage in a
context by providing opportunities or briefs for them to build upon and create
a passion for learning. We must build relationships with our learners and create
an environment of trust. Asking questions without probing, having a sense of
passion, remembering names and pronunciation, giving students the opportunities
to guide and teach and seeking feedback and valuing opinions.
As a school with 35% of our students coming
from Maori decent, we employ a range of strategies to integrate Kaupapa Maori
values into our school culture. One of our main school goals has been a focus
on raising Maori achievement. This has included frequent Whanau
information evenings for family to better understand what their daughters are
going through with the expectations of NCEA, workload, time management and
credits. We are working on Increasing
Maori achievement through raising staff levels of culturally responsive and
relational pedagogy (CRRP). As a school we have realised the importance of this
goal, and have been provided with additional support which we are already benefiting
from. At the beginning of the year a staff meeting was held in the Whare and
the HOD Maori explained that to live in Aotearoa meant we all had ownership and
responsibility for Maori and protecting the land and sea. The students spoke of
how it felt to be Maori in the classrooms and some of the things that make a
difference to them. This resonated with a lot of our staff and as a result we
seen some positive actions taking place within the school.
We are
working closely with Kia Eke Panuku, using Rongohia te Hau to establish our
base level and what the next step would be, which turned out to be a need to
increase student centred teaching. The
Rongohia Te Hau tool is one of the most effective ways of taking a snapshot of
where we are at, and the co-construction of findings for this was invaluable. The
facilitators have been working with a range of teachers to implement the peer
Rongohia Te Hau tool which will be of great use and they are fitting in with
where we are at and our needs and have offered to help us in any way they can.
We are very much enjoying working with them and appreciate their input and good
questioning. Many HODs present at this PD opportunity could see it as being an
invaluable tool for having observation conversations with staff looking at
becoming more culturally responsive in their practice.
For our
students we have implemented the Aim High (renamed ART programme) for the At-Risk
year 12 students with an emphasis on increasing Maori achievement. This group
is getting stronger each year, with students being identified much earlier,
from hard achievement data and teacher referrals. There are 58 students on the
programme who have all identified a key staff member that they’d like to work
with. That person works with whanau, the student and Ngati Wai. Training has
been be given to these staff and a whanau evening was held to learn more about
the programme, ask questions and for everyone to meet and have input into it.
Mana
Kaitiaki is another student group initiated by past prefects. These girls look
to support one another through mentoring and relationships, they received
training and are being well supported by senior staff, MOE facilitators and
Ngati Wai iwi.
Being a cultural responsive school our students
have created and developed a school karakia called Te Timatanga,
This was a completely student
driven initiative by our Head Girls, and inspired by Justice Hetaraka’s (WGHS
Prefect) initial proposal/initiative to normalise Maori Culture within the
school, and to create an inclusive and comprehensive learning environment for
every student.
The girls launched the initiative during
Matairiki, with a whole school recital, and
various musical acts, followed by a balloon release to symbolise the “New
Beginning”. Students were also asked to write a positive personal affirmation,
with these being collected in to be mulched, and utilised in planting a tree
which will stand in WGHS for many years to come, as a reminder of our culture
and spirit.
Te
Timatanga 'The Beginning'
Horahia
te marino
Kia aio te ra
Manaakitia nga whanau
Me ratou e mauiui ana
E rawakore ana
Uhia mai o tomairangi atawhai
Ki runga i a matou
Hei ako pai I nga mahi mo tenei ra
Kia papapounamutia te huarahi
Ki mua I a tatou
Whakamama nga wahine I apopo
Tihei mauri ora
Kia aio te ra
Manaakitia nga whanau
Me ratou e mauiui ana
E rawakore ana
Uhia mai o tomairangi atawhai
Ki runga i a matou
Hei ako pai I nga mahi mo tenei ra
Kia papapounamutia te huarahi
Ki mua I a tatou
Whakamama nga wahine I apopo
Tihei mauri ora
Shower
serenity upon us
Guide our families and people in need
Cover us in love and care
So that it may reflect in our learning
Guide us through our daily endeavours
To empower tomorrow's women
Be healthy, be happy, be safe
Guide our families and people in need
Cover us in love and care
So that it may reflect in our learning
Guide us through our daily endeavours
To empower tomorrow's women
Be healthy, be happy, be safe
We are fortunate
within the Technology and Arts departments, in that we can set very broad
design brief where students are required to incorporate their own stance,
culture, opinions and values. Students are encouraged to build on previous
experiences, interests and backgrounds, with the hope that they personalise and
engage with the context of the brief. For example, my 11DVC class we were looking
at Jewellery Design, incorporating an environmental or cultural issue. One of
my Maori students chose to symbolise the stingray, representing the protection
of shellfish, she portrayed this through the design of a cuff bracelet worn
around the wrist.
We believe
that through building relationships with our students we can encourage them to
create design ideas that are meaningful and of interest. This ability to
provide opportunities for student lead learning is invaluable for us as a staff
as we find ourselves in a constant state of learning, learning about our
students and their varying cultures.
Being
culturally responsive is something we have to acknowledge and actually work on,
for some of us it does not come naturally, however in order to move forward and
support our students to be the best they can be, we need to keep working on it.
References
Bishop. R.,
Berryman, M., Cavanagh, T. & Teddy, L. (2009).Te Kotahitanga:
Addressing educational disparities facing Māori students in New Zealand. Teaching
and Teacher Education, 25(5),734–742.
Blank.
A., Houkamau. C &
Kingi, H. (2016) UNCONSCIOUS BIAS AND EDUCATION - A comparative study of Māori
and African American students. http://www.antonblank.com/uploads/2/6/4/6/26465847/unconsious-bias-and-education.pdf
Tātaiako -
Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Learners: A resource for use with
the Graduating Teacher Standards and Practising Teacher Criteria
Creating culturally responsive learning
environments and contexts for all akonga
Kia Eke
Panuku – Building on Success
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