Unpacking aspects of Te Tiriti
The Treaty of Waitangi has three principles that are referenced throughout. They have become not only a foundation of the Treaty for the Maori but also underlying aspects incorporated into the current curriculum. The three aspects are partnership, participation and protection (ANZASW). I have looked in-depth into the first principles Partnership during my time at Cromwell College.
Partnership relates to Kawanatanga a word meaning government control and leadership. Kawanatanga appeared in the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. The term was used as a translation from the English word governor. This entitled that they had complete sovereignty over the land (UNESCO). If the Maori Chiefs had known this was the translation its believed that they would have not signed the treaty. The Maori had quite different forms of leadership and social control therefor the word itself had a very different meaning. The word correlates much closer with the word partnership (Hayward, 2012).
Partnership is about working together. It’s about developing young people through the fusion of their Whanau, Iwi and Hapu so that all aspects of a young person’s lives are incorporated in their growth and general wellbeing. For partnership to work everyone needs to work collectively, sharing ideas, resources and support networks, so that the young person is supported during all stages of their lives (Clements, 2017).
Looking specifically at the New Zealand Curriculum and its vision around partnership, Kawanatanga and the treaty its purpose is so that young people will work together, sharing leadership and power, supporting everyone and the contribution that they bring no matter the origins (TKI). This recognizes a full treaty partnership, were schools support New Zealand’s history, understanding that everyone has rights and creating a special place to develop the beauty of Maori Culture.
During my time at Cromwell College I developed some insights, success, indications of inertia, challenges and resistances in relationship to Partnership. My insights include:
⎯ Successful passion for change and acceptance from authority figures in the school
⎯ Initiatives encouraging cultural respect and acceptance are flourishing
⎯ Challenging obstacles towards working together for young people
⎯ As well as some hesitation from majority of staff to incorporate others within learning
The greatest successes of implementation of partnership would be Leadership from authority figures. The principle at Cromwell College has create passion for making Cromwell a school that works as a team and increasing the acceptance and respect of all cultures. He installs through encouraging an atmosphere where relationships can be built and the opportunity to learn about each other’s backgrounds are encouraged. He leads by example by making an effort to know all the staff, students and their whanau, creating a school where everyone feels welcome. An example of this in action was an ‘enquire evening’ where all students, teachers, whanau and wider community were encouraged to come along and make suggestions around incorporating the community into the school so that everyone felt on the same page. Being the only Secondary School within this community, leadership that leads by example, is passionate about all his students is a real asset in successfully implementing partnership into the school.
My initial insight to the school I would have indicated that there were very little indications of inertia towards creating full partnership. However, as I have become immersed within the school I have observed that although only small elements of cultural acceptance and respect, these initiatives are only just developing and are flourishing very quickly. Those involved show a lot of pride within their work and you can see a change towards Maori culture becoming much more ethicized. The Yr. 7 and 8 students demonstrate understanding towards this partnership, indicating that the initiatives are working. Examples include involvement in house, and regional Kapa Haka groups, use of Te Reo Maori, understanding of cultural competencies and respect and support for all cultures.
The biggest challenges in creating partnership is having contribution from all aspects of a young person’s life. Being an area were most families have both parents working creates a real challenge in getting everyone on the same page. An example of this is one of the students was really struggling in my class, my AT wanted to set up an appointment with his parents so we could discus collectively as to what would be the best approach to aid in this student learning. Five weeks later we were still unable to sit down with the parent due to schedules clashing. The school acknowledges the huge importance whanau is to a student development, sometimes getting the parent onboard has a lot of obstacles. Creating other options and opportunities for parents to contract teachers, or for teachers to visit parents could allow the opportunity for partnership to occur.
The biggest resistance observed during my time at Cromwell College in having complete partnership would be involvement from local Iwi. I believe this is not the Iwis fault but resistance from the staff. Although the principle is excellent at this himself their still seems to be lack of follow through from the staff as a whole. I’m not sure if this is lack of knowledge, or some hesitation but seems most staff are stuck in traditional approaches to teaching, being teaching centered instead of incorporating students voice, whanau knowledge and local iwi experience.
“Effective Provision” of Te Reo Māori in the Classroom/School
Doing an initial analysis, research and observation of Cromwell College I have analyzed the ‘Effective Provision’ of Te Reo Māori in the Classroom/School in the above table. I have given reference to why I have made these decisions in the discussion below.
I have given Cromwell minimally effective for provision. Through inquiry with staff I discovered that Maori language is respected, however learning of the language only occurs briefly within the junior school. To access language programs or for one to immerse themselves into, online options are available, however not common. Although online programs are incredibly valuable for students, with no direct connection to language from the school meant that there is still a significant gap in provision.
I gave teaching, content and Iwi developing effectiveness. Throughout my placement at the college professional learning in relationship to Te Reo Maori were offered, however not compulsory. Some staff such as myself choose to participate, but majority off staff choose not to. My observation indicated, those choosing to immerse themselves within the culture would have successful pedagogical quality supported by the local iwi. However, the remaining staff would only have a basic generic understanding initiated by the principle rather than endorsed by the Iwi. The content then delivered to students was then only at entry level. I had an interview with Linda Close (HOD Art) about her views as a Maori Teacher. She indicated the school had “a lot of improvement to make to provide an educational setting for all learners” as the teachers and students needed further development (CLOSE, 2017). With a few staff containing enough knowledge to make connection to the wider community. As indicated above there are opportunities to progressed if wished however meant completion through outside providers. The education review indicates that Cromwell college is identifying with strategies to engage whanau and local Iwi, having run successful hui to build relationships with members of the Maori community. The school is started building these relationships by feeding regular reports to the board and whanau. The school still can strengthen its collaborat
ion hence its need to still develop effectiveness (Randell, 2014).
There is still a lot of improvement in relationship to responsiveness. This is the reason I gave it consolidating effectiveness. Whanau and students are given a voice through initiatives recently started by the school. This has given the school guidelines to what need to be improved however are still only at the beginning stages in being developed. The school allows an environment where every opinion is valued and takin into consideration. The progress has only just started therefor the reason a lot of the other areas still lack effectiveness.
To action a high level of provision of Te Reo Maori, plans and strategies need to be set in place within the classroom to optimize practice. I will be analyzing three of the five areas from the Te Reo Maori Rubric to utilize within my practice. For ‘provision’ of Maori language, it must be provided, valued and embedded within all educational settings. Within my teaching of physical education and health creating a strong network, were Maori language can excel and used proficiently by all allows the capacity of academic achievement and well-being of the Maori to increase (Kate McKegg, 2013). To optimize provision a strategy I would allow students to take leadership, implementing a traditional game using a dialog of them choose. This allows students to show pride and passion for their culture and ancestors (Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori – Māori Language Week, 2015), while also educating their peers about important aspects of their lives. Appreciation for culture is indicated to enhance “academic acheivment” (Irving, 2013). It also gives the students the capability to speak Te Reo Maori, teaching those around them their native tongue. This strategy allows all to benefit, and gain respect for each other. This ‘teaching’ allows a student-centered approach were those more proficient to can educate even the teacher. It allows for someone like myself, not yet fluent in Te Reo Maori to improve my knowledge while allowing my students to excel around me. Alongside this to improve ‘content’ I would have a set of introduction weeks were someone from the local iwi comes to the class teaching students as set of games/activities that they can then choose to develop within their lessons. This allows the local Iwi to feel connected to the education program as well as approving the learning topics. By using a combination of these strategies allows, Iwi, students and teacher to all feel connected and appreciated while also improving Te Reo Maori.
At the reflection of my TE the implementation of my strategies was a lot more difficult to implement than originally thought. Throughout the 7weeks at Cromwell College I only once had the opportunity to allow a student to implement a Traditional Maori activity. This was called Ki-o-rahi, the reference behind the game, terminology and input and participation was amazing to see. Te Reo Maori started to be used by majority of students and you could see real pride from the two students teaching it. Reflecting on this lesson I saw huge improvements from those leading the task as well as appreciation from all students involved. In the future, I would allow all students the opportunity to research and teach a Maori or Pasifica activity no matter their background. This way all students could develop their knowledge more. This would allow a broader knowledge enhancement, while also allowing all students to take a leadership role.
My biggest barrier was accessing knowledge from the local iwi. They seemed to appreciate being contacted, finding a time to suit everyone was very difficult. In the future, I would arrange it differently. As a class, we would visit the local iwi indicating the school’s appreciation for their knowledge. One of my biggest missing strategy was I needed to fully immerse myself as a teacher. Professional development is essential so that I can lead by example showing pride in my country’s indigenous people. With this knowledge, I would find it easier to approach our local Iwi and would have a better relationship to them.
Though completing this assignment, I have realized the importance of our history and how principles imbedded in our past can have such a positive effect of the engagement of students in the future. Through constant reflection and development as a teacher, I can use this knowledge to enhance the learning of all students and demonstrate the importance of shared partnership in the development of Aotearoa New Zealand.