Thursday 5th October
Activity 4 - Culturally responsive pedagogies in the classroom: indigenous student experiences across the curriculum
The school I teach at has a roll of 566 students, this includes 75 Māori children. This number, in comparison to other schools is a small percentage, which could be seen as a disadvantage.
I have always believed that teaching is about building relationships and student engagement. How can anyone expect our students to learn if we haven’t created an inclusive, safe and culturally supportive learning environment? Bishop discussed the importance of agentic teachers holding the key to raising Maori achievement. These teachers understand the importance of learning context, learning conversations, cultural experiences and integrating knowledge. This supports students to achieve in a predominantly European styled education system. The long term implications on disparities of Maori in our education system will impact socially, politically and economically.
To strengthen cultural responsiveness The Ministry of Education designed a document Tātaiako: Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Learners (Ministry of Education, 2011). The 5 competencies support personalised learning to ensure every student, particularly Maori reach their educational potential.
The competencies are:
• Wānanga: participating with learners and communities for the benefit of Māori.
• Whanaungatanga: actively engaging in respectful working relationships with
Māori learners.
• Manaakitanga: showing integrity, sincerity and respect towards Māori beliefs,
language and culture.
• Tangata Whenuatanga: affirming Māori learners as Māori.
• Ako: taking responsibility for their own learning and that of Māori learners.
Part of my class culture is using the tuakana teina relationship, an integral part of traditional Māori society, which provides a model for buddy systems (Ministry of Education). The Cowie report found that for many students from Maori and Pasifika backgrounds, teaching other students younger or less skilled than themselves offers a culturally authentic opportunity to show and share what they have learnt. One aspect of my teaching that I would like to develop is to become more creative with how students demonstrate their learning and understanding of a topic in more meaningful ways. With more technology available the opportunities are endless. This is supported in Cowies research which found students thrive when they have multiple and diverse opportunities to develop, express and receive feedback. Some key areas that Cowies report identified which I do, but can strengthen further are having oral discussions, visual presentations, dramatisation, videos and producing a physical model. These are effective ways to communicate ideas and share what they have learnt.
Our school Kapa Haka group, Te Roopu Puke Taumata is a celebration of Te reo Maori, tikanga, and waiata. The kapa haka has grown stronger over recent years with a group of 130 students taking part in this years Tuwharetoa festival. This is the result of a strong and committed team of teachers who are willing to teach the roopu (group) more about Maori culture, no matter what their personal cultural heritage.
As a school we need to continue to be cultural responsiveness to all cultures, however Te Reo Maori is uniquely New Zealand. I will continue to develop my culturally inclusive classroom, Bishop (2012) factor of caring for Maori as Maori at the centre of all that I do and also extend this to all cultures within my classroom to truly be culturally responsive to all my students.
References:
Cowie, B., Otrel-Cass, K., Glynn, T., & Kara, H., et al.(2011).Culturally responsive pedagogy and assessment in primary science classrooms: Whakamana tamariki. Wellington: Teaching Learning Research Initiative. Retrieved from http://www.tlri.org.nz/sites/default/files/projects/9268_cowie-summaryreport.pdf
Hi Sarah. From an outsider's point of view,I think your school does a great job of honouring your Maori students, when they are only 13% of your whole community. Your kapa haka group are always amazing.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog. Your reflections are really honest.
Your comments on Cowie's research are interesting. Discussing the aspect of Maori students and their learning with a colleague, she emphasised the importance of authentic learning experiences with these students and 'passing' on their knowledge. Just like their legends and stories.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting read Sarah. You are so right in that an inclusive, safe and culturally supportive learning environment is the absolute bottom line. Tātaiako: Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Learners (Ministry of Education, 2011) is a great document as it identifies the broader, more holistic approach. I think most of us do this in our classrooms anyway without being aware that there are particular labels. I see the whole concept of cultural responsiveness as that Whanaungatanga sitting under the umbrella of Kaupapa Māori. This is literally the understanding of making decisions in ‘a Māori way’. (Smith, 2004; Macfarlane, 2008; Barnes, 2009). Whanaungatanga, as you pointed out, is being culturally responsive to all cultures.
ReplyDeleteI like the way that you have included Tātaiako: Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Learners (Ministry of Education, 2011) is an excellent document. It was great to see that you suggested the need to be cultural responsive to all cultures. I connected with this as my school is only bi-cultural and our challenge is to acknowledge other cultures that are not in our school or local community but learners will come across in their lifetimes.
ReplyDelete