THIS. MOVED. ME
"Do [our] values stem from the rākau (in the context of this piece, rākau is abbreviated from pene rākau, or pencil) – where they are penned merely to tick the ‘culturally-responsive to Māori’ box – or do they emanate from the ngākau (from the heart) – where they are authentically experienced in all aspects of school life by learners, teachers, school leaders, and whānau?"
Excerpt from From the rākau to the ngākau: Exploring authentic approaches to leadership, policy, and pedagogy.
I am in the process of writing individual plans/Toi Whenua for the Māori children in my class. So, I've been reflecting deeply on the best way to do this to ensure that it is authentic and useful to my akōnga and whānau.
I reflected on the work of Anne Milne at Kia Aroha College (I listened to her almost 10 years ago) talk about her research at a conference I organised for early childhood teachers in Auckland. You can see her video below, and her research "Colouring in the White Spaces" here. She encourages us to 'interrogate' our practice, to look at our school, our interactions, our words and our behaviours and 'step up' for our tamariki. She asks "How might you work and engage with our Maori learners so that they might "enjoy educational success as Maori?"
"Do [our] values stem from the rākau (in the context of this piece, rākau is abbreviated from pene rākau, or pencil) – where they are penned merely to tick the ‘culturally-responsive to Māori’ box – or do they emanate from the ngākau (from the heart) – where they are authentically experienced in all aspects of school life by learners, teachers, school leaders, and whānau?"
Excerpt from From the rākau to the ngākau: Exploring authentic approaches to leadership, policy, and pedagogy.
I am in the process of writing individual plans/Toi Whenua for the Māori children in my class. So, I've been reflecting deeply on the best way to do this to ensure that it is authentic and useful to my akōnga and whānau.
I reflected on the work of Anne Milne at Kia Aroha College (I listened to her almost 10 years ago) talk about her research at a conference I organised for early childhood teachers in Auckland. You can see her video below, and her research "Colouring in the White Spaces" here. She encourages us to 'interrogate' our practice, to look at our school, our interactions, our words and our behaviours and 'step up' for our tamariki. She asks "How might you work and engage with our Maori learners so that they might "enjoy educational success as Maori?"
After living overseas for so long, I am excited about reigniting this kaupapa and making an impact on the learners in my class. While I have some work to do, I am confident that the hard work will pay off. I have no doubt that this work stems from the ngākau (especially being a young Maori student myself struggling with my own identity).
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