Week 31 - Practice - Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Responsiveness

For Week 31, I am going to reflect on Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Responsiveness in practice using the reflection model that Rolfe’s (2001) designed.

Step 1 (What): 

What is cultural responsiveness?  From my research to understand what cultural responsiveness is, I came across this, “…cultural responsiveness is much more than introducing myths or metaphors into class.  It means interacting with their families to truly understand their reality; it mean understanding the socio-political history and how it impacts on classroom life; it mean challenging personal beliefs and actions; and, it means changing practices to engage all students in their learning and make the classroom a positive learning place for all students” (Education Council, Earl, with Timperley, Stewart, 2008).  Some very powerful words to think about.  You could ask yourself, what are you currently doing to promote this in your class or school. 

Under the New Zealand Curriculum Principles two key features stand out:

·       “Treaty of Waitangi:  The curriculum acknowledges the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and the bicultural foundations of Aotearoa New Zealand.  All students have the opportunity to acquire knowledge of te reo Māori me ōna tikanga.”

·       “Cultural diversity:  The curriculum reflects New Zealand’s cultural diversity and values the histories and traditions of all its people” (2007, p. 9).

Step 2 (So what): 

There has been much research and debate around best practice for ensuring that Māori students achieve success in their education.  Evidence has shown that Māori tamariki succeed highly when education in the classroom reflects, values and echoes their identity, language and culture (MOE, 2013).  As educators, we have read or heard about the low record of accomplishment of some Māori achievement within the education sector.  Statistics has shown a disappointing record of accomplishment of consistent Māori underachievement.  The continuous underachievement for Māori students across New Zealand has major implication New Zealand’s future.  As educators and leaders, we need to ensure that we are being cultural responsiveness to all tamariki to raise the standard of achievement across New Zealand, because “projections to 2021 show that Maori, Pacific, and Asian populations in Aotearoa/New Zealand will grow at a faster rate than the European population” (Tomlins-Janhnke, 2008, p. 3).  We need to be ensuring that we are catering for all children that have the necessarily 21^st century skills and strategies for an unknown future.  I am very fortunate to be working under a principal that has a deep pedagogical understanding and mana of the Maori world.  My principal leads by example, sharing her experiences as a young Maori student moving through the years of education in New Zealand.  She has a master’s degree in education, which focused on Maori Education.  She walks the talk.

Step 3 (What next): 

Our school is very fortunate to be a part of a collaborative and productive Community of Learning.  We have made our strategic goal four: Culturally Responsive Practice – to value diversity; and validate culture, language and identity.  We have dedicated leaders looking into best practice of promoting schools to be culturally responsiveness.  Within the Maori language, the verb ‘ako’ has two meanings, “to teach” and “to learn”.  I see these two meaning interlocking together.  To teach successfully we need to learn about our students.  To learn we need to be able to build trust and respect of each other.  I believe that our school is on the right waka and paddling in the correct direction.  We have a strong leader with a high standard of mana within our community, with future-focussed ideas and a team willing to work together for positive and successful outcomes. 

Reference:

Education Council, New Zealand.  Tātaiako – Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Learners:  A Resource for use with the Graduating Teacher Standards and Practicing Teacher Criteria. 

Ministry of Education, (2007).  The New Zealand Curriculum for English-medium teaching and learning in years 1 – 13.  First published for the Ministry of Education of Education, by Learning Media Limited, Wellington, New Zealand.

Ministry of Education, (2013).  Kahikitia – Accelerating Success 2013 – 2017.  The Māori Education Strategy. 

Tomlins-Jahnke, H, (2008).  The place of Cultural Standards in Indigenous Education.  MAI Review, 2008, 1, Article 1.

Image - http://core-ed.org/legacy/professional-learning/options/culturally-responsive-practice