Week 5 Term 4 - English Department: TOD Hikoi + Unpacking New NCEA Standards Part 2 - 1.1 [91924] (November 14 - 18)

HIKOI: A hīkoi is a walk or march, and especially a protest march or parade, in New Zealand. The word comes from the Māori language, and often implies a long journey taking many days or weeks.

The NZ Curriculum states that "A local curriculum can enrich learning opportunities for ākonga and prepare them for lifelong learning by ensuring coherence and continuity of progress, both over the years and across settings." An important part of local curriculum is the integration of local stories and understanding the history and context of the space, community and area. As a school, we have spent the last 10 months exploring the concept of local curriculum and what it means and looks like for us. Understanding our local area and the stories of the people who own and belong to the land (Mana Whenua) was the focus for our most recent TOD. On Thursday November 10, the English Department visited five places of significance in the cultural landscape of Ngati Paoa. We visited Maungarei (Mount Wellington), Mokoia Pa (Panmure), Mauinaina Pa (Marist Rugby Club), Te Whanake (Pt England Reserve) and Waiorohe (Karaka Bay). Our school Matua, Matua Harley, led us on the hikoi and shared the stories of Ngati Paoa and why these places were significant to them. 

MAUNGAREI (Mount Wellington)

English Department @ Maungarei

What was significant about this place?

• The name Maungarei means 'watchful mountain'
• There are various kumara pits placed around the maunga
• Shellfish (middens) was a rich source of food for the inhabitants of Maungarei. There are remnants of this within the mountain
• A story connected the mountain is the story of the two sisters Reipei and Reitu. Reipae and Reitu were two sisters from Waikato who both fell in love with a chieftain called Ueoneone from the north. He and his people were hoping he would marry both sisters so he sent a large eagle down to collect them. But Reipei had second thoughts. "She wanted to alight from the bird and asked it to land at Whangarei. There she met another chieftain named Tahuhupotiki who she later married. Whangarei was named after Reipei. Reitu went on to marry Ueoneonei and Maungarei makes reference to her name. That was the connection between Waikato and the north. There are a lot of those sorts of love stories. Important values, such as preservation and protection of certain areas, can be communicated through these stories. 
• How can use this in an English Literature context? We could use the story of Reipei + Reitu as a text for Year 9 + Year 10. Exploring the themes of preservation. 

Mokoia Pa (Panmure)

English Department @ Mokoia Pa (Panmure)

What is significant about this place?

• Mokoia Pa was an area where Ngati Paora settled. 
• In the 1820s the pa was attacked by a northern tribe and it was destroyed with many of those who lived there, who were killed. 
• The river estuary was considered 'statehigh way 1' and played a key part in the new settlement's development. Right up to the mid 1900s, the Panmure wharf was used by cutters and scows to bring in supplies and to take away produce. 
• Te Moko Ika A Hiku Waru was a taniwha, a water spirit, that guarded the mouth of the Tamaki inlet.
• How can use this in an English Literature context? I could use the story or concept of the taniwha as a writing prompt for creative writing for Year 9, 10 or 11 English. It could also work for NCEA Level 1 create a visual text. The story of how the pa was attacked could be used a text for NCEA Level 2 or Level 3 English for Connections (2.4) or Connections (3.7). 

From here, our job is to see how we can take these stories, the places and the history and apply it to our learning area. I look forward to seeing how we can integrate the history of Ngati Paoa and the places of interest to them, and use it in a meaningful way in an English literature context. We are aware that we do not want to use it in a way that seems to be 'ticking a box' but in a way that empowers both akonga and kaiako to learn about the people and the land in which they live and ultimately reflect and appreciate our own culture, beliefs and values. 

Mauinaina Pa (Marist Rugby Club)

English Department @ Mauinaina pa

What is significant about this place?

• The Mauinaina Pa belonged to Ngati Paoa, in 1821 Ngapuhi besieged the pa and hundreds of Ngati Paoa were killed. 
• Excerpt from 'The Fall of Mokoia and Mauinaina and the death of Kaea. 1821' (Geo Graham) writes 'Te Hinaki was the chief of Mauinaina, he was armed with two guns; Hongi personally had six, he was also armed with a Kahu-mata (Coat of Mail) and a steel helmet. At the fall of the pa Te Hinaki lost his life, but he was really slain by a gun fired by a Ngati-paoa chief; this was his own people, and was the outcome of jealousy. Hongi found the body and decapitated it, taking the head to Ngapuhi.The seige of Mauniaina lasted three days, and when the pa was about to fall, Rewa of Ngapuhi sent word to those in the Mokoia pa on the river side to urge them to escape.'
• First state housing (crown occupation) was at Mauinaina pa
• How can I use this in an English literature context? Explore the the story of Te Hinaki and link it to another text (Divergent etc?) compare and contrast historical figures and the rise and fall of their reign. 

Te Whanake (Pt England Reserve)

English Department @ Te Whanake

What is the significant about this place?

• Ngati Paoa are planning to build a marae at Pt England as part of their tribal strategy. 
• I learnt here that the perspective and lens of Te Ao Maori is a view point that Ngati Paoa communicate. Te Ao Maori view encaptulates Maori values and culture. 
• How can I use this in an English Literature context? Explore the idea of land ownership and what it means to live off the land and to live on the land. What does land ownership truly mean?

Waiorohe (Karaka Bay)

English Department @ the walk way to Waiorohe 

English Department @ Waiorohe (Karaka Bay)

What is significant about this place?

• There is a plaque that commemorates the members of Ngati Paoa who signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi. 
• How can I use this is an English context? Maybe look at the significance of names - history and do a research project on the history of student's names? This is a work in progress. 

The hikoi was a great experience. There was a lot of information to take in and to be honest, I am trying to filter through it all. I am inspired to use the stories from each significant place as a text in English and explore each text with my students, I may use my Year 9 and Year 10 English class as the focus group for these texts. 

UNPACKING 1.1 [91924]

In Week 5 of Term 3, the English Department started the journey in unpacking the new NCEA standards.  There are two internal assessments for the new Level 1 English curriculum and to date we have looked at one of the two internal assessments offered. We have looked at 1.2 [91925] and spent time unpacking the assessment. At the end of the session we had an understanding of what the standard is and what the opportunities are for us with the assessment. During our recent TOD, we looked at the standard 1.1 [91924] Demonstrate understanding of how context shapes verbal language use - we used the same approach to unpacking this assessment as we did with 1.2 in that we focused on six key areas as outlined below: 

What is the assessment?
What are the key words/concepts of the assessment?
What are the opportunities with this assessment?
What are the potential barriers for kaiako with this assessment?
What are our next steps?
Unpacking the three activities provided by NCEA

I will highlight what we discussed for each area: 

What is assessment?

Understanding the assessment - the fundamental elements of the assessment - is key. When we looked at the assessment our understanding of it was that kaiako have to focus on how language is shaped and used in different contexts. There are three ways that kaiako can present their findings. 

• Written report (750-800 words)
• Speech & slide show presentation
• Oral presentation (just speech)
• About an event - cultural event, formal occasion, interview

What are the key words/concepts of the assessment?

The key words and concepts from the assessment that stood out for us are: 

Context - it is a good word to understand. Emphasizes language as a ‘social thing’
Choice - multimodal - written, design and oral
Audience - knowing the context of the text helps you understand who the audience is
Verbal Language - Language Context
When looking at how language is shaped in texts (written + visual) we discussed that we need to focus on how PEOPLE use language not characters 

What are the opportunities with this assessment?

This is always an interesting and exciting area to look at. Once we had an understanding of the assessment, we started to see what the opportunities are for ourselves and our students. 

• Novel study - interview with the author for the text studied
• Film study - interview with the director for the text studied
• Poem study - interview with the poet for the text studied
• Marae - how is language used in a marae
• Reality contexts - Language weeks, powhiri, Polyfest, online (twitter + tik tok)
• Genre study - how is language used it genre studies
• Summer Heights High/Bro Town - look at good/bad teaching practice - students to teach
• How to/demonstration talk - presentation 

What are the potential barriers for kaiako with this assessment?

• Cultural fluency - if we do zoom in on a Maori language text/context - how can we measure it, please everyone?
• If there are classes struggling at a textual level - use a context approach that is concrete (like a job interview)  

What are our next steps?

Our next steps with not just this assessment but for the new standards is to Continue to talk and review the standard and changes with the team in readiness for 2024.

 

Everything that we discussed has been documented and we have already started to create an online folder of resources that we will use once the new NCEA Level 1 curriculum is given the green light. We know that there is time before this happens but we want to get our heads around the changes and to give ourselves time to discuss and understand the changes that are coming up. It is always good to be prepared and we are going to use the time that we have now, to prepare as a team for our kaiako.