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| Staff PLD Monday March 20 |
We had the pleasure and privilege of having Dr Rae Si'ilata present at our Monday morning Staff PLD (Week 8 Term 1 Monday March 20). The focus of the PLD was an introduction to the Tātaiako: Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Learners document.
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| Tātaiako - Click on the image to access the document |
Tātaiako: Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Learners is about teachers’ relationships and engagement with Māori learners and with their whānau and iwi. Designed for teachers in early childhood education (ECE) services and in primary and secondary schools, it will support your work to personalise learning for, and with, Māori learners, to ensure they enjoy educational success as Māori. Dr Rae Si'ilata along with her colleagues from her Va'atele Education Consulting team spent the morning with us (Tamaki College Kaiako) introducing us to the document and the key cultural competencies that make up the framework. I left this PLD feeling inspired and motivated to LEARN more about my Maori akonga - really get to know them and understand their whakapapa, their story, their history - in a way that will be meaningful and beneficial to their achievement. In this post I am going to reflect on my key take away and gems from the PLD.
Maori akonga vision for Tātaiako
Knowing our learner is not just about knowing their story but it also about knowing their hopes and dreams. Dr Rae shared the vision - a vision that is direct from Maori akonga - on how they see Tātaiako for them in their learning and in school. Here is some of the highlights from a section that Dr Rae started with (that encapsulates akonga voice in relation to Tātaiako) entitled 'Mataitipu - Vision for Young People'
"Our well being is connected"
"We have a shared responsibility to each other"
"We engage in learning that is meaningful to us"
"We know our world is connected"
"Language, culture and identity is at the center of everything that we are doing"
Their vision and what they want from this approach, this kaupapa - resonated with me. Most of the time we as teachers drive our learning intention, objective and vision with our akonga- which is good, we are in a position where our leadership and direction is needed. In this space, in this context - with Tātaiako at the center - especially as non Maori - it is imperative that I keep this at the forefront when it comes to my Maori learners. This can be achieved through talking to them - seeing what they want, understand who they are and design my learning program around their strengths and what they need.
Reflecting on our own journey
Venturing into the world of Tātaiako and Tāpasa as kaiako can be daunting. Sometimes you feel that what you know is not enough and that there are so many gaps that you need to fill. Dr Rae posed some quick fire questions that she wanted us to discuss and reflect on. I enjoyed this as it highlighted what I know but also, areas of opportunity where I can learn, grow and share when it comes to Tātaiako. Below are the questions Dr Rae shared and my answers.
1) Who are manawhenua in your rohe? What words come to mind when you think of their stories and history?
The manawhenua in Glen Innes is Ngati Paoa. I learnt through this our local curriculum PLD sessions that we had in 2022 and specifically through the hikoi we took in Term 4 2022 (see Alby's Blog Entry - 13/11/22)
2) Of the Maori whanau is in your class and in your school, what hapu/iwi do they whakapapa to?
I honestly do not know. I am going to assume that it is Ngapuhi but I want and need to find out. I will talk to my Maori learners and see what they know (even if it is the name of their Marae) and we can find their iwi from there online.
3) What ethnicities are other akonga/tamariki in your class?
Cook Island, Tongan, Samoan, Niuean, Malaysian and many are mixed raced too.
4) Can you name any culturally located relational practices that you utilize in your teaching and learning provisions?
In my classroom, the style and approach I have is very much traditional in the typical teacher sense. In a different setting, such as Samoan group - I use this space to explore and exercise culturally located practices that are appropriate in this context.
What I learnt from this discussion for our Maori and Pasefika akonga and kaiako - we are a proud of colonization. Colonization has brought good things to our culture but at the same time it has had a huge impact on both Maori and Pasefika culture, identity and language.
Exploring the Tātaiako Cultural Competencies
I enjoyed this part of the PLD. Dr Rae and her team took us through the key cultural competencies and introduced us to the idea behind each one. There are five key cultural competencies.
- Wanaga - Participates with the learners, whanau and community in dialogue to benefit Maori learner's achievement.
- Whanaungatanga - Engage in respectful working relationships with Maori akonga, whanau, parents and community.
- Manaakitanga - Respect towards Maori belief, language and culture.
- Tangata Whenuatanga - Affirms Maori learners as MAORI.
- Ako - Take responsibility of learning
Dr Rae enforced that these cultural competencies value and meaning is something that is beyond Tātaiako. Tātaiako have taken these competencies and have customized it to fit the ideology and spirit of Tātaiako. We spent time going through each competencies and then we did a group exercise where we had to match the competency with the akonga and kaiako profile.
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| PLD PLuG group activity for Tātaiako |
I thoroughly enjoyed this PLD. Tātaiako is an encouragement for kaiako to see our Maori learners/akonga for the people that they are. To see them, understand them and value the people, whanau, awa and iwi that they carry with them. Tātaiako is also about opening up the lingustic space in the classroom and allow akonga to use all the cultural and language expertise that they bring to the classroom as a resource.
Dr Rae left us with a beautiful whakatauki - "Mā te ngākau aroha koe e ārahi" which translates into "Let a loving heart guide your decisions". May everything that we do as kaiako be driven by love.
Action steps going forward for Tātaiako:
- I intend on using my Year 9 class - 9TKl - as my focus point for Tātaiako.
- I want to focus on the cultural competency of 'Tangata Whenuatanga'. I would like to engage with them to see what they know about their iwi
- Then use this as a springboard to create their own autobiography/written assessment where they talk about themselves. This could be used as both a written and oral text.
- Hopefully I can use this model with my Pasefika/other learners
- Start Week 10 T1 + carry into Wk1 T2
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