The importance of understanding Te Ao Māori in my practice....

I was challenged by Associate Professor Sonja Macfarlane and Melissa Derby, University of Canterbury's blog post about authentic approaches and if Kaupapa Māori values were more than just words in New Zealand educational settings, which they referred to as rākau - derived from the Te Reo Māori word peni rākau or pencil being a metaphor for ticking the Māori culturally responsive check box.  The approach that was compared was ngākau which means from the heart, where the approach was authentic and where having a deeper meaning of Te Ao Māori concepts and values drives every part of the school. 


I was drawn to read this because of the behaviour management example that was used to consider whether Te Ao Māori values were truly integrated in the learning environment's culture.  I want my approach in my role as Special Education Advisor in the Behaviour Service to come from a ngākau position where restorative approaches are used in a school's behaviour management policy, where the focus is on restoring relationships and building harmony, developing accountability for those involved. 


This approach also really resonates with the learning design of Haeata Community Campus where I was working for the last two years and the difference this can make for our ākonga and rangatahi where mana not only remains intact but is enhanced by taking a strengths-based and learning (ako) approach to behaviour management.  This approach values manaakitanga, aroha and whānaungatanga which are all vales incorporated in the Haeata Community Campus learning design: the school values of manaakitanga, alofa (aroha) and the underpinning phrase, "Relationships are at the heart of all we do" (whānaungatanga).


Macfarlane and Derby went on to explain how the ngākau approach would focus on Māori cultural content within the school's curriculum or learning design and this included the use of Te Reo Māori.  It discussed content being driven by place-based pedagogy and cultural narratives and experiences, understanding the significant and stories associated to place names and local or national areas.  If I think about this in terms of my practice and professional context, if I were to have a ngākau approach it would be to really understand individual ākonga backgrounds, their whānau, their turangawaewae and whakapapa. 


This made me think of one case I am working on currently, supporting a young boy who identifies as Māori although has been displaced from his cultural heritage for some time due to safety issues with his biological father.  The boy was transitioning from one school to another following being excluded from one school and the transition was from a primary school setting to a secondary school setting.  Both the boy and his mother were very open and keen to connect more and learn more about this so it was about listening, whānaungatanga and manaakitanga - understanding what was really important.  I have learned so much about the ngākau approach because of this young boy and it is so amazing to see when his mana is protected, how this supports him to gain confidence in his identity both as a learner and as Māori. 


References:


Haeata Community Campus (n.d.) Curriculum. Retrieved from www.haeata.school.nz


Macfarlane, S., & Derby, M. (2018). From the rākau to the ngākau: Exploring authentic approaches to leadership, policy, and pedagogy. Ipu Kererū: Blog of the New Zealand Association for Research in Education (NZARE).

Keeping my head above water

Well it has been an interesting few weeks with many challenges and I have felt like I haven't been keeping up with my study.  

I have had a busy few weeks with family visiting from Gisborne and our extended family went on a trip to Hanmer to commemorate my husband's father who passed away three years ago from cancer.  The weekend was busy and my study day was taken over by sick children and packing.  

The following week I found myself unwell, battling with a migraine that hung around for a few days and then the awful events of Friday 15th which seem so surreal.  I ended up racing down to my son's school in Linwood when my sister phoned explaining the shootings and the schools being in lockdown.  I waited there with many other parents until it was safe for children to be released.  It was really scary!  I had to drive another family home as they didn't have a vehicle and the ladies husband was in lockdown at his work also.  

From all of these events though, I have now managed to spend some time focussing and my perspective has now slightly changes with wanting to be more multicultural in terms of culturally responsive practice.  It has been impressive to watch our nation's leaders engage with the Muslim community and the way that New Zealand and many other countries have come together in love and support of this awful tragic event.

First Whānau Group

Today we had our first whānau group meeting at the new Rehua Building at University of Canterbury.   It was great to be able to meet up with everyone from the block course and find out how they were all going with their learning journeys and how they had found Domain 1 and the first assignment. 

 

Cara who is the coordinator for the Early Intervention endorsement is the contact for our whānau group and facilitated the conversation.  The part of the discussion that I found the most valuable was when we were talking about reflections.  Cara shared how important our reflections were in relation to our practice and that we need to be thinking critically about our learning and making connections to our context - bringing the learning to life.  She explained the following as a possible way of structuring / framing a reflection:  "...based on my reflection.....I noticed.....and this is what I will do to implement this within my practice...." 


We discussed other structures for framing reflections:

i.e. barriers - enablers - what next? 

Cara added that as long as the next steps were integrated into a professional practice contexts then the reflection would connect with our learning and that is the purpose of this course.

 

In terms of reflection on artefacts, we discussed:

• What did I know?
• What did I find out?
• Where to now and what next? (practical practice related ideas)

We talked about how the paper was structured to supported personalized and self-directed learning which for many of us is a new way of learning.  One of the ladies shared that she found it was a lot easier to focus when she followed these steps:

1. Complete the self-assessment.
2. Develop personal professional learning goals using the information and thinking sparked from the self-assessment.
3. Contribute to the forum posts and the glossary.
4. Read the course content that relates to the personal goals or your learning context.
5. Work on the portfolio pages for the domain.
6. Reflect on the artefacts and the whole domain.

I all comes down to, what is important to me now in my learning?  This question should help to guide the direction of the learning.


Another lady in the group shared that she had found a tutorial on YouTube that showed her how to use Zotero successfully to support her APA referencing: "Learn Zotero: Step by step tutorial"

 

One of the other questions asked was about referencing and the expectation is that artefacts including forum posts should be APA referenced to ensure other's work and ideas is acknowledged.