Ngā Matapakinga | Discussion

He ataahua tenei kura! What a beautiful school! I just love the way the school is building on the culturally responsive practice in such a meaningful way! Listening to Mike Molloy talk, you can hear his intention, his aroha in ensuring all tamariki are able to identify with their own culture within their school. I love the way they are learning about the whenua they learn and play on, and the way everyone's voices are heard.

I particularly loved how whānau have to come in to school each day to collect their children from their classes and the intent kaiako have to ensure they are continually building meaningful partnerships.

I worked in a kindergarten (a rural farming community) about 4 years ago, where majority of our children were of European decent. There were 2-3 Māori families in total (myself included). It took a couple of years but I finally plucked up the courage to starting challenging us as kaiako (I was a newly graduating teacher and was working alongside a really supportive team). This probably sounds small, but I started by greeting and farewelling every person that came in to our kindergarten in Te Reo māori.  For me this was a way to show that we were building our cultural competence through this simple thing. This grew in time where phrases and words were spoken to tamariki, and we started to learn about the history of our rohe, connecting to it through pepehā. What I didn't expect was how positively this was received by whānau. We were in the process of connecting with the local marae too as a way to deepen connection to our area. 

I would have loved my children to be part of a kura that was like this! Such great mahi you and your team are doing alongside tamariki and whānau Mike! 

Ngā Mihi nui. 

Tena koe Tess, the link to ero report : http://www.ero.govt.nz/publications/success-for-maori-children-in-early-childhood-services/   .  

Also if anyone is interested in joining the kotahitanga bi-culuturalism in ECE discussion page (facebook)  I run the link is here also.  It is a safe space for Kaiako to pose questions and share ideas about bi-cultural practice .  It is a closed page so you need to request to join https://www.facebook.com/groups/197297527292427/

Thank you for the link to the core blog Tess

Make connections with your local iwi and people in your community who have the local iwi knowledge to share with you-network with other kaiako who may have the matauranga you need to know. Join a col that may be a focus for the communities of learning. We are very lucky here in Te Tairawhiti as there is a great base of knowledge to draw from. I have opened up my centre for intrested kaiako to come alongside me to get a deeper understanding and experience of what a Iwi localised curriculum looks like. 

I've commented on Jerome's blog post that I have personal experiences with this in my family, and it was only after attending a workshop on aspergers that I realised, a lack of identity for ‘our young someone with aspergers’ also meant identifying himself as gender fluid or transgender.

The fallout being anxiety, school phobia and depression. I’m not sure the school he left at 15, was quite ready for this – environmentally or socially. I would go a little further to say, we need lots of new learning in this area with transparent conversations in our schools and a vision towards creating a conscious movement in our wider communities right across Aotearoa as well.

Lesley Murrihy from Amesbury School in Wellington wrote this open letter to teachers who are dismissing MLE

https://www.futureofeducation.nz/future-of-education-dr-lesley-murrihy-articles/2018/5/10/to-mle-or-not-to-mle-that-is-the-question-an-open-letter-to-my-colleagues

By all means, discuss the political question of MLE or not MLE, but please…please…ensure that when you do so, your colleagues who are caring, resourceful, trustworthy teachers just like you; are not your victims.

Nga mihi nui ki a koutou

Primary?  try this website: http://code-it.co.uk/beebot

Oh I might need to get some help for you on that one Allanah, it looks like it's a public Youtube clip to me? Try this link instead: https://youtu.be/LH7cNtnV5DY

Kia ora Ann, thanks so much for sharing this.  I see your workshop is very popular which shows educators are ready to engage in this kōrero to find safe ways to face these issues 'head on'. No doubt getting straight to the truth and sharing key principles and a framework for prioritising culture and identity for Māori; will be a highlight for this event.

For those who do miss out on your seminar, we've captured your keynote presentation from uLearn17 and there are also short snippets with educators talking about tikanga Māori and culturally responsive practice in our EDtalks channel. 

How do others see this unfolding in our schools? What is your gut telling you about  the urgency of addressing our 'unconscious bias' towards Māori students?