Week 31 Indigenous knowledge and cultural responsiveness in my practice

on
What
The first Standards for the Teaching Profession (Education Council, 2017) states “understand and recognise the unique status of tangata whenua in Aotearoa New Zealand” (p 18). All educators in Aotearoa New Zealand need to consider the bicultural nature of our society when we set goals and plan course programmes for our learners.
The secondary school where I have taught for over 10 years comprises 67% Pākehā, 20% Māori, 6% Asian, 5% Pacifika and 2% others. We have long witnessed major differences in outcomes for Pākehā and Māori learners.
We have the same high expectations for both our Māori and Pākehā learners. But we do this within the framework of a Pākehā driven education system. “Why are so many of our Māori students not turning up for External exams???” or “Why do so few parents of Māori learners attend the parents interview evening?”. We believed everyone felt welcome and everyone had equal opportunities. However, we did not reflect on our whole curriculum delivery and communication methods.

We did not reflect on Gay’s (2001) five elements of Culturally responsive pedagogy:
  • knowledge about cultural diversity;
  • the culturally integrated content in the curriculum;
  • the development of the learning community;
  • the ability to communicate with culturally diverse students;
  • culturally responsive delivery of instruction.
So what
We reflected on our pedagogy and made some progress since 2013.

2013
  • Started monthly Whānau meetings to gather Whānau voice and develop the learning community.
2014
  • Changed senior curriculum delivery to incorporate culturally integrated content
    • Offered new courses ie. full internal assessment courses, practical hands-on courses with learners’ interests and pathways in the academic learning area
    • “Māori Voice” English course targeting Maori learners. 
  • Participated in the Kia Eke Panuku programme and developed insight about cultural diversity and Culturally Responsive and Relational Pedagogy. 
2017
  • Mentoring class 3 times weekly in the senior school. Kaiarahi (form teachers) facilitate class discussions on diverse issues as well as individual mentoring/discussing learners academic progress.
2018
  • Po Angitu (Māori Prizegiving) at local Marae (last school visit was 2008)where our principal announced the NCEA results of Māori learners was now almost comparable to Pākehā learners.




I will evaluate our school’s recent journey within Milne’s framework “The Action continuum - eliminating the White spaces” (2017).
Until 2013 our practice fitted squarely within the brown box. Since 2008 we ran an “Ako” session for staff every Friday morning but sadly it seemed more a tick-box event.
Now I feel we more closely fit in-between the purple boxes.
Milne (2017) states “cultural identity is not a thing that needs to be celebrated on certain occasions such as cultural weeks, rather teachers and schools should embrace student cultural identity at every opportunity throughout curriculum and learning activities, school policies and events”. We have definitely made progress in better reflecting our cultural identity in everyday practice but we still have significant changes to address.

What next
We will introduce a “Māori History” course in the senior school next year which will focus on the history of Aotearoa from a Māori perspective. We hope this course will act as a bridge to help learners understand and acknowledge the histories, heritages, languages, values and cultural diversity of Aotearoa.
The Kia Eke Panuku programme is no longer running but the website, including many useful resources is still available.
One of the Codes for the Teaching Profession (Education Council, 2017) is “affirming Māori learners as tangata whenua and supporting their educational aspirations” (p 10). We need to look deeper into Kaupapa Māori Theory and continue reviewing how we can incorporate its principles into our teaching practice.


References:
Bishop, R., Berryman, M., Cavanagh, T. & Teddy, L. (2009). Te Kotahitanga: Addressing educational disparities facing Māori students in New Zealand. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25(5), 734–742.

CORE Education. (2017, 17 October). Dr Ann Milne, Colouring in the white spaces: Reclaiming cultural identity in whitestream schools. [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=5cTvi5qxqp4&feature=em-subs_digest


Gay,G. (2002). Preparing for culturally responsive teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 53(2), 106-116.

Milne, A. (2017). Coloring in the white spaces: reclaiming cultural identity in whitestream schools. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.

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