Sunday 6 August 2017

.....some thoughts as I start my blog

My background as a New Zealander, brought up in the King Country with many Maori friends at school together from early Primary through to High School. They used to buy me lollies from the school tuck shop, they were my mates and we shared good times together.
Schooling was the same for us all with no reference to culture or past NZ history that affected family and whanau through World Wars and the breaking in of a young country, the falling of forests and I can still remember the large scale burning of fallen bush to create new farm land.
No mention of who our land may have belonged to that was given to my Grandfather as a ballot when returning from the Boer War although Maori were part of the community, they shore our sheep and were always involved in seasonal work. Mum said they were always there, the largest Pa site “Gateway to Taranaki’ once stood on the high hill of our farm boundary.
No reference to past land wars during our school days so ignorance was bliss, there was nothing to worry about, we were all one, schooling was for the good of all.

As I look back on these idyllic days I can now reflect on the severe changes over time for Maori whanau, sixty years ago many of these families were still living rurally within whanau based communities, changes that forced many whanau members to move to the cities to find work wasn’t foreseen but coming to understand NZ history and the harsh realities of losing land, ways of being and doing, te reo outlawed in schools and culture marginalised I can only but guess at the hurt and anguish engrained on heart and soul for many Maori that were part of my life. As time has passed I have come to realise that education for Maori was driven by policies, strategies and initiatives designed to assimilate Maori into the dominant European group (Simon and Smith 2001) culture was not considered an important factor in Maori succeeding within education.

So just some background thoughts as I start this shared journey and looking forward to strengthening my own practice. Quoting Jenny Ritchie;

“teachers recognising that “they cannot be expert in another person’s culture if they do not share that cultural background” and that “non-Māori cannot speak for Māori”.  Non-Māori teachers create opportunities for Māori to voice their perceptions and are committed to listening and responding to them”

I am here to learn from others and look forward to sharing our thoughts on strengthening language, culture and identity and ways to strengthen our bicultural curriculum Te Whāriki underpinned by Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Below is a link to the resource that guides my teaching practice.

Having these standards as part of this blog will assist me in lining up my ideas with the individual standards and may also help readers understand my thinking.

Our Code / Our Standards Ngā Tikanga Matatika Ngā Paerewa

The Code of Professional Responsibility and Standards for the Teaching Profession has been crafted by teachers, leaders and teaching experts to articulate the expectations and aspirations of our profession.
The Code sets out the high standards for ethical behaviour that are expected of every teacher; the Standards describe the expectations of effective teaching practice. Together they set out what it is, and what it means, to be a teacher in Aotearoa New Zealand.

The Code and Standards apply to every certificated teacher, regardless of role or teaching environment. The Code also applies to those who have been granted a Limited Authority to Teach.


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