I have always been a proponent of bilingualism, at the very least, as I personally speak three languages and have an understanding of a fourth. To put it officially, the Curriculum document states that there are six clear benefits of studying another language.
- Cultural – provides a viewpoint from another world and way of thinking.
- Linguistic – understanding how languages work and develop new skills and understandings which can be transferred to other areas of learning.
- Economic – positive economic prospects and increased career opportunities.
- Social – an understanding about how culture can affect the way a person thinks and what they value and believe in.
- Cognitive – develop new ways of growing their knowledge and finding out more about themselves.
- Personal – a sense of pride in the New Zealand Maori culture.
Furthermore, “Students who develop equivalent skills in more than one language tend to be more creative and better at solving complex problems that those who don’t. They also score higher than monolingual students in verbal and non-verbal tests.” – Ministry of Education ,2002, p.10
We all get this, but how about the idea of a non-Maori speaker attempting to normalise the use of Te Reo Maori in my classroom? I have joined the Kahui Ako Te Reo Maori focus group and I find myself horridly out of my depth. However, the more I listen, the more I realise how important this challenge is. To quote Auckland University lecturer, Hemi Kelly, ” The mana of Maori culture and values needs to be instilled and acknowledged from a young age.”
This message was entrenched when we, as a staff, were privileged to be addressed by Dr Hana O’Regan, a leading advocate for the normalisation of Te Reo Maori in all our schools. It is critical that the right stories are told. “If we succeed in our goals, it will be our success. If we fail, it will be our own failure. We will own the path we travel, and we will shape our own dreams. We own our destiny.”
So what can we do? Start with baby steps.
Using common words in class:
Students learn when they have things repeated on a daily basis. They like the idea of mixing language in a sentence and so I have taken to using some common words embedded in an English sentence.
Come and korero with me?
Please sit at this table for a hui.
We are going to the whare pukapuka in period 5.
That work is miharo.
Whakatauki: I have placed whakatauki on my board. Students arrive in the class and I draw their attention to the change each week. The two below are quite pertinent to our ethos. Initially the feedback was whimsical – ‘Have you lost the plot Mrs White?” This opened the channel for a good discussion about cultural heritage and ‘Who’s story is being told’?
Pepeha: Year 7 and 8 students learn their pepeha and then they come into year 9 and the assumption is that it is virtually forgotten. So this year I asked my year 9s and 10s to record their pipiha as part of the introductory units entitled This is Me and Identity. The students enjoyed doing this and it served to remind them of their cultural roots. I have included my own below.
Teacher up-skilling:
Initially, as staff, we all learned the karakia “Whakatak te hau”. We also know Kate’s Waiata. It is now a requirement in our kura for teachers to recite their pepeha for the principal in a registration meeting.
This year I decided that as I was part of the Kahui Ako Maori group, that I needed to do something about my knowledge of Te Reo Maori. I, along with a group of year 7 and 8 colleagues, enrolled in a Te Reo Maori course offered by Education Perfect. It has been quite challenging in terms of time but has affirmed my conviction that Maori should be compulsory in all schools.
I realise that these are ‘baby steps’ and to some they might be pithy. Hemi Dale from Auckland University’s teaching degree programme hit home when he said in an interview that “When you learn another language, you learn the tikanga that goes with that language..
Althea White 