Week 28-Indigenous knowledge and cultural responsiveness in my Practice

Week 28 : Indigenous knowledge and cultural responsiveness in my practice

Image 1: Russell Bishop

Economically,Socially, Politically, its vital as a society we understand the need to address these educational disparities..." f(Bishop, 2012) for Maori Achievement.

I can recall attending a lecture at the University of Waikato where Russell Bishop lectured about Te Kohitanga.  I was intrigued by what he was speaking about in regards to Maori achievement disparity with non-Maori and how we as teachers teach can make a difference. Te Kohitanga was aimed at secondary students and a question was raised if this would be taken into the Primary Sector. At that point of time they were not looking at implementing a programme similar to Te Kohitanga.  On reflection, I think it maybe because as a Primary Teacher we can establish student teacher relationships due to the fact you as the teacher have your students in the same class for the year.

Bishops lecture for me helped me understand what it would be like for a non-Maori to teach Maori students or other pacific ethnicities.  It also highlighted for me what I consider natural for me is how important it is to build good relationships with 'any' learner regardless of race or religion.  

Being of Maori descent and 'living' through the impact of positive and negative 'colonisation' for my education years I think has made me appreciate knowing who and where I come from and how can I use my prior knowledge and experiences to educate our future generations to come.

Vision, mission and core values

I have mentioned that my communty of practice has gone through various changes since 2012...close down of schools, merging schools, closing and reopening new schools that has impacted both on school and wider community.

Our vision, mission and core values is still a 'work in progress' for the last two years as all major stake holders need to be on 'the same page' in order for 'positive' change to take place and everyone is well informed how 'our' community of practice can move toward achieving success for our students

Planning and Assessment

Image 2-Maori Proverb

My school has had quite alot of Professional Development which I have no 'qualms' about!  I love any form of PD that would benefit both myself and my students.  We have had Teacher only days, attended a variety of courses and had key speakers into school such as (name dropping now) Michael Absolum and Ruth Tate.  

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed with so much PD that I have asked myself and fellow colleagues, "Where do we start?"  

Perhaps that can be answered from the powers up above...I mean Leadership!  Perhaps knowing what we NEED and TIME to assess when and how good PD can be integrated into the classroom.  Its all about being prepared, planning collaborative on ONE topic until everyone is on the same page.  So where am I going with in regard to planning and assessment.  Think about how you would lead as a leader...I tend to work toward being a 'Transformational Leadership' role that may resolve concerns.

References

Bishop, R. (2012).  A culturally responsive pedagogy of relations [video file].  Edtalks. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/49992994

Image1 retrieved from https://treatygate.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/teacher-training-russell-bishop-maori-students-learn-differently.png

Image 2 retrieved from 

Maori Proverbs. retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/planeta/maoriproverbs