听is an exciting project by听Dr Ngaroma Williams听supporting M膩ori learner success and understanding of tikanga and the use of te reo M膩ori in early childhood education that is proving popular with educators.
Dr Williams听(Te Arawa | Ng膩ti Raukawa ki Wharep奴hunga | Ng膩ti Awa) is a p奴kenga (lecturer) at Te Whare W膩nanga o Waitaha | University of 萝莉社 (UC). Together with a group of emerging UC researchers, she has developed a suite of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and te reo me ng膩 tikanga M膩ori teaching and learning resources that can be downloaded for free from the听.
The resource has been downloaded over 30,000 times since its launch in June this year. The launch comes at a critical time for early childhood education, following the refresh of听Te Wh膩riki听(2017), the sector鈥檚 curriculum first published in 1996.
Building on her recent UC doctoral research called听Ki te Hoe: Journeying Towards Indigenising the Early Childhood Curriculum in Aotearoa New Zealand,听Dr Williams听has responded to the need for more resources to support kaiako (teachers) to become confident and authentic in bicultural teaching practice.
Ki te hoe: Indigenising Practice听is an inspiring kete (package) that all kaiako (teachers) can use to strengthen their bicultural teaching practice.
Unique in its bicultural framing, it embodies a vision that all children grow up in Aotearoa New Zealand as competent and confident 萝莉社, strong in their identity, language and culture.
It is used across a range of curriculum areas and comprises various materials:
- 27 te reo M膩ori rerenga k艒rero (everyday phrases)
- a karakia and waiata booklet with audio files
- a lunar calendar with a set of tikanga M膩ori principles
- monthly whakatauk墨 (proverbs)
- an information folio to support kaiako (teachers) to become conversant with Te Tiriti o Waitangi
- and a set of 12 iwi pepeha booklets.
鈥淭he reality is there has not been a lot of movement in the bicultural space since 1996,鈥 Dr Williams says.
鈥淭he Education Review Office reports on听Te Wh膩riki听from 2008 and 2013 found teachers were not confident in using te reo or integrating tikanga M膩ori into their practice. When I went out and did my own research, I found a lot of teachers were just using two-word utterances like 鈥榢ia ora鈥 or 鈥榢a pai鈥 without really knowing what else to do.
鈥淲hat is really worrying is that 96% of tamariki M膩ori are in mainstream early childhood education settings and are not being enabled to learn as M膩ori. I thought it was about time that we got some more resources out there 鈥 hence,听Ki te Hoe 鈥 Indigenising Practice听suite of te reo me ng膩 tikanga M膩ori resources for the sector.鈥
She hopes the resources will be well-used, not just during Te wiki o te reo M膩ori (11-17 September) but in everyday practice.
Dr Williams created the resources with听听and UC lecturers听Kari Moana Te Rongopatahi, Dr听A. Delaune,听Awhi Clarke听and Rikke Betts.
The team is currently developing a suite of resources for the primary and secondary education sectors.
