Week 28 Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Responsiveness
Gay (2010) defines culturally responsive pedagogy as teaching "to and through students' personal and cultural strengths, their intellectual capabilities and their prior accomplishments"(p.26). Savage, Hindle, Meyer, Hynds, Penetito and Slater (2011) argue that "indigenous students value their identity as Maori learners and that they are proud of their Maori culture and identity and respond positively when a school enables them to be Māori rather than being forced to leave their identity outside the school entrance" (p. 192). Aotearoa is a bicultural nation and The treaty of Waitangi promised Māori, as Tāngata Whenua, the right to full participation in society. My view is that teachers and all the multiple stakeholders of a school, sharenresponsibility to embed biculturalism into school life and to help, through cultural responsive pedagogy, our indigenous students feel that their culture and language is respected and reflected in the school culture.
Savage et al (2011) established that there was positive evidence of embracing all things Māori and the impact of Te Kotahitangi was positive when the focus was on remediating teaching practices not remediating under achievement among Māori. Their research found that indigenous students valued schools where culture and language are valued primarily through: following Māori protocols and customs; where teachers learn and use vocabulary and phrases; learning from teachers and also teachers learning from students; inclusion of Māori cultural content in learning activities; where the students can choose what they want to learn and a caring and learning relationships are developed.
How does culture apply to my class environment?
Gay (2010) defines culturally responsive pedagogy as teaching "to and through students' personal and cultural strengths, their intellectual capabilities and their prior accomplishments"(p.26). Savage, Hindle, Meyer, Hynds, Penetito and Slater (2011) argue that "indigenous students value their identity as Maori learners and that they are proud of their Maori culture and identity and respond positively when a school enables them to be Māori rather than being forced to leave their identity outside the school entrance" (p. 192). Aotearoa is a bicultural nation and The treaty of Waitangi promised Māori, as Tāngata Whenua, the right to full participation in society. My view is that teachers and all the multiple stakeholders of a school, sharenresponsibility to embed biculturalism into school life and to help, through cultural responsive pedagogy, our indigenous students feel that their culture and language is respected and reflected in the school culture.
Savage et al (2011) established that there was positive evidence of embracing all things Māori and the impact of Te Kotahitangi was positive when the focus was on remediating teaching practices not remediating under achievement among Māori. Their research found that indigenous students valued schools where culture and language are valued primarily through: following Māori protocols and customs; where teachers learn and use vocabulary and phrases; learning from teachers and also teachers learning from students; inclusion of Māori cultural content in learning activities; where the students can choose what they want to learn and a caring and learning relationships are developed.
How does culture apply to my class environment?
I feel an area where I use cultural responsive pedagogy in my classroom is in the teaching strategies I use and interactions I have with my ākonga. In line with 6 effective pedagogy that Bishop outlines: I care about Māori students as Māori; have high expectations for all learners; I provide academic feedback and feedforward; I use effective strategies such as collaboration and cooperation; I use evidence of students performance to guide my practice and my learners know about expected outcomes and what they need to do to get there (Bishop, 2015).
A school-wide cultural responsiveness that could be improved is in school activities. I would like to see our school start some school days with a hui, karakia, whakatauki or waita. Our students participate in Kapa Haka and although last year we all learnt our pepeha, and we have held a hungi at school and visited the Marae, I feel this, in the words of the Prebbleton Principal, is tokenism towards biculturism, rather than deepening our cultural understanding and embedding it in our day to day lives at school. The teachers would welcome professional development around Tikanga and Te reo but it would be important to have on board all the stakeholders of our school. As a school community I think we definitely have some work to do around this.
A school-wide cultural responsiveness that could be improved is in school activities. I would like to see our school start some school days with a hui, karakia, whakatauki or waita. Our students participate in Kapa Haka and although last year we all learnt our pepeha, and we have held a hungi at school and visited the Marae, I feel this, in the words of the Prebbleton Principal, is tokenism towards biculturism, rather than deepening our cultural understanding and embedding it in our day to day lives at school. The teachers would welcome professional development around Tikanga and Te reo but it would be important to have on board all the stakeholders of our school. As a school community I think we definitely have some work to do around this.
Edtalks. (Bishop, R., 2012, September 23). A culturally responsive pedagogy of relations. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/49992994
Edtalks.(2012, May 30). Mike Hogan: Culturally responsive practice in a mainstream school. [video file]. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/43097812
Gay, G. (2002). Preparing for culturally responsive teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 53(2),106-116.
Ministry of Educaton. (2011). Tataiako: Cultural Competencies for teachers of Māori learners. Wellington. Retrieved from: https://educationalcouncil.org.nz/required/Tataiako.pdf
Savage, C., Hindle, R., Meyer, L., Hynds, A., Penetito, W., Sleeter C. (August 2011).: Cultural Responsive pedagogies in classrooms: Indigenous Student Experiences across the Curriculum. Asia Pacific Journal of Teacher Education vol.39, No.3, 183-198.
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