MindLab Blog Post 4: “Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Responsiveness”

My critical understanding of indigenous knowledge and cultural responsiveness.

Before viewing Russell Bishop’s 2012 EdTalks video, I was still a little hazy in my understanding of what indigenous knowledge and cultural responsiveness really was. I had heard the terms around my school, but had not yet fully investigated its meaning.

From the video, I have developed the understanding that I need to:

~be open to the issue of colonisation as being partly responsible for the educational disparities between Maori and non Maori - are Maori getting their promise of their part in a good education as set down in the Treaty of Waitangi? It is not all down to other preconceived notions of Maori.

~be aware that there is a worrying connection between achievement gaps in Maori and the high percentage of Maori currently incarcerated

~ be culturally responsive is to nurture relationships with Maori; take a genuine interest in their culture

~engage in appropriate Professional Development on building cultural responsiveness, using school funding/support

~to be more agentic by creating a learning context where Maori can bring their own baskets of knowledge to the learning conversations, “...along with their own experiences and cultural understandings and how they make sense of the world.” (Bishop, 2012)

Chosen focus areas of indigenous knowledge and culturally responsive pedagogy in my school’s practice:

~Learning Area:

~When reflecting on a school practise that was successful, I saw many features of Unitec’s Poutama when a local Maori expert visited, sharing her knowledge of weaving harakeke over several sessions.

She made sure safe relationships were built, implementing a “Culturally safe learning environment established with basic whanaungatanga and Tikanga Maori within teaching activities.” I felt that this set a good precedent for the protocol during the lessons.

I also witnessed Poutama pedagogy aspects where “Learning/Teaching approaches are inclusive, reflective and responsive to student preferred pedagogy with Maori mentorship sought.” She responded to students who were unsure of what to do, keeping them close to her as they co-constructed their learning, while I worked with the more confident students.

A final Poutama aspect, Te Reo Maori, was very well integrated, reflected in “Te Reo Māori specific to curriculum content is integrated into the programme.” This was rich in evidence and the students were extremely responsive to learning Te Reo. (Unitech, pp.14-15)

~Communication Methods

A culturally responsive work in progress in my school’s practice is the use of Te Ara Whakamana: Mana Enhancement for students experiencing challenges in behaviour management. This plan uses a model designed to “...resonate with Māori students and their whānau (families), allow for respectful relationships to develop and ultimately real and sustainable solutions to the problem to emerge.”

This is our first year implementing it and teachers and students are still refining their use of appropriate vocabulary, strategies and methods of communication/ conflict resolution.

We are hopeful of it being a very effective tool for the future and a further embodiment of our school values. We will continue to monitor the receptiveness of our Maori whanau with regular feedback throughout each term.

References

AKO Solutionz. Plans and strategies for positive change. Retrieved from

http://www.akosolutionz.com/mana-enhancement

Edtalks.(2012, September 23). A culturally responsive pedagogy of relations. [video file].Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/49992994

Unitec. (n.d). Learning and Teaching at Unitec Institute of Technology. Retrieved from Booklet.http://www.unitec.ac.nz/ahimura/publications/U008817%20Learning%20and%20Teaching%20Booklet.pdf