Inclusivity for Maori...
- First thing that springs to mind and is relatively "easy" to implement is some te reo... though being a perfectionist, I'd have to get a speaker to check the details for me.
- Second thing, is the information about the 4 aspects of Te Whare Tapa Wha. By ensuring these are securely in place, can only enhance likelihood of success in our "western" system of learning.
- It is interesting, is it not, that the cognitive part of these processes is that last part that falls into place - so there's a need to sort out all the other ducks into their lines before trying to foist learning on our indigenous learners.
- the four apects of which I speak:
- spiritual
- physical
- social and lastly
- emotional (or cognitive)
Challenges faced and how this affected learning...
We had a wonderful student in class last year - all 6foot 4 inches of her. Beautiful and lovely to boot. She struggled with literacy - we got her assessed, used SSS to help out, got a dictaphone, and when she went AWOL after failing a closed book assessment, the team at VN and SSS did heaps to bring her back. Which we did - and didn't she do well?
She got AWESOME feedback from her placement, and turned up at Graduation telling me she wanted to be an anaesthetic technician (it was the anaesthesia CBA she struggled with.) Fab.
What did we do differently for her than other learners?? Probably nothing... isn't this largely what we'd do for any student?
It wasn't her being Maori, that made learning difficult... it was just her. Or was it?? Maybe her Te Whare Tapa Wha's weren't in order??
Approaches Used
My theory around 18-21 year olds that are a minority group, is that lots just want to be part of the crowd... so my approach is to approach with caution.
Just because they have brown skin and a whakapapa does not mean they "want" to identify as Maori. See the bit in the media files about how an ID will be adopted and the new world vs old world positions.
This is not to say that I encourage this - but that this may be the reality for some of our learners. So don't blow their cover, but be there to support in anyway that can be helpful.
Other bits - we discourage eating and learning, I don't' sit on tables, do a welcome and Kai to start the year, and moreover - I am open to any needs that may arise during the year, from any group of learners...
I agree Helen you do have to tread cautiously. In trying to be culturally correct, we could so easily impose our assumptions on people. As usual I really enjoyed reading your words. Your story about the successes your student had is grand. These are the things that help get teachers out of bed every morning.
ReplyDeleteHow do you help the minority group straight from school stop pretending it is not cool to be a swat, and get them admitting to 'opening the books' to do some study?
Well generalistions aside, if the minority group is Maori or Pacific and they've made it straight from school to Polytech- then we celebrate them! Our secondary NCEA levels are nothing short of disappointing- so for any student who has made it straight from school then they're awesome! In terms of not blowing cover, this may be true for some- but what FL strategies could we think of for those 'minority' students who are not underground but loud and proud? We had the largest mihi whakatau this year at Otago polytechynic with about 50 students showing up and proud of who they are and participating in the welcome... what FL strategies have the various departments employed to meet this new 'face' of educational demand? Time will tell...
ReplyDeleteKa mihi Gina
Absolutely agree... and being part of mihi whakatau, as a "rank outsider" to these things, was an absolute privilege, if not slightly scary.
ReplyDeleteThe lasting feeling I got from it - was a sense of relationship... we "saw" each other, and that there are a sea of faces that are part of the team to help each and everyone of these learners to succeed.
I very much look forward to next year's event, and hope that these events and relationships, are part of what allows success for these students.
For many of us, exactly WHAT we can do, is a bit of a foreign concept (WRT Maori cohort)... something I'd like to change so that we all feel enabled to support as required with a better understanding into the bargain.
We have just initiated a Maori liaison team at SVN, and hope to meet up with YOU Gina, to discuss exactly how and what and the wherefores, of how me can best support these students :-)