Powerful Partnerships - Hononga Kaha

Last Wednesday we were privileged to launch New Zealand's first Secondary School Maori Cultural Kit, Te Pātaka. This is an App which allows users to develop their understanding of Tikanga and Te Reo by swiping to hear correct pronunciation, recording their own voice and using templates to construct their own mihi. It also includes information on the history and tikanga of our mana whenua, Te Kawerau ā Maki.

Powerful Partnerships is a key principle we have followed in the design of our school and this project, from the beginning, has been powerful partnerships in action.

The first partnership was between our school and Steven Renata, CEO of Kiwa Digital.

With Steven Renata Promoting the Launch

The chance nature of our initial meeting which kicked off the project is described briefly in this newspaper article.

But the creation of such an App required further partnerships and the most important one was with mana whenua, Te Kawerau ā Maki. Both Steven and HPSS were determined to use this project as an opportunity to begin the development of a meaningful and sustainable relationship between kura and mana whenua.

We had a wonderful night on Wednesday with a powhiri for Te Kawerau ā Maki and a launch of the App.

Waiata

Welcoming Te Kawerau ā Maki

Presentation of App by Steven Renata

We've only just begun our journey of forging a strong and sustainable relationship with Te Kawerau ā Maki but it certainly feels as if strong foundations have been laid.

Check out the App on the Apple or Play Store. You might be able to use it for any personal gals you may have set during Te Wiki o Te Reo Maori: Kia Kaha Te Reo Maori.

Challenge of Biculturalism Lies With Pakeha

Disclaimer (if  that's the right term): I am a Pakeha and an atheist)

I've enjoyed revisiting this book several decades after I first read it. It was published  in 1992 and I bought it hot off the press. I had experienced my first 7 years as a teacher at Ngaruawahia High School in the heart of the Tainui Iwi and the Kingitanga movement.

While there I made my first foray into the Maori world. This included my first formal learning of Te Reo, experiencing powhiri, delivering whaikorero, participating in poukai and developing ways to support Maori aspirations in relation to education without charging in with the answers. I felt privileged to be made to feel at home at Turangawaewae and enjoyed many conversations with the late Maori Queen Dame Te Atairangikaahu. I had  a close relationship with her Private Secretary, Ngahia Gregory, who was on the teaching staff at Ngaruawahia High School. With her guidance and mentoring I was able to support the establishment of a "Bilingual Class" and was Chairman of the NHS Marae Committee that built the school Wharenui,Te Huingaongawai.

While these two (Bilingual Class and Wharenui) were physcically  visible outcomes the greatest outcome was the way in which, to make sure these projects came to fruition, Maori parents were supported to grow in confidence and move into key positions on the PTA and new-fangled BOTs.

None of these outcomes were my ideas. By listening to Maori students and their whanau their aspirations were clear, as were ideas on how to achieve them. I soon realised that where the support was needed was in navigating the Pakeha world and its institutions and ways of  operating. This is where I could help.

We had a great time - shooting geese on a farm and selling them at the Delta Hotel off the back of a trailer (fundraising), harvesting truckloads of ponga logs for the marae fence, and working alongside Rongo Wetere and his staff and students from Waipa Kokiri (soon to become Te Wananga o Aotearoa) to design and create our carvings for our whare and the wonderful murals for inside.

All through those 7 years this Pakeha atheist was finding ways to operate in a world rich with tikanga. At no stage was I asked or required to relinquish any important aspects of my Pakeha world. I truly hope I operated in a way that did not ask or require the same of the Maori I was working with.

The true winner out of these experiences was me. I began my journey of learning the reo and I came  to understand the concepts of whanaungatanga, manaakitanga, aroha, wairua, and mana motuhake.

I think I was beginning to develop an understanding of bi-culturalism: we all brought something to the table (our values, our principles, our world view, our practices ie our tikanga) and no one had to compromise on these important elements of  their tikanga.

When I  read James Ritchie's introduction in 1992 it resonated with me:

"There are two predominant cultures here, not one. Pakeha culture is dominant by power, history and majority. Maori culture is dominant by a longer history, by legacy and by its strength of survival and the passionate commitment of its people."  (p 6)

Without this understanding many view Pakeha culture as dominant and take this view to the concept of biculturalism. Such a position can lead to people exhibiting practices of ''biculturalism" in which the dominant culture requires the less dominant culture to have some important aspects of its tikanga pushed aside.

A case in point is the important tikanga element of wairua and its associated practices such as karakia. When I have participated in aspects of wairua within the Maori world such as karakia or himene, being an atheist, I have wondered how I can reconcile this. (Well, to tell the truth, I have rarely wondered about this and have felt little discomfort).

Reading James Ritche (a Pakeha atheist as well who's work was situated increasingly within the Maori world) has helped when I have felt I may have needed to reconcile (or more commonly justify the validity of wairua to Pakeha - even those who aspire to biculturalism):

"Spiritual concerns apply to all things. They are never obliterated and must be given full status and recognition. Pakeha are not expected to share such beliefs but are expected to respect them. Matters of the wairua are deeply and personally cultural; do not intrude upon them." (p 53)

In most cases in situations where there is a strong presence of wairua and spirituality such as karakia I simply close my eyes and think of things and people important to me. I do the same when at a Pakeha funeral and there are Christian prayers for the departed and their famiiliies. Sometimes I will not sing himene, but I must admit  I did belt out a strong Whakaria Mai at a recent funeral for a friend. No reconciling was necessary. I am proud of the fact that none of my responses show disrespect or require Maori to abandon what is important to them.

Too often in our institutions if Pakeha feel uncomfortable with aspects of wairua being incorporated in the institution's practices then such endeavours are abandoned. Once again the dominant culture requires the other to compromise and again the members of the less dominat culture continue to experience the levels of discomfort as a result to which Pakeha will not subject themselves.

In my view, it is too easy to play the "schools are secular" card to avoid Pakeha discomfort (while exacerbating discomfort of Maori). This is where the rubber hits the road and determines our true commitment to biculturalism. If we allow the "schools are secular" position to win the day we should, morally, remove our aspiration for biculturalism and reject the presence of Hauora (including) wairua from our Health and Dispositional Curricula.

I recently discussed these issues with a colleague who works within a major tertiary institution. He shared with me a reply he used to a Pakeha colleague who was opposed to karakia being used to start hui:

For me, inviting a Maori colleague to open a meeting is about giving more prominence and visibility to tikanga.  If for that person karakia is an important element of that opening then I am fine about that.

Most non-religious Pakeha would still attend religious-based funerals, with prayers and hymns, and find ways to respectfully be present. I assume they do this for the same reason I do: respect for others and their beliefs.

There is no doubt that much of what is seen as Maori spirituality has, since the mid 1800s, taken on a Christian belief system, but spirituality within the Maori world existed long before then. James Ritchie gives an interesting perspective:

"But to inflict my non-religious attitudes on Maori commits the same error as the early Christian missionaries did when they denied the validity of Maori belief." (p 54)

In schools, as Pakeha (who occupy most leadership and decision-making positions) we cannot dismiss these aspects of bi-culturalism because of levels of discomfort. For decades our Maori colleagues have had to endure high  levels of discomfort because the dominant culture has not acknowledged the important wairua aspects of their culture.

Back in Maurie's Time

Back in Maurie's Time Orientation Days were about kids waiting for their names to be read off a list, kids listening to lots of information and kids doing lots of assessment. Ours was a bit different! After a brief mihi our learners were treated to a staff rendition of Marley's Three Little Birds just to assure them everything will be alright! Down in their Learning Communities (Taheretikitiki, Tiriwa, Waiarohia) they were given a jigsaw puzzle piece each and had to match them up to make the face of their Learning Coach and then join their Learning Hub. They ten rotated through Learning Hub activities designed to get them to know each other, a Project activity which had them preparing the food for that evening's parent get-together and a Learning Module exploring what makes school boring.

Pete leading students off to Learning Community

Bryce's Hub

Megan's Hub protecting their stepping stone values

Lea's Hub working on what makes a school less boring

Ros' Hub constructing their tree

Preparing food for the parents

Preparing for the parents

A Hub Tree

A few onions for dinner

Jill's Hub planning the school

Our students went home buzzing about their day and we were inundated with parents that night who were introduced to their child's Learning Coach and added to the Hub Tree.

Check some of my colleague's posts out on the right side bar as they share their reflections on the Orientation Day.

Wednesday was a very special day in our school's young life. Glen and Otene led a service at 5.30am which involved the burying of a mauri stone and Waitemata Harbour shells beneath the entrance to the school. This was a moving occasion. We shared breakfast at school and continued to strengthen our ties with iwi. Didn't happen so much Back in Maurie's Time.

Later that morning 3 students and 4 staff from Ngaruawahia High School visited as they are developing a Modern Learning Environment for their Year 9s and 10s next year. Two of the teachers were students I taught when I started my career there in the 1980s.

Back in Maurie's Time there wasn't a lot of professional learning being delivered by all of the staff. We kicked off the week with Danielle posing some interesting questions around digital copyright.

Martin's gesture appears to be indicating some sort of evil genius as the group ponders digital copyright

The day ended with Lea sharing how her team have been able to embrace the Learning Design Model to assist our learners to develop their passion projects. This is the next step in testing the rigour and validity of our model.

Then it was Ros' turn to lead a discussion on the difference between Drama and Bullying. We had an interesting debate on if bullying has become more prevalent or not with the internet. My view is that it hasn't but it has become more difficult to get away from because of the ubiquitous nature of the on-line environment. "Back in Maurie's Time" bullying was pretty brutal and schools often turned a blind eye to it.

Ros leading the discussion. er advice was to "Trace to a Face". If you are putting something on-line about someone check that you would say it to their face.

Steve and Lea sculpturing the difference between drama and bullying

Then it was Sarah's turn to run 2 sessions on Big Projects. Check out Liz's blog to see the developing icons to describe each step of the Big Project Design Model which, once again, validates the Learning Design Model the SLLs have developed and has it driving the learning in all 3 main elements of our curriculum.

Sarah linking the Big Project work to our values

Sarah inspired us to "Capture The Buzz" and modelled the use of staff feedback to refine the processes and procedures for leading effective Big Projects. I missed the next bit but gaveLiz a standing ovation in the lunch room as she had offered to "Die in the Ditch" over Big Projects!

Then Danielle ran a great workshop on setting up Registered Teacher Processes on the MyPortfolio platform. The planning on the whiteboard below was appreciated by staff and those more in the know became mentors for those of us who were having issues (thanks Georgi and Ros!)

The next morning our plans to have Andrew Cowie deliver some work on digital citizenship were foiled by a lengthy power cut so it was postponed. Danielle immediately stepped up and ran us through a workshop on digital manners.

A simple exercise, led by one of our colleagues at the drop of a hat, had us pondering digital manners with many of us, especially myself, reflecting on some of our ill-mannered behaviours! And once again an activity was modelled for us to use with our learners.

The week was, like many, very special. It began with us working with our students from next year and interacting with their parents, laying our mauri stone, and experiencing some outstanding collegial and responsive leadership from a full range of our staff.

Friday was, however, a bit sad as we paused to acknowledge the deaths of 3 workers on our building site one year ago.

He mihi, he aroha ki nga whanau o nga mate.

Then we heard of the passing away of the great but humble saviour of South Africa, Nelson Mandela. He has been an inspiration for those of us committed to the principles of restorative practice and the power of forgiveness. While saving a nation he was able to touch the lives of individuals and for myself, in particular, his words about the impact of the stopping of the rugby at Rugby Park in Hamilton in 1981 have driven my belief that by thinking globally, yet acting locally you can help change the world.

It's coolsome walking up the stairs to excellence

What a stunning week to follow on from the previous stunning week. The previous week began with world-leading guru Julia Atkin working with our new staff as they unpicked their preferred ways of operating according to the Hermann's Brain analysis. It ended with 3 days of world-leading guru, Margaret Thorsborne, working with us on understanding the principles of restorative practice. This week ended with world-leading guru, Pam Hook, working with half of the staff on SOLO Thinking Taxonomy and then with individuals, Megan, Di and Cindy, on applying it to our thinking around assessment. Whew!

But wait there's more! We were treated to what I consider to be world-leading thinking around learning design and curriculum structure by our own colleague.

It began on Monday with Di kicking off a session outlining the work her team had done on identifying the future-focused fluencies that had been distilled from the NZC. They have proposed the following as the areas we wish to move our learners from being functional to fluent:

• Literacy
• Numeracy
• Communication
• Technical
• Problem-solving

And of course they presented their work totally integrated into our existing model that is driving our learning.

Di and her team are driven by the non-negotiable of making learning explicit to the kids. As well, she modeled the openness to questions and comments by declaring she didn't want to be in love with the idea and blind to other views. Awesome!

Lisa then ran an outstanding session linking our learning design model to the fluencies and using the SOLO model to assess against them. It was truly coolsome!

The rest of the day was a real buzz as staff then got into their module planning teams and, with their new learnings of our model, began producing the outlines for some great learning programmes. Liz's latest blog post outlines the modules she is currently working on.

In her presentation Lisa picked up that there were some gaps in some people's understandings with SOLO so she presented a great workshop on Tuesday morning for those who needed more. This is where she spoke of helping students to walk up the stairs to excellence and how her use of SOL gave her a new way of thinking about her own teaching practice. Coolsome!

"This plus this plus this = thinking". Simple!

And Kylee ran a session firmly linking SOLO to elements of our Learning Design Model.

Amongst all of these great sessions I took Arohanui staff who will be running a satellite special needs class at our school through the site.

Our stunning auditorium

James, Arohanui Principal, doing a dance of glee under the purple light in the sensory room

But the great hits kept coming! On Wednesday Sarah and her team ran a full day on Big Projects and their place in our curriculum. You must check out both Sarah's blog and Liz's blog where there is a fuller exploration of the work they presented.

Sarah's passion was evident throughout her presentation and was summed up with her introductory words, "We not me!"

Her team made a powerful link between the Big Project Framework and our Learning Design Model and to the wider HPSS curriculum.

It didn't stop there! On Thursday night I had the privilege of seeing 2 staff make great presentations at Eduignite at Mindlab.

The Pink D - Danielle linking retail to teaching

Sally laying down the HPSS model

I was pretty knackered and was contemplating not going as I had had a late night on Tuesday with the Henderson Lions talking about the Runway Challenge and on Wednesday another late night with a BOT/Parent Governance workshop, but I am so pleased I went to see the team in action.

And then Friday rolled around and Pam Hook entered the building.

The moment of awe when Pam revealed the power of SOLO

I hope some of my colleagues blog about the work with Pam as I'm running out of steam. If not, I'll post some thoughts in the coming week.

Talking about the coming week: we have our Orientation Day tomorrow for our enrolled students. We'll have about 120 Year 8s with us for the day which will give us the opportunity to start to know our learners and to share with them our exciting plans. It was mid September 2012 when I last was in a school with students and I am super excited.

Lea has pulled together an exciting day for our learners and I'm looking forward to reflecting on how the day goes. That will come in a later post.

Staff have been very busy and have participated in much professional learning. This week at Kitchen Table we are still to get reports from Steve and Yasmin and their time at a Thinking Conference, Di and Jill have to report on their Financial Literacy workshop and Claire and the newer staff will have heaps to share about the SCIL 2 day conference they went to at ASHS on Thursday and Friday.

It's a relief we have navigation lights to guide us through the busy air space we are operating in as we prepare for landing!

Landing lights set in totara posts to demarcate the end of the Hobsonville Runway which is on our site.