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Every child is entitled to have a good start in life. It isn’t where you start in life, it's what you do with life that determines where you end up in life, and we are blessed to be living in a country that, no matter where we start, we have opportunities so long as we believe in our self, we believe in the society and the country, and we believe that we can self-improve and educate our self as we go along. And that's the key to success.
But it begins with the gift of a good start. If we don't give that gift to each and every one of our tamariki (children), if we don't invest at the earliest age, we're going to be running into difficulties. It's why we have a dropout rate of roughly 25 percent overall and almost 50 percent of our minority population living in low-income areas because they're not getting the gift of a good start. "Teaching and learning should bring joy. How powerful would our world be if we had kids who were not afraid to take risks, who were not afraid to think, and who had a champion? Every child deserves a champion, an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection, and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be. Is this job tough? Yes. But it is not impossible. We can do this. We're born to make a difference." So, it's so essential that we put this culture back into our schools, whanau, communities, and students. So how? Through an Effective Teaching Profile for Maori students - Inspire In Education links in with the Education Councils, TATAIAKO The Effective Teaching Profile consists of six elements.
Kotahitanga
Whakapiringatanga
Manaakitanga
Whanaungatanga
Te Kotahitanga professional development programmes that:
That feeling you get when you're about to speak, do I really fit in, will they accept me, will I get the vote the tick of approval. This was my head space until a few years ago. When I whaikōrero (make a formal speech) to an audience I will always open with a karakia ( verb -tia to recite ritual chants, say grace, pray, recite a prayer, chant) and my pepeha ( noun: tribal saying, tribal motto, proverb (especially about a tribe), set form of words, formulaic expression, saying of the ancestors, figure of speech, motto, slogan - set sayings known for their economy of words and metaphor and encapsulating many Māori values and human characteristics) regardless of my time limit | topic | agenda and the status of the audience. To me if nothing else you'll leave knowing who I am and where I am from. I'm not fluent in te reo but I'm extremely proud of who I am and my future! I recently watched presenters speaking to an audience two of the six were Māori tane (male) and one referenced to being fluent in Te Reo. And to my surprise, one opened with Kia Ora (hello) ended with thank you and the fluent speaker opened and closed in English. Each speaker had an opportunity to open and introduce themselves and then 5-6 further opportunities to answers questions from the floor and 5 minutes with a closing statement. All 6 presenters delivered in English to a live audience 95% pakeha | non-Māori and live-streamed to a bi-culture audience. Now some were very good, good and like some auditions on TV shows like the X Factor, need the whanau (family) and takatāpui (close friends) to be more honest before they attempt such acts! So I sit here wondering why? Why didn't our proud Māori kawatau (verb: to speak frequently of one's intentions, speak frequently of one's expectations) in te reo then English regardless of the time limits or their reason for being on stage? I know they're not embarrassed to be Māori but I at least expected the fluent speaker to take the opportunity to whakapapa (noun his genealogy, genealogical table, lineage, descent - reciting whakapapa is, an important skill and reflects the importance of genealogies in Māori society in terms of leadership, land and fishing rights, kinship and status). If you're speaking and have a second language, regardless of the audience stand proud and tell them who you are and where you're from in your waiwaiā (beautiful) native tongue and it only takes me 57.44 sec and I'm not fluent but within that time acknowledge our creator, the past, present and my whakapapa (genealogy). I'll leave you all with this thought - When we don't offer our pepeha te reo or English, it is like answering a phone call from a blocked number - hello, hello, who is it? who? where are you calling from? who? from where? 90% of us will hang up because we don't know who the caller is or we'll let them talk and finish the call and still be none the wiser! AuthorKo Conrad Waitoa toku ingoa | Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu | Nō Maungawharau ahau |
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Ko Conrad Waitoa toku ingoa | Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu | Ngāi Tahu | Kei Maungawharau e noho ana Archives
November 2019
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