Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Responsiveness
This week's topic has made me question our curriculum, what I plan for learning and the subject matter that I cover. Have I been enabling opportunities to engage with indigenous knowledge and is my practice including culturally responsive pedagogy?
Since the 1970's, our education system has slowly been moving away from the apron strings of an english education system. I consider myself to be receptive of other cultures and practices. During my childhood, I lived in South Auckland and attended schools that were a melting pot of Māori, Polynesian, Asian and European students. Since leaving school, I have travelled extensively and prior to teaching, I worked within a company that required me to travel regularly to China. However, I have come to realise that having knowledge of another culture does not mean that I am being culturally responsive.
I respect cultural beliefs, e.g. no sitting on tables, touching of heads or expecting eye contact from all students. Te reo is used in the classroom, posters sharing language and cultural events are displayed on the wall, we play games from different cultures and read legends - but I'm now understanding that this doesn't mean that I am fully engaging with culturally responsive pedagogy. As Mike Hogan mentions in his video, I need to "stop doing the surface stuff." I'm still the one planning and organising what is being recognised and understood, rather than inviting the students and community to share their knowledge.
Gonzalez et al (2005) suggest that the,
The inclusion of culturally responsive practice is still in its developing stage. Our school logo is made up of koru shaped pieces which reflect our four vision principles.
In the foundation year of 2015, the school reached out to the Nga Tai iwi on the Umupuia Marae in order to make connections with the people and the land where the school is positioned. Our eBoT and SLT met with members of the iwi in consultation for the opening, names of our spaces and to learn appropriate waiata. We have a 'hui' twice a week to welcome new Learners and there are several cultural groups that run during the day and after school, e.g. kapahaka, desi dance, sign language and mandarin classes.
Our school's demographic make-up is unique with its large proportion of Chinese 26% and Indian 25% Learners. We also have a number of Learners from the Kelston Deaf School who attend each day to learn within our learning habitats. This opens up many opportunities to look at our culturally responsive practice and ensure that we are identifying and including the cultural background of all Learners as well as communicating effectively with the parents, caregivers and whānau to seek their expertise and involvement in their child's education.
Colonialism vs Cultural Responsiveness
Colonialism brought an education system to New Zealand that made it difficult to include any alternative cultural ways and beliefs. The spoken language within the school grounds was to be English. Indigenous knowledge and culture was ignored and forbidden - to the extent that children were punished for speaking in te reo (Wikipedia, 2016).Since the 1970's, our education system has slowly been moving away from the apron strings of an english education system. I consider myself to be receptive of other cultures and practices. During my childhood, I lived in South Auckland and attended schools that were a melting pot of Māori, Polynesian, Asian and European students. Since leaving school, I have travelled extensively and prior to teaching, I worked within a company that required me to travel regularly to China. However, I have come to realise that having knowledge of another culture does not mean that I am being culturally responsive.
I respect cultural beliefs, e.g. no sitting on tables, touching of heads or expecting eye contact from all students. Te reo is used in the classroom, posters sharing language and cultural events are displayed on the wall, we play games from different cultures and read legends - but I'm now understanding that this doesn't mean that I am fully engaging with culturally responsive pedagogy. As Mike Hogan mentions in his video, I need to "stop doing the surface stuff." I'm still the one planning and organising what is being recognised and understood, rather than inviting the students and community to share their knowledge.
Gonzalez et al (2005) suggest that the,
"key elements of culturally responsive pedagogy positions students and their communities as having funds of knowledge and expertise directly related to their lived experiences."Planning often includes an inquiry or pathway to support student understanding of our environment and the world around us. It was interesting to view Vicky Tauli-Corpuz's video, 'Understanding Indigenous Worldviews' and to hear about the tension between modern scientists versus cultural traditional knowledge. Are we looking for new answers to environmental problems when instead, we should be looking to the past and exploring the practices of indigenous people?
Current Practice
How do I and my school address cultural responsiveness in practice?
School-wide Activities
My school is in its second year of operation. We are what has been labelled as an 'Innovative Learning Environment' where the learning takes place in open-plan and flexible learning spaces. The current role is sitting at 260 Learners and is rapidly growing as a result of the housing growth in the surrounding area.
In the foundation year of 2015, the school reached out to the Nga Tai iwi on the Umupuia Marae in order to make connections with the people and the land where the school is positioned. Our eBoT and SLT met with members of the iwi in consultation for the opening, names of our spaces and to learn appropriate waiata. We have a 'hui' twice a week to welcome new Learners and there are several cultural groups that run during the day and after school, e.g. kapahaka, desi dance, sign language and mandarin classes.
Our school's demographic make-up is unique with its large proportion of Chinese 26% and Indian 25% Learners. We also have a number of Learners from the Kelston Deaf School who attend each day to learn within our learning habitats. This opens up many opportunities to look at our culturally responsive practice and ensure that we are identifying and including the cultural background of all Learners as well as communicating effectively with the parents, caregivers and whānau to seek their expertise and involvement in their child's education.
Learning Activities
According to the Code of Ethics for Certified Teachers, I have a commitment to the parents/guardians and family/whānau of learners to involve them in the decision-making about the care and education of their children. This activity encouraged me to step back and view how I have been planning for the learning in the past, as well as within my current learning environment. Am I using a cultural lens?
My currently learning environment is a large open space that I share with three other Learning Coaches to support 87 Learners. We are in discussion at the moment as we reflect on how we are meeting - or not meeting, the learning outcomes as planned. Some systems and procedures are not being as effective as they should be and so our planning will be changing to make a difference. This will be an ideal opportunity to consider involving the parent/whānau in the learning by inviting them to a meeting to share up-and-coming learning so that they may have a chance to contribute. We could follow this up with another meeting to share and celebrate the learning journey and learning outcomes.
Enabling the contribution of indigenous people to assist culturally responsive practice is now on my radar. I'm looking forward to seeing where this takes me and my Learners.
My currently learning environment is a large open space that I share with three other Learning Coaches to support 87 Learners. We are in discussion at the moment as we reflect on how we are meeting - or not meeting, the learning outcomes as planned. Some systems and procedures are not being as effective as they should be and so our planning will be changing to make a difference. This will be an ideal opportunity to consider involving the parent/whānau in the learning by inviting them to a meeting to share up-and-coming learning so that they may have a chance to contribute. We could follow this up with another meeting to share and celebrate the learning journey and learning outcomes.
Enabling the contribution of indigenous people to assist culturally responsive practice is now on my radar. I'm looking forward to seeing where this takes me and my Learners.
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