Dear

Unuhia te rito o te harakeke kei whea te kmako e k

Whakatairangitia rere ki uta rere ki tai
Ui mai koe ki ahau he aha te mea nui o te ao
Mku e k atu he tangata, he tangata, he tangata!

Diary

Remove the heart of the flax bush and where will the kmako sing?
Proclaim it to the land proclaim it to the sea
Ask me What is the greatest thing in the world?
I will reply, It is people, people, people!
(http://www.core-ed.org/thought-leadership/blog/whanaungatanga)

Dear Diary, Today I explore the concept of being culturally responsive to all people in a
classroom context and how to implement this.

What is culturally responsive teaching and learning in Aotearoa?

All instruction is culturally responsive. The question is: to which culture is it currently
oriented? Gloria (1995 p.162)
In Aotearoa the aim of culturally responsive teaching and learning is to improve Mori
education outcomes where the tamaiti (child), the whnau (parents and family), and hap
and iwi (tribal group) are integral to determining the education journey. The core of cultural
responsiveness is exactly that: responding to the childs cultural experiencesin this case
as Mori and all that it encompasses.

My Opinion!
I think that it is hard to be culturally responsive to the needs of students from a teacher
student or a student-student relationship when people dont understand or know their own
culture, whether this is day to day processes or heritage, it is important that students and

teachers alike know who they are, their values and their beliefs to be open and accepting of
others. If students are to learn about, and develop respect for, other cultures, they need to be
helped to understand and be proud of their own cultural identity Metge, (1990).

But where do you begin and how do you know you are being fair to all cultures not just that
of dominant culture or with those that match up to your own values? I believe the best way
to do this is find values and perspectives that are agreed upon as a community, school and
class and implement these into the class where all are aware and accepting of it. From there
as a teacher you can then explore the collective and independent cultures within the class
and insert these into teaching and making them a part of the classroom culture.

Implications for practice

Patara (2012) discusses what best practice might look like when being culturally
responsive and this is to acknowledge the cultural wealth and accept the differences in
culture and to embrace them. It is about implementing pedagogy and giving Mori
learners equity in learning.

As teachers Barnes, Hutchings, Taupo, & Bright (2012) suggest that we need to
understand success as being holistic, develop a values based education, increase the
amount of Mori teachers in schools and encourage greater whanau inclusiveness
and engagement. Implementing these practices would be the beginning of becoming
a more culturally apt teacher.

Teachers need to include in our practice relationship based learning strategies as

suggested by Otrel-Cass, Cowie & Glynn, 2009 such as ako, where we all learn
together by turning our classrooms into an open entity, where all knowledge from
whanau is welcomed, explored and celebrated and used to build not only in our
learning but strengthen our relationships .

Whanaungatanga is another relationship based learning strategy that teachers can

implement and this is an integral part of being culturally responsive as this one word
encompasses so much meaning. The two below are merely just the entry to the
pathway of what Whanaungatanga incorporates.

1. He mauri t te tangata, he whakapapa tna, he mana motuhake. This is the

equivalent to understanding that everyone has mana, a whakapapa, a genealogy, a
heritage and identity It is applying in teaching that no one person is more or less than
another.
2. E rua ku taringa, ktahi tku waha. Which means that you have two ears for
listening and one mouth for talking so as teachers we need to really listen to our
students and their whanau to understand who they are not just as learners but as
people.

Implications for practice means that we need to lead by example and treat everyone
with care and respect, as we do this there will be fewer barriers to establishing and
maintaining relationships.

Conclusion

As a BT I understand that my job is not just to teach but to learn, and through the readings I
have learnt that I need to know myself inside and out so that I can effectively acknowledge,
embrace and respond to the cultural identities within an outside my classroom.

Yours,
Slowly
getting
it BT