Activity Nine: Cultural Responsiveness
A culturally responsive pedagogical orientation focuses attention on reciprocity in exchanging teacher and
learner roles; on collective responsibility; and on the importance of caring and respectful classroom
relationships between people, and between students’ cultural knowledge and domain knowledge
(Glynn, Cowie, & Otrel-Cass & Macfarlane, 2010).
learner roles; on collective responsibility; and on the importance of caring and respectful classroom
relationships between people, and between students’ cultural knowledge and domain knowledge
(Glynn, Cowie, & Otrel-Cass & Macfarlane, 2010).
What is my indigenous knowledge and culturally responsive pedagogy?
As a fourth generation Pakeha and a 'child of the environment', the Maori culture has always resonated with me and been part of my identity as a New Zealander. Despite an education at school and at home in the 60's and 70's that labelled Maori as 'lazy', I have always disbelieved it. Early on I had no real grounding for that disbelief except that it was just plain wrong and unfair, but on entering Playcentre with my own children and being educated on the Treaty of Waitangi and the history of Maori in New Zealand (which I didn't get at school) a light was definitely shone on the glaring discrepancies in both my education and the deal Maori had gotten. Teaching about the Treaty of Waitangi, and the possibility of all people, and the unfairness of racism, became important to me as a parent and later a teacher. I saw diversity as paramount to developing accepting and inquiring children.
In my classroom practise I believe I have high expectations of Maori (and all students) and disbelieve deficit explanations as to why Maori in particular are not achieving. I believe as Russell Bishop (2015) states that Maori are very educable and that being responsive to a student and their culture helps to develop relationships that can be built upon in their learning journeys.
Looking at what I do in the classroom I believe I incorporate children's funds of knowledge and lived experiences beyond school, well, and use these in the classroom in the direction learning takes. However I don't incorporate families or communities funds of knowledge nearly as much, and believe this is an area to really work on. I am comfortable positioning myself as a learner so that students can contribute their expertise, but haven't opened myself up to their families and whanau.
Over the years I have gained some insight into how Maori and Pasifika communities operate and the beliefs they have around co-operative and collaborative learning. I have incorporated systems that ensure students can express and present their learning in all manner of ways.
References
Edtalks.(2012, September 23). A culturally responsive pedagogy of relations. [video file].Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/49992994
Edtalks.(2012, May 30). Mike Hogan: Culturally responsive practice in a mainstream school. [video file].Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/43097812
As a fourth generation Pakeha and a 'child of the environment', the Maori culture has always resonated with me and been part of my identity as a New Zealander. Despite an education at school and at home in the 60's and 70's that labelled Maori as 'lazy', I have always disbelieved it. Early on I had no real grounding for that disbelief except that it was just plain wrong and unfair, but on entering Playcentre with my own children and being educated on the Treaty of Waitangi and the history of Maori in New Zealand (which I didn't get at school) a light was definitely shone on the glaring discrepancies in both my education and the deal Maori had gotten. Teaching about the Treaty of Waitangi, and the possibility of all people, and the unfairness of racism, became important to me as a parent and later a teacher. I saw diversity as paramount to developing accepting and inquiring children. In my classroom practise I believe I have high expectations of Maori (and all students) and disbelieve deficit explanations as to why Maori in particular are not achieving. I believe as Russell Bishop (2015) states that Maori are very educable and that being responsive to a student and their culture helps to develop relationships that can be built upon in their learning journeys.
Looking at what I do in the classroom I believe I incorporate children's funds of knowledge and lived experiences beyond school, well, and use these in the classroom in the direction learning takes. However I don't incorporate families or communities funds of knowledge nearly as much, and believe this is an area to really work on. I am comfortable positioning myself as a learner so that students can contribute their expertise, but haven't opened myself up to their families and whanau.
Over the years I have gained some insight into how Maori and Pasifika communities operate and the beliefs they have around co-operative and collaborative learning. I have incorporated systems that ensure students can express and present their learning in all manner of ways.
Addressing Cultural Responsiveness
School Wide Activities and Learning Activities.
Over recent years the direction Waikowhai Primary School has taken to address community involvement and cultural responsiveness has meant we have developed strengths in our school wide activities and learning activities. I think these link together as the school wide activities include learning opportunities for students, staff and community members.
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| WPS Student Ethnicity Population |
Waikowhai Primary has a unique culture because of its size and demographics. No one culture is more dominant than the others. The numbers reflect seventeen different cultures or ethnic groups identified.
Over the last four years we have tried and tested a number of ways that we can engage our diverse community and participate in learning from their funds of knowledge. Cultural celebration has increased with evenings, events and recognition of special days or significant traditions. Included into the calendar year are regular hui with Maori families and fono with pasifika families. Days that are designed to have families connect and enjoy their shared cultural background as well as voice how they want to interact with us. Alongside these a raft of new innovations into the school programme have been set up to create a culture of care and inclusion. They are all initiatives that have brought the community closer. The introduction of a breakfast club, two walking school buses, a social worker in school two days a week, Kids Can food baskets, shoes and jackets, Eat My Lunch and providing childcare at all evening meetings have all helped student wellbeing. The introduction of Reading Together courses for parents and students, Parent Reading programmes that see parents and grandparents listening to students read, staff being enrolled in the Incredible Years Parenting courses, the development of a Ka Hikitia plan and Pasifika Education Plan, are all programmes that impact on the learning activities in the school. Finally, Maori and Pacific parents helped put the Ka Hikitia and PEP plans together for the school.
Over the last four years we have tried and tested a number of ways that we can engage our diverse community and participate in learning from their funds of knowledge. Cultural celebration has increased with evenings, events and recognition of special days or significant traditions. Included into the calendar year are regular hui with Maori families and fono with pasifika families. Days that are designed to have families connect and enjoy their shared cultural background as well as voice how they want to interact with us. Alongside these a raft of new innovations into the school programme have been set up to create a culture of care and inclusion. They are all initiatives that have brought the community closer. The introduction of a breakfast club, two walking school buses, a social worker in school two days a week, Kids Can food baskets, shoes and jackets, Eat My Lunch and providing childcare at all evening meetings have all helped student wellbeing. The introduction of Reading Together courses for parents and students, Parent Reading programmes that see parents and grandparents listening to students read, staff being enrolled in the Incredible Years Parenting courses, the development of a Ka Hikitia plan and Pasifika Education Plan, are all programmes that impact on the learning activities in the school. Finally, Maori and Pacific parents helped put the Ka Hikitia and PEP plans together for the school.
Communication Methods
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| % families engaged in school |
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| 2015 WPS Report |
The area I think we need to do further work on regarding community involvement is how we communicate and the methods we use. There are still a number of families who are not engaging with the school. In 2015, a Community Engagement Survey was carried out by two teachers who found that European and Indian families are the most involved ethnic groups with both over 80%, while Middle Eastern and Tongan ethnic groups are the least involved with 50% and 58% respectively. Some ways that are being looked at to improve communication so that all families feel included and encouraged to participate in school life, are having newsletters translated, shoulder tapping different cultural leaders from among our parents to lead regular forums where families feel comfortable to raise concerns or make requests and encouraging parents from different ethnic backgrounds to become members of Friends of the School. A survey could also be created that asks about how families want to be communicated with, to gage if there are ways we have yet to consider.
Edtalks.(2012, September 23). A culturally responsive pedagogy of relations. [video file].Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/49992994
Edtalks.(2012, May 30). Mike Hogan: Culturally responsive practice in a mainstream school. [video file].Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/43097812
Cowie, B., Otrel-Cass, K., Glynn, T., & Kara, H., et al.(2011).Culturally responsive pedagogy and assessment in primary science classrooms: Whakamana tamariki. Wellington: Teaching Learning Research Initiative.Retrieved from http://www.tlri.org.nz/sites/default/files/projects/9268_cowie-summaryreport.pdf Shinn, L., Rai, C. (2015). Ethnicities of Families Involved in School Activities September 2015 [school report]
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