The second strategic aim of our charter is “To ensure Maori
Culture is alive and well at Masterton Intermediate School.” Our roll is made up of 31% Maori and daily
the karakia can be heard on ever class, te reo Maori is taught, hapa kaka is
alive and well and offered during class time as an option for students to
join. We are well known in the community
for our strengths with Maori culture.
Russell Bishop in 2012 talks of the achievement gaps between
Maori and non-Maori which we have had in New Zealand for over 60 years. We need
to look at the individual student to address achievement gaps. Over the last three years we were part of the
Accelerated Literacy Learning programme (ALL). Our individual students made
great progress and based on our reading around Ka Hikitia this was due to
whanau involvement, knowing our learners, giving them choices, having high
expectations, goal setting and front loading.
As the programme was so successful we had a mind shift as a staff and
plan our teacher inquiry around target student’s each term to try and close the
achievement gap. We encourage buy in from families and try to improve attendance
as well. We used achievement data effectively
to guide students with their next steps.
Students set goals that are achievable in the short term and they can
see their progress. Goals are shared with whanau by letters and then an
afternoon tea sharing time where whanau were invited and students proudly
showed off their learning. Building
self-esteem and having positive relationships with each child I believe were
key to the success of our students. This
year we have introduced an extra parent, teacher, student conference to have extra
contact with whanau.
Within my class I have Maori students, two Filipino girls, European
students and I was born in England. Each
student is unique and has their own story. We celebrate everybody’s cultures by using various
greetings in the morning, hearing about their lives during inquiry times,
reading stories from their countries and being respectful. Relationships are key to being culturally
aware.
An area for further development for our school is “Strong
engagement and contribution from students, parents and whānau, hapū, iwi, Māori
organisations, communities, and businesses – have a strong influence on
students’ success.” (Ka Hikitia) We need
to have further input from whanau and use their expertise to help engage their students.
It is key to put time into professional development
for all staff to ensure that we are catering for our students.
My job is to know every individual student in my class,
their story and their cultural. Every student is unique and special, that to me
is being culturally responsive.
References
Bishop, R. (2012, September). A culturally
responsive pedagogy of relations. Retrieved from Ed Talks.
Education, Minstry. of. (2017). Summary of Ka
Hikitia Accelerating Success.
Masterton Intermediate School (2017) Charter
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