Acting as a mirror
Posted on 11 December, 2015
Recently Kia Eke Panuku staff received a link to a presentation prepared by staff and students at Matamata College to share what their experiences in Kia Eke Panuku have been like.
The photography attested to the bicultural makeup of the students with Māori students enjoying and achieving education success in a wide range of cultural, sporting and academic activities. Teachers also talked about their experiences.
“I have been very inspired and learned a lot,” said one.
Another said:
“Kia Eke Panuku has built really well on our past programmes where we have focussed on building relationships with students…”
Now he believes they are learning what to do once the learning relationships are established. Amongst other things they have a student-mentoring programme and are using evidence more to drive their practice and move forward.
Teachers are also changing their classroom pedagogy through the use of classroom observations.
“I really like the observational tool… I’ve got a lot of buy-in for this tool because you co-construct the next steps… the observer acts as a mirror for you, rather than just having to provide advice. I think it’s really powerful.”
The team recently undertook Rongohia te Hau. Once the data gathering is completed it will be triangulated to gain a picture of the progress they have made in implementing culturally responsive pedagogy over this year.
Matamata College staff talked about being really excited about where Kia Eke Panuku is going to take them and Māori students certainly exemplified the benefits and success of their work.
A link to to the Matamata presentation can be found here.
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