Tātaiako-E: Cultural competency must-haves

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I recently had the privilege of sharing some insights into what culturally responsive practice looks like in Aotearoa from a Māori-educator perspective with the Howick Pakuranga Principals' Association eLearning Network in Auckland. The majority of participants were familiar with the Ministry of Education’s starter kete of Māori education strategies such as, Ka Hikitia — Accelerating Success 2013-2017, and curriculum resources like, He Reo Tupu, He Reo Ora. I chose to flesh out the cultural competencies discussed in Tātaiako using anecdotal evidence as examples.

Tataiako
Source: Tātaiko: Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Learners

I chose not to take the normal approach of using guest speaker stories, PowerPoints, handouts, and two-minute discuss-amongst-yourselves-and-report-back-to-the-group style, as these are only surface-scratching stuff. As the educator of this present moment, I’m totally about being a better person than yesterday and fulfilling one’s personal legend (perhaps even helping you discover your own?). I like to make these cultural competencies more tangible, mash it up a bit with some online resources and practical ways to help integrate the principles in your classroom and kura.

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The #edchatnz conference — connecting with connectors

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#edchatnz was born from a dream…. Danielle Myburgh’s dream… #edchatnz — the little hashtag that could. She believed in her passion for education…. She knew that her family and friends didn't want to talk about education 24/7….

So, her dream became a reality two years ago with the inception of #edchatnz.

#edchatNZ is a community for New Zealand educators across all sectors to discuss all things education. Please feel free to use this hashtag to share anything relevant about New Zealand education. #edchatNZ conference Friday, 8 August 2014 at 9:00 AM– Saturday, 9 August 2014 at 3:00 PM (NZST) Auckland, New Zealand

In April this year Danielle's dream reshaped to allow for the MAGIC of #edchatnz online to become a face to face reality. The edchtnz blog said it all: "The steering committee has pulled together the#edchatnz conference in 18 weeks. Yes, you read correctly: 18 weeks. Our first official minutes were dated 3/04/2014."

#edchatnz conference

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Riding the eFellow wave

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I've always been keen to try out new things, things that will improve my thinking and approach to my teaching. I don't mind being pushed outside my comfort zone, but when I became an eFellow I was tossed into a tumultuous wave that first struck me with fear, but then excited me. It was a voyage of discovery like no other. Now that I'm near the end of this fantastic journey (which is really like a beginning), I thought I'd share some of these things with others. I'd love others to reap the benefits I have gained through the eFellow experience.

Riding the eFellow wave (Photo credit: Derek Fryer)
Catching the wave

A 2011 eFellow and digital mentor, Sonya van Schaijik, encouraged me to apply to be a CORE Education eFellow, and I am very grateful for that spark which lit a fire in my professional development and practice. From the moment I received the Inspector Gadget style self destructing top secret email, “I need to speak to you urgently, don’t tell anyone…”, from John Fenaughty on the drive back from a fishing trip to the Ruakituri, I was in disbelief (mainly because I had been off the grid for a few  days, and was a bit confused about the reality of the situation). There have been 80 eFellows to date, and I feel extremely privileged to be part of an alumni that includes many influential and prolific members of New Zealand education.

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Ten Trends 2014: Global connectedness

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Trend 8: Global connectedness

CORE's Ten Trends for 2014 have been published. This post considers the seventh of these trends: Global connectedness. We publish posts on one of the trends approximately each month. You are encouraged to comment or provide supporting links.

Nā tō rourou, nā taku rourou ka ora ai te iwi
With your food basket and my food basket the people will thrive

Global connectedness

Most of us now have more opportunities to connect with others than ever before. Social networks, global branding and economic advancement, ease of travel and global communications – all accessed through a handheld device — characterise the world in which we live. I used to think that having a pen pal in Norway, to whom I wrote on delicate airmail paper, was the height of sophistication. Now I can talk to her face-to-face, share photos of our families, use Google Translate to write in Norwegian, even visit her town on Google Earth.

If you remember the world pre-Internet, it is truly something to be marvelled at. But it can also shock us; the now open, public nature of world events can harshly illustrate inequalities in living conditions, levels of prosperity and opportunities.

In this globally connected world, our challenge as educators is to prepare our learners to not only take advantage of all that this offers, but also to encourage them to question, investigate and act as global citizens.
 

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First word, Tablet

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Child and Tablet

Recently, I have had a few calls from anxious teachers and parents concerned about the use of mobile devices in early childhood education. An online survey conducted by a UK tech company has been highlighted in themedia, causing concern as the news headlines suggest that for many babies their first word is ‘tablet’. In fact, the survey states that one in eight babies say tablet as their very first word — even before the words Mum and Dad. This is concerning especially when 3,614 parents took part in the study. This would mean than 289 children say tablet before they say any other word!

I find this hard to believe. 

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