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weaving

Creating culturally safe organisations: Lessons from health

Posted on September 6, 2017 by Alex Hotere-Barnes

weaving

Over the last few years, I’ve worked with several organisations who want to improve engagement with Māori on educational issues. As Pākehā, I’ve been involved in these kinds of projects because of experiences and commitment to building knowledge and practice about how, as non-Māori, to best affirm Māori authority. I’ve been really interested in the impacts of this type of learning, and how this can strengthen our relationships.

My basic assumption has been this: if non-Māori recognise and affirm Māori aspirations by sharing power to make sound decisions, then we can achieve a Tiriti-based present and future. This benefits everybody because we can leverage diverse forms of knowledge and skills — opening up space for co-innovation. These opportunities aren’t new — people have been building and sharing knowledge for ages in order to enhance our lives. The problem is that, when we encounter complicated topics like, how power is shared between cultural identities, that’s when people can get stuck.

Undoing harm

My Treaty Partner, tangata whenua, have long said that our education system has a long history of doing harm, and that schools have been unsafe places. Why? Because, they tend to perpetuate and privilege the worldviews and practices of people who look like me: Pākehā/European, male, middle-class, able-bodied, married hetrosexual (and bald)! This mono-cultural approach doesn’t work for Māori, because it erases their own understandings of the world. It does this by hiding its own cultural biases.

Cultural bias creates disparity in health and education. It does this by negating multiple ways of being. Cultural bias doesn’t allow for how different people experience the world, behave, and organise themselves. Cultural bias blames people for “their own educational failure”. It can also impact on teacher judgements about Māori student performance. This does intergenerational harm to individuals, families and communities. Unfortunately, this is part of the colonial reality I/we have inherited in Aotearoa. A reality that benefits some, and does huge amounts of harm to many other individuals, families, and communities.

So, what is to be done?

Cultural safety provides one of many alternatives to cultural bias and mono-culturalism. It offers an educational framework for the analysis of power relationships between professionals, organisations, and those we serve.

Irihapeti Ramsden was a key architect of cultural safety in nursing. She was a game-changer who worked tirelessly with Māori and non-Māori to improve service delivery for Māori, and consequently, for all people. She was an innovator and trailblazer.

So, how has cultural safety changed (if at all), and what are the roles of non-Māori in creating culturally safe organisations and practices? I sat down with Dr Heather Came-Friar and Claire Doole to explore this issue — two Pākehā public health experts. I wanted to see what our cousins in public health can share with us as public educationalists.

Kei ngā ringa tōhaunui, kei te mihi atu ki a kōrua tahi. Thanks for taking the time to talk with me about cultural safety. In your work, what does “cultural safety” mean?

Heather: When I think of cultural safety I think of Irihapeti Ramsden and her work in nursing. The idea has changed form over years. It’s different in different places. There’s pockets of excellence, and pockets of horror!

In public health, we don’t talk much about “cultural safety”. We talk more about a Treaty partnership or relationship, and cultural and political competencies. For us, it’s about power — noticing power, and how power is transferred via Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Claire: Like Heather, my understandings of cultural safety come from Irihapeti Ramsden. I’ve also been influenced by transcultural nursing and critical social theory.

Basically, nurses need to reflect on their position and power. But it’s impossible to reflect on one’s power and position without humility and curiosity. This is cultural safety. When professionals recognise their own power and culture, it prepares them to work with the subtle cues of diversity. It helps people understand, affirm, and check their assumptions about the cultural context of people who differ from themselves.

Recently, while working with Māori and non-Māori on educational projects, I listened to several Pākehā say that they felt “culturally unsafe” when they’ve been challenged by Māori. What struck me was this paradox: by attempting to create cultural safety, it can be unsafe for some. How would you respond to this type of experience?

Claire: Cultural safety and discussions about the Treaty between health professionals isn’t a time for safety — it’s a time for risk (for Pākehā)! When we, as Pākehā, are challenged we can become defensive — this is a human reaction. When I’ve been seriously challenged, I’ve had to work through my defensiveness.

I would say, Pākehā just have to bear with it — it’ll be ok. Naming things make a difference. If I can’t name a problem, then who is going to? Everyone has to bring their best emotional intelligence to the table, and understand that emotional expression in one culture is not the same in another. If things go off track, go back to basic conversations — stuff that isn’t loaded. This helps build the rapport. The work of Stephen Covey has been helpful for me.

Heather: Some of this work is uncomfortable — this is part of learning. We don’t always set it up to be uncomfortable. Part of the challenge is that sometimes things may have happened in the past, which triggers people. The challenge here is to enter into dialogue and stick with it.

I find going back to basic principles of facilitation — ground rules, timeout, dialogue — useful here. Basically, there needs to be goodwill and trust. If these things are broken or dysfunctional it’s really hard. I believe that, as a group Pākehā, have a dysfunctional relationship with Māori. The challenge is to find common ground and support people to heal on both sides.

So, if the challenge is to support people to build good projects for both Māori and non-Māori, what tips do you have for individuals and organisations to do this?

What non-Māori individuals can do engage positively with Māori: Find out what the goals are; listen, observe… then offer practical help; create reciprocal relationships; stick with it!

Claire: Firstly, I know that I don’t know. So, I decided that if I wanted to build a relationship with Māori I needed to be useful. This meant I followed Māori goals and protocols in that place. It isn’t about me setting the goals and asking them to contribute. If I sat and listened, then I could hear. This was incredibly powerful and humbling. If I was useful I’d stay in the picture longer.

I work closely with a Māori colleague, and I profoundly respect her opinions. We now have a very successful relationship — we model the relationship in public. We value each other’s input. We listen to each other. We don’t second guess one another. I’ve learnt not to act on instinct. I now ask her before I act. Respect is at the bottom of it.

Heather: Take the opportunities to engage — accept invitations. Take the opportunity to listen. I’ve been lucky to have mentors, like Whaea Makere Wano and others. She guided me. I would go with her to wānanga and just park my own stuff, and listen with an open heart. This helps be an effective ally.

It’s about reciprocal relationships generally. We respect, trust, care, and maintain dialogue with each other. The gel is taking the time to trust each other. The ToW preamble – it’s about whanaungatanga – stay in there. Don’t be scared off. We’re all learners, and I’ll be a learner until I’m an old lady.

What non-Māori organisations can do engage positively with Māori: Think about systems change, hierarchies, and where power lies; create shared values & vision; recognise Māori intelligence; make a resourced plan.

Claire: The assumption behind cultural safety was that, if nurses know how to work in culturally safe ways, then things will change; if nurses enact this, then eventually we will have systems change. But this ignores the hierarchy of an organisation. Even if people have the best of intentions, they get overwhelmed. Nurses and teachers don’t hold all the power — despite our relationship with patients — none of that counts as you go further up the hierarchy.

Organisations need to come back to shared values. Until organisations have walked along the path and are clear with each other — you can’t take the next step. If you’re not clear about mutual values, then things won’t work. If you’re clear about the values, things will fall into place.

Heather: Creating culturally safe organisations is a powerful opportunity to recognise Māori intelligence. If people with power and authority don’t embrace Māori intelligence, the other parts of the organisation won’t. In general, Pākehā don’t seem to trust Māori.

So, leaders need to affirm and not marginalise Māori knowledges. This means being sharp and ensuring Māori can develop programmes that work for Māori. Have a shared vision for the kaupapa, and then make a plan and define the steps. It’s about building and maintaining relationships, reflecting on work-plans, sharing power and resources.

Tēnā anō kōrua! Thanks again for your work, determination, and willingness to share what you’ve been learning along the way.

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design thinking

iCubed: How design thinking develops lifelong learners

Posted on August 23, 2017 by Philippa Nicoll Antipas

In an interview with Jesse Mulligan on RNZ in June, Kevin Kelly, founding editor of Wired magazine, said that we have to accept being “perpetual newbies” in this digital era. He argued that, “We’re going to have to become lifelong learners. I think this is the major meta-skill that needs to be taught in schools.”

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) agrees: “The capacity to continuously learn and apply / integrate new knowledge and skills has never been more essential.” (OECD, 2012, p. 8)

Handily, for us here in Aotearoa New Zealand, the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa (TMOA) mirror these sentiments. No doubt we are familiar with the call to develop young people who are confident, connected, actively involved, lifelong learners.

why, how, what

Doubly handily, the NZC doesn’t just leave us floundering with the abstract notion of the ‘lifelong learner’, but gives us the key competencies by which lifelong learners are developed. If you like, the key competencies are the ‘how’ to the ‘why’ of the NZC’s vision; they directly support it.

The ‘what’ is the ‘stuff’ teachers decide to do, guided by the essence statements of each learning area. And while there is a lot of ‘stuff’ competing to be on the list of things teachers could do, I’d like to suggest design thinking as a way to develop the key competencies, and thus nurture lifelong learners.

It’s difficult to capture in a succinct sentence what design thinking is. It’s a methodology, it’s a mindset, it’s a kind of inquiry process on steroids. David Kwek does reasonably well when he defines it as, “An approach to learning that focuses on developing children’s creative confidence through hands-on projects that focus on empathy, promoting a bias toward action, encouraging ideation and fostering active problem-solving” (Kwek, 2011, p. 4).

i-cubed

I like to think of design thinking as being a way to bring people together to explore, learn, and co-develop solutions to real-world problems. I see it as having three broad phases:

  1. Immersion: researching, scoping, thinking, exploring, and, most importantly of all, empathising.
  2. Ideation: synthesising, defining, brainstorming, creating.
  3. Implementation: prototyping, pitching, gathering feedback, refining, problem-solving.

I call it iCubed.

And, I believe that as learners grapple with each phase of the design-thinking process, they actively encounter the five key competencies: thinking, relating to others, using language, symbols and texts, managing self, and participating and contributing.

By way of a brief example, a few years ago my Year 8 English class was exploring how we might welcome new students into our school. We began by putting ourselves in the shoes of a new student. We close-read some passages, we role-played, we conducted interviews. We were using language, symbols, and texts, relating to others and thinking. After generating loads of creative ideas, we formed groups around those we thought might have the greatest impact. We made prototypes, pitched to each other and to key members of staff. We sought feedback, refined our ideas, and worked together to find solutions. We were thinking, managing self, participating, and contributing.

While this is a high surface overview of both the learning and the key competencies that were being fostered, it was clear to me that design thinking is a powerful way to develop creative, empathetic thinkers. And my students thought that too. As one said, “Design thinking helps you to learn how to process ideas into something to help people”.

In other words, my students were being “critical and creative thinkers, active seekers, users and creators of knowledge, informed decision-makers” (NZC, p. 8). They are lifelong learners.

Philippa is also presenting on this topic as part of CORE’s Breakfast programme. She’ll be in Dunedin on 8 November.

Bibliography

  • Kelly, K. (2017, June 27). Don’t be afraid of AI (J. Mulligan, Interviewer) [Audio file]. Retrieved from http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/201849035/kevin-kelly-don-t-be-afraid-of-ai.
  • Kwek, Swee Hong. (2011). Innovation in the Classroom: Design Thinking for 21st Century Learning, [Master’s thesis)] Retrieved from http://web.stanford.edu/group/redlab/cgi-bin/materials/Kwek-Innovation%20In%20The%20Classroom.pdf.
  • OECD. (2012). The nature of learning using research to inspire practice: Practitioner guide from the Innovative Learning Environments Project – How can learning sciences inform the design of 21st century learning environments, OECD Publishing, Paris.
  • Mosbourne01. Golden circle [image file]. CC BY SA 3.0. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Golden_circle.png.

Other resources:

  • e-odyssey: Design Thinking
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scones

Manaakitanga — The story of two schools

Posted on August 17, 2017 by Tania Coutts

scones

My family is made up of many legendary scone bakers and good old pikelet makers — sadly I am not one of them. Our whānau scones are so legendary, that we’ve been known to have scone bake-offs when we’re together on special occasions to see if there is actually one baker better than the other. Competition is fierce and luckily there are always plenty of taste testers around; ensuring there are compliments for all, so as not to offend anyone (or put them off baking scones). The younger kids are usually not so kind and will often back their Mums as the best baker.

My early memories include Sunday lunches with extended whānau and friends always welcome with many impromptu visitors calling throughout the weekend. Nana, my Mum, or my Aunty were always quick to whip up scones or pikelets to go with the cups of tea for our visitors. Be it a happy occasion or a sad occasion, scones and pikelets always seemed fitting and were devoured while the conversation flowed, with either raucous laughter or tears flowed.

It wasn’t until I was at Intermediate school and learning tikanga and te reo Māori that I first came across the word ‘manaakitanga’. There, it was a way to express the hospitality, kindness, and caring attitudes of my whānau. I could see that we were a whānau that always welcomed others into our home, sharing our time, and our scones, as we cared and supported others. There were many good conversations and world problems solved around our kitchen table.

Fast forward a fair few years to the story of now. Aa facilitator, I get the opportunity to visit many schools, and, recently, have had two occasions that have got me thinking and reflecting on manaakitanga in our schools. Let me give you my perspective through the story of two schools — schools I will simply call Tahi and Rua.

Tahi — A group of facilitators and I had travelled a few hours to deliver after-school workshops for the whole teaching team at Tahi School. We all met at the school office having travelled from various directions and signed in. We were met by the Deputy Principal and shown to the various spaces throughout the school, where we would be presenting our workshops. As we dropped each person off, the rest of us followed behind to then be shown our rooms, wondering if we’d be able to find each other again at the end of the day. We were left to set up, and once I was organised, I went next door to find a colleague, and we went off in search of the wharepaku. Roll on bell time. The participants arrived, introductions were made and conversations were held as our workshops began. The happy ending is, at the end of the day, we all managed to find each other in the staff room and headed off to our accommodation for the evening. As a team we shared our experience about being hosted by Tahi School and realised what was lacking was manaakitanga. None of us went in expecting scones with jam and cream, but we would have each appreciated a warm welcome to make us feel valued.

Rua — Again, another facilitator and I traveled to Rua School to meet with the Principal and discuss professional learning services. We were greeted at the school office with a warm welcome — a smile from the office admin person, who came around from the other side of her desk to hug us and thank us for traveling to their school. We were told the Principal was currently engaged with students, and were shown the bathroom before being offered a cup of tea in the staffroom while we waited. As teachers came into the staffroom they greeted us, introduced themselves, and, again, welcomed us to their school and offered us another cup of tea and/or fruit and biscuits. When the Principal arrived, we were welcomed yet again, and we assured her we were well watered and fed before we headed to her office for our hui. During the hui, the Principal asked what time we were planning on leaving as they had brought in lunch for us. No it wasn’t scones, but a home-made chicken and salad sandwich. True manaakitanga in action.

Both Tahi and Rua Schools were schools I had never been to before and teams I hadn’t met. The difference in how I felt leaving each school was immense, and promoted rich discussion within my team and plenty of reflection on my part. Of course, this reflection doesn’t just apply to how I or my colleagues are greeted, but is about how anyone who visits the school may be welcomed. To me, manaakitanga is essential in welcoming people anywhere, be it in our homes, our office space, or our schools. That first ‘taste’ of hospitality leaves a lasting impression. As a facilitator, I truly value the manaakitanga shown to me in many New Zealand schools and would like to think this is something that is openly discussed and reflected on by staff.

So, I’d like to invite you to think. Think about manaakitanga. What does manaakitanga look like, feel like, sound like in your school? If a visitor was to arrive at the office, what would the process be? If a visitor was in the staffroom, what would happen? If a visitor was in your classroom, how would they be greeted? But, it works the other way, too! Facilitators can also think about this. As a visitor to a school, it is important that we manaaki also, as it is a reciprocal thing. So, as a new facilitator in a school we could take kai on our first visit. Let’s make sure all of our New Zealand Schools are not dusty marae.

Whakataukī:
He tangata takahi manuhiri, he marae puehu
A person who mistreats his guest has a dusty Marae (Meeting house)
Someone who disregards his visitors will soon find he has no visitors at all. This accentuates the importance of manaakitanga, or hospitality within Maori society and culture.

Links:

CORE Professional Learning Services to support Culturally Responsive Practice

  • Who you teach: Maori students
  • What you teach: te reo Māori

TKI:

  • Culturally Responsive Learning Environments – Manaakitanga
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Cook Islands language week

Posted on August 1, 2017 by Teanau Tuiono

Kia orana. Aere mai, tapiri mai, i te ‘akaepaepaanga ite ‘Epetoma o te reo Māori Kuki Airani.

It’s winter. It’s cold. If you’re like me you were wishing you were in the islands. Welcome to Cook Islands Language week which runs from Sunday 30 July – Saturday 5 August 2017. The aim of Cook Islands Language Week is to celebrate Cook Islands language and culture and to promote the teaching, learning and use of language in every environment.

The theme for Te ‘Epetoma o te Reo Māori Kūki ’Āirani: Cook Islands Language Week 2017 is:

`Ei rāvenga nāku i te tuatua i tōku reo Māori Kūki ’Āirani ka anoano au i te turuturu ā tōku ngutu`are tangata `ē te matakeinanga
An encouraging home and community environment is what I need to build my love and my confidence to speak my reo Māori Kūki ’Āirani

cook island language week

There is a huge range of events and activities happening at a town near you! Check out the events calendar at the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs (PDF, 250kb).

I’d like to share with you a few facts and resources to assist you in your classroom.

Some facts about languages in the Cook Island

Did you know that there are three distinct Polynesian languages are spoken in the Cook Islands? They are:

  • Cook Islands Māori is an Eastern Polynesian language, belonging to the same language family as New Zealand Māori and the languages of Hawai‘i and Tahiti. It has a number of distinct dialects.
  • The language of Pukapuka is a Western Polynesian language, belonging to the same language family as the languages of Sāmoa, Tuvalu, and Tokelau. Pukapuka Island’s inclusion as part of the
  • Cook Islands has resulted in some Cook Islands Māori terms and expressions being adopted into the Pukapuka language.
  • Palmerston Island has its own unique and distinctive mixture of Cook Islands Māori and English.

Also, there are different dialects. Speakers of one dialect can understand the others. These dialects are:

  • Aitutaki;
  • Ātiu, Ma‘uke, and Miti‘āro (Ngāpūtoru);
  • Mangaia;
  • Manihiki and Rakahanga;
  • Rarotonga;
  • Tongareva (Penrhyn).

The dialect of Rarotonga is the most widely used and standardised dialect, both in the Cook Islands
and within Cook Islands communities in New Zealand. Learners of Cook Islands ancestry whose
heritage language is that of Pukapuka or whose heritage dialect is other than that of Rarotonga
benefit from learning the Rarotongan dialect as a lingua franca because they are part of the Cook
Islands community. Learners of Cook Islands Māori who are not of Cook Islands ancestry normally
begin by learning the dialect spoken in Rarotonga.

Learning resources

Here are a few learning resources that I have found helpful:

  • Te Papa has developed an online language learning resource, Te ’Epetoma o te reo Māori Kūki ’Āirani, to help learners of reo Māori Kūki ’Āirani. It’s ideal for Cook Islands language speakers, enthusiasts, schools, workplaces and community groups.
    The resource includes:

    • an exploration of the theme, which relates to family, culture and spirituality
    • reo Māori Kūki ’Āirani pronunciation support and access to helpful words and phrases
    • activity ideas, and tua (story) and ‘īmene (song) resources
    • details of how to take part in a nation-wide initiative to recognise reo Māori Kūki ’Āirani Champions (Cook Islands Māori Language Champions). Download the resource (PDF, 2.5 MB)
  • Teaching and learning Cook Islands Māori
  • Learning Languages for Senior Secondary
  • Cook Islands Māori storybooks Teacher Support Materials
  • Resources for Internally Assessed Achievement Standards ( NCEA on TKI)
  • Paskifika Songs: The CORE Pasifika team has recorded a selection of songs which have been made available to support early childhood teachers with the teaching and learning of languages and cultures of Pasifika peoples.
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My reo journey continues

Posted on July 27, 2017 by Andrew Penny
reo learner
Andrew is continuing to create opportunities to include a greater range of kupu and kīwaha into the video and web conference resources he develops through LEARNZ virtual field trips. Image: LEARNZ.

Caption: Andrew is continuing to create opportunities to include a greater range of kupu and kīwaha into the video and web conference resources he develops through LEARNZ virtual field trips. Image: LEARNZ.

Over time, I have come to appreciate how the Māori language is intimately woven into the fabric of nature, history, customs, and beliefs. I see much more clearly now how te reo is an essential element of Māoritanga — more than just a means to communicate. In a blog I wrote last year, titled ‘A Stranger in a Strange Land?’, I talked about why I think learning te reo is one of the best ways to develop empathy for Māori culture. In part of that blog I said that it was:
…the active learning of Māori language which I believe is the key to breaking through Pākehā paralysis to a point where Pākehā educators have an experiential understanding of Māori language and culture, not just an intellectual understanding, to make the teaching and learning environment a properly inclusive one.

(For more information on the notion of Pākehā paralysis, watch Alex Hotere-Barnes on EDtalks).

In that blog, I also explored my own te reo Māori journey. “I’ll let you know how things are progressing in my next blog!” I said. Well, here it is!

Te Reo Manahua Māori

Last year, I enrolled in Te Reo Manahua Māori, an intermediate course for te reo Māori. This course is part of CORE’s ngaiotanga/professional learning services, and is preceded by Te Reo Puāwai Māori, the Stage 1 beginners’ course. Both courses are online, with an opportunity to attend a face-to-face hui at both the beginning and end of the course.

The courses are organised within the Moodle platform, which made the content easy to follow, flexible, and allowed for a range of different media to suit various learning styles. Additionally, the weekly Adobe Connect session was a great opportunity to connect with other course participants, to share and reinforce the week’s learning. I also found the Adobe Connect sessions helpful in a sense that I could interact with others at a similar stage of te reo learning journey, which gave me a sense of reassurance that what I was doing was of value.

Commitment and encouragement

I admit that, at times, I felt somewhat overwhelmed with what I didn’t know (and that I still need to learn!) Such is the nature of learning, eh! But, making the commitment to take part in Te Reo Manahua Māori was a key step in the right direction. And it wasn’t like I felt forced to carry on with my te reo learning just because I had made this commitment — it was more that I felt encouraged, for which I give credit to the course facilitators and the way the learning experience has been structured.

Next step

Although I am no longer teaching in a classroom setting, I could certainly see how one could translate learning within the course into lessons for students. For my job as a LEARNZ virtual field trip teacher, Te Reo Manahua Māori has increased my repertoire of kupu (vocabulary), as well as the confidence to use these words; improved my whakahua (pronunciation); and I am gradually incorporating a greater range of kīwaha (idioms) into field trip videos and web conferences. My next step is continuing to search for and find opportunities to further my learning in this space.

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