| Ka tangi te tītī | The mutton bird cries |
| Ka tangi te kākā | The parrot cries |
| Ka tangi hoki ahau | I also cry |
| Tihei mauri ora | Behold there is life |
Every year New Zealand celebrates The Treaty, but how well do we as teachers help our young people understand it more deeply? As a teacher how are you planning to help your students with this? I remember vividly my fifth form social studies teacher announced to the class, “Oh, we’ll leave The Treaty this year because it is too hard to teach.” How many teachers feel this way and place The Treaty in the ‘too hard basket’? My advice to teachers would be to start small and give it go; after all our children deserve to learn about New Zealand’s past.
As a starting point, learning to say your students’ and local place names correctly is important as it acknowledges and values their mana, prestige and who they are.
Find out about the personal stories of the young people in your class, from their families’ experiences. When you are ready, make contact with your local community by finding out about the histories of the area.
He aha rā tēnei hanga?
As I contemplate a suitable and relevant topic for discussion, I am drawn to the passing of a very good friend, who was a well loved and respected figure within the Manawatū community, Dawson Tamatea. At the young age of 55, in the wee hours of Monday morning, 20th of July 2015, he was taken suddenly from his beautiful wife and three lovely tamariki. His passing reverberated across the nation, with multitudes ascending on Te Kupenga o Te Mātauranga Marae to pay their respects, to celebrate a life well lived, and to give Dawson one hell of a send off!