Identity and Te Tiriti - Assignment One
Identity and Te Tiriti - Assignment One
Transforming Education - Assignment One
Where to start...
I come to Transforming Education with a kete of life experiences and knowledge that are ready to be challenged. I am an educator and have been for over twenty years. I have taught all ages in primary and am currently an intermediate teacher in Rotorua. Having taught in a diverse range of schools I have been fortunate enough to have experienced a wide range of students with a variety of needs and backgrounds. Every year I reflect on how the year went and what I could have done better.
This postgraduate study is an opportunity for me to challenge my current teaching practice and to build on my prior knowledge.
The first two modules on Identity and Te Tiriti o Waitangi were extremely thought provoking and some of my new learning I will be unpacking is what is identity, conscientization and oppression, the Declaration of Independence in New Zealand and Te Tiriti o Waitangi through Education.
What is Identity?
Identity on face value is the information you might see on an identity card or passport however this is only the tip of the iceberg. Delving so much deeper into identity and narratives was fascinating. The concept of dominant narratives and counter narratives has left a lasting impression. As I walked through the shopping centre, I found myself observing and thinking of dominant narratives for people passing by and wondering what their real narrative was. I was fascinated by the concept of narratives being one version of a story and depending on who is telling the story the interpretations are different. The examples of Meghan Markle and Derek Chauvin were perfect (Outreach, 2023). Derek Chauvin called in a medical issue and in his story, he omitted part of the story. The part omitted changed the whole narrative of what was happening.
The idea that everyone makes constant assumptions about people whether it is due to their culture (Adichie, 2009), appearance or family history to name a few made me reflect on my role in the classroom. Reflecting on some of the students I have taught and the strong gang backgrounds that they come from, it can be easy for teachers to just assume that is the path they want. We can become part of changing their story by helping them to aspire for more. Hearing one boy taught talk of his hopes of joining Black Power like his dad and uncles left me wanting to help this child see that there were other options for him – I wanted to help him shift his story. The rest was up to him to decide his own story.
Assumptions you can make about a child based on what another teacher has experienced, what you have previously experienced with a sibling or knowing a student's background can become their dominant narrative and at times it hard to accept a counternarrative. This can be very detrimental in education for that learner, and it is important to find out that student's narrative from them as these assumptions can cause misunderstandings and missed opportunities for that student.
The readings and videos for this part of the module have made me assess the dominant narratives I am sometimes guilty of creating for people. It has actively tried to make change in my thoughts with this already and question others when they make these dominant narrative assumptions about people. It can often be detrimental staffroom conversations about students creating these stories that then become the story in charge (Green, 2021) and harder for those students to alter the narratives since they are always changing.
Conscientization and the Oppressed
Conscientization or critical consciousness was a new term for me. The notion of being part of making transformative change through understanding inequalities and social realities is quite exciting. The idea that the oppressed are the ones who must liberate themselves (Smith, 2005) was quite an unexpected idea, however it is also obvious when you stop to think about it. When Māori were oppressed in the monocultural New Zealand education system they were no longer allowed to speak Māori or follow many traditions and this saw the loss of a great deal of what made Māori, Māori. The people started to lose faith and interest in education. Change did not happen until people started to stand against the oppressors and eventually introduced the six principles of Kaupapa Māori Theory (Smith, 2005) to bring back their language, traditions, and some faith in the education system. The introduction of the New Zealand Histories Curriculum also complements these principles as a greater focus is now being put into learning about what has happened in the past as well as local history. This could only be a positive to help Māori connect with their whenua. The voices and narratives of some of the oppressed are now being told hundreds of years later.
When thinking about the oppressed and reading articles I instantly thought of Gloriavale in New Zealand and how oppressed the people are there, especially the woman. Hearing the people speak about life there and hearing woman speak firsthand (Ward, 2024) about their life there was a clear example of oppression. All the oppressed people mentioned in the article were the ones who liberated themselves and their families when they eventually developed from Magical Conscious to Critical conscious (Freire, 2000). They had to be resistant, have critical consciousness and make transformative change (Smith, 2005) to be freed. Although this is not an educational context it is certainly a New Zealand one.
Declaration of Independence
We hear about The Declaration of Independence in all American television shows as their founding document. This is not the case in of the Declaration of Independence for the United Tribes of New Zealand. I first heard about the fact that New Zealand had one through a journal story (Calman and Derby, 2021) I share with my class at the start of each year. It mentions that New Zealand had a Declaration of Independence before the Treaty of Waitangi and that is all the story says, so I was aware that New Zealand had a Declaration of Independence but had never actually learnt what it contained. To me the disparities between the Declaration of Independence and the Treaty of Waitangi were unexpected. The term sovereignty is noticeably clear in the declaration and the fact that Māori did not cede it, also the fact New Zealand was to be an independent nation under the declaration. It also had the Rangatira working together and agreeing to work together (The declaration of what now?, 2017) which until then the tribes had been independent of each other. I was also interested in the fact that some chiefs only signed the declaration and not the Treaty including the Māori King (Mānuka Hēnare — He Tohu interview, 2018).
Other new learning regarding He Whakaputanga (The Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of New Zealand) was the fact that James Busby was in fact Scottish, and the comment was made by Manuka Henare that Busby was Scottish first and English second (Mānuka Hēnare — He Tohu interview, 2018). I had always assumed that Busy was English and this got me thinking about my identity and the dominant narrative people assume about me, I must be of English ancestry because of the colour of my skin however I am of Scottish and Irish heritage and if you investigate the history books of my ancestors you will see they were also oppressed by the English. So, for Henare to speak about Busby giving advice around sovereignty and independence to aid the Rangatira once I knew he was Scottish it made more sense for him to be trying to help the Māori rather than the crown. I was also fascinated by Henares notion of the fact that Germany and Japan have just finished paying their reparations to countries after World War Two and should this have been the way the reparations were made to the tribes in New Zealand? Quite a thought-provoking concept.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi in Education
Before I start looking at Te Tiriti in education I would like to touch on the fact that I found the article with Ned Fletcher a refreshing take on the Treaty of Waitangi translation (Buchannan, 2022) as Fletchers research had him drawing the conclusion that Busby and Williams would refer to the Māori version and translate that into English and failed to see the differences. It was refreshing to read that he believed that Māori had not ceded sovereignty to the crown in Busby's eyes.
We constantly hear in education about how we are to honour the treaty in our classrooms and it has always left me wondering how we do this from the document beyond educating what the actual document means for intermediate students to understand. Such literal thinking for me. It was watching a recording of one of Pania’s zuis in which she mentioned the principles, the three ‘P’s’ - Partnership, participation and protection that then led me to the provisions of promise to protect Māori culture and let Māori be Māori that I had a penny drop moment and felt incredibly dense. Honouring the Treaty of Waitangi in an educational context is to look at the culture, language, history and recognise the uniqueness of the tangata whenua of the land. I realised I already knew what was expected of me as it is clearly outlined in ‘Our Code, Our Standards’ (Teaching Council, 2017).
I started reflecting on my teaching last year and I began the year looking at a localised curriculum. Our school already has significant Koromatua from the past of our local iwi (Ngati Whakaue) as our ‘house’ group names that we learn about each year. I delved deeper into our local area by first going on a walking tour of our city with a local expert who gave meaning to places, buildings, and areas that my students saw everyday but did not know the historical significance of. Students then researched a historical building or site in Rotorua township and presented it back to the class. We also mapped out actual locations of places mentioned in well-known local legends such as Hatupatu and the Birdwoman and Hinemoa and Tutanekai to bring more meaning to the legends. Having reflected on those examples I realised that I am on my way to honouring the Treaty of Waitangi in my educational context but still have a lot more I can do. I took part in a Te Reo Māori course last year and learnt many new ideas including kiwaha that I would also like to bring into the classroom to have more Māori being spoken in the classroom. I still have a long way to go, and these first two modules have certainly given me a lot to think about and work on.
Te Hurihanganui Project, I feel, would be a significant place to start as it would add to the kete of knowledge I already have. Before this paper, I had not heard of it, and delving into the six design principles would give me added guidance of where to next and what more I can do in the classroom. Being a teacher in a school with Māori being the largest ethnic cohort and attendance being poor, it is essential to try new ways to engage our students while honouring The Treaty of Waitangi.
Where to next?
What transformative change am I going to take away from these modules?
- Find out more about my students' narratives and question dominant narratives to really get to know students' stories.
- I will actively work to understand the social realities, contradictions, and inequality of my students through conscientization.
- I will delve deeper into Te Hurihanganui Project and see what I can learn and set up in my classroom from the six design principles
- I will continue to learn new ways to honour Te Triti o Waitangi in the classroom and work with other teachers to share our knowledge.
When I return to the classroom next year I will be better equipped to engage and empower my students to ignite a passion for learning in them.
References
Adichie, C. N. (2009, July). The danger of a single story [Video]. TED Talks. https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language=en#t-1065184
Buchanan, C. (2022, October 1). Ned Fletcher: There’s no clash between Te Tiriti and the Treaty | E-Tangata. E-Tangata. https://e-tangata.co.nz/history/ned-fletcher-theres-no-clash-between-te-tiriti-and-the-treaty/
Calman, R., Derby M. (2021, March) Te Tiriti o Waitangi (2), Ministry of Education
Freire, P (2000). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York :Continuum
Green, E. (2021, November 1). Fifth-Grade detectives uncover the dominant narrative. https://rethinkingschools.org/articles/fifth-grade-detectives-uncover-the-dominant-narrative/
He Tohu. (2018, June 27). Mānuka Hēnare — He Tohu interview [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzpUfKu-7PI
Outreach, R. (2023, November 8). Master and counter narratives: Same facts – different stories. Research Outreach. https://researchoutreach.org/articles/master-counter-narratives-same-facts-different-stories/
Teaching Council NZ, (2017, June) Our Code, Our Standards, Education Council, Wellington
The Spinoff. (2017, October 2). The declaration of what now? | Kaupapa on the Couch [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk6k5dcM2I0
Ward, T. (2024, March 22). Review: Escaping Utopia shines a new light on the true darkness of Gloriavale. The Spinoff. https://thespinoff.co.nz/pop-culture/23-03-2024/review-escaping-utopia-shines-a-new-light-on-the-true-darkness-of-gloriavale
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