Due: 19th September
Nau te rourou, naku te rourou, ka ora te manuhiri.
With your food basket and my food basket, the people will thrive.
Culturally responsive leadership is an integral aspect of effective educational leadership in New Zealand. This module explores the fundamental concepts of culturally responsive leadership and its significance within the unique cultural context of New Zealand schools.
We are aware that there is a continuum of experiences and expertise among our delegates so please explore the area(s) most relevant to you below.
Defining Culturally Responsive Leadership
Culturally responsive leadership refers to a leadership approach that recognises, respects, and integrates the diverse cultural backgrounds and identities of students, staff, and the community within the educational environment. This approach prioritises inclusivity, equity, and culturally sensitive practices.
Key Components of Culturally Responsive Leadership:
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Cultural Competence: Culturally responsive leaders demonstrate cultural competence by developing a deep understanding of their own cultural biases and beliefs. They actively seek to learn about the cultures represented in their school community.
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Inclusive Leadership: Inclusive leaders foster an environment where all students and staff feel valued and included, regardless of their cultural background. They promote an atmosphere of respect and acceptance.
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Cultural Awareness: Culturally responsive leaders are attuned to the cultural needs and preferences of their students and staff. They adapt their leadership style to accommodate these differences, making the educational experience more relevant and engaging.
Culture Matters!
Culture significantly shapes our thinking, perception, actions, and communication. Learning is intricately linked to culture, meaning that even when the classroom’s teaching methods, resources, curriculum, and relationships remain the same, students’ experiences may differ due to their cultural perspectives and prior knowledge. Problems arise when educators are unaware of the diverse knowledge and experiences diverse students bring to learning. Even if a teacher shares the same culture as their students, understanding their backgrounds isn’t guaranteed as cultural understandings and behaviours vary within cultural groups, and teachers may miss cultural cues. It’s vital not to ignore these differences or treat all students uniformly, but instead, move from cultural blindness to cultural responsiveness.
Bias, Unconscious Bias and Racism:
Biases in educational leadership can manifest in various ways, often stemming from deep-seated societal prejudices. These biases may result in unequal opportunities, resource allocation, and disciplinary practices for students of different backgrounds. Educational leaders, whether consciously or unconsciously, may favour certain groups while unintentionally disadvantaging others. These biases can hinder the creation of inclusive, equitable learning environments, perpetuating disparities in academic achievement and student well-being. Addressing biases in educational leadership is crucial for fostering fairness and ensuring that every student has an equal opportunity to succeed academically and personally. It requires self-awareness, ongoing education, and a commitment to dismantling discriminatory practices to create a more just and equitable educational system.
In leadership and teaching positions we need to be aware of unconscious biases and how these might affect the way in which we operate in a school setting; towards children, colleagues and whanaū. An unconscious bias is more difficult to overcome and can be defined as such:
“Refers to a bias that we are unaware of and which happens outside of our control. It is a bias that happens automatically and is triggered by our brain making quick judgements and assessments of people and situations, influenced by our background, cultural environment and personal experiences.” – Equality Challenge Unit UK: Unconscious Bias in Higher Education Review 2013.
In New Zealand schools students can also experience outright racism, as explored in this article on Mana College – https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/racism-in-schools-calls-for-cultural-competency-in-the-classroom/JNSGWAYUUQI5RH65F3535A7YII/
Our Responsibility as School Leaders in Aotearoa:
School leaders clearly have a responsibility to ensure schools are safe and equitable places for learners and their whanau. We know that culturally responsive pedagogies have the potential to narrow the disparities in our school communities, concurrently elevating the overall levels of achievement. Extensive research indicates that these culturally responsive pedagogical approaches boost student performance across diverse cultural groups, ensuring every student is motivated and has the assistance required to unlock their educational potential, irrespective of their social, economic, cultural background, or individual requirements.
In this video, Professor Mere Berryman explains the need and the opportunity to use evidence to make a difference in education in Aotearoa, and why a Tiriti o Waitangi partnership approach – Mana Ōrite – is foundational to success for diverse Māori learners and for all learners in English-medium education.
Provocation:
Research tells us that there are some key aspects of culturally responsive pedagogy:
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Reflect on your cultural knowledge and teaching assumptions related to culture
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Learn about your students
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Use students’ cultural knowledge, perspectives and skills as a resource for teaching
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Create a safe and supportive environment and build strong relationships
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Encourage a discursive curriculum and enable student self-determination
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Connect with families
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Connect with communities
Select one or two aspects from the list above and reflect on what your school does well in this regard and what next steps you would take to further develop your school’s cultural responsiveness.
Comment on a fellow delegate’s response, remembering that every school is at a different place in this journey. You might offer support if there is a next step you can help with, reassurance if you have been on a similar journey, help with a resource you have found useful etc.
Optional Resources:
Explore the resources most relevant to you.
Working effectively with iwi and hapū, Melanie Taite-Pitama: https://vimeo.com/242861287
Puketeraki Kāhui Ako: Culturally responsive practice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQusPg98GcQ
A website with many useful resources and links: https://elearning.tki.org.nz/Leadership/Culturally-responsive-leadership#js-tabcontainer-1-tab-5
Quality Teaching for Diverse Students in Schooling: Best Evidence Synthesis Iteration (BES): https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/series/2515/5959
“The real conspiracy is that education is for the rich” L. O’Connell Rapira – https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/24-08-2020/the-real-conspiracy-is-that-education-is-for-the-rich
“They didn’t care about normal kids like me”: Restructuring a school to fit the kids” A. Milne – https://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/6234
“Colouring in the White Spaces: Reclaiming Cultural Identity in Whitestream Schools” A. Milne – https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/handle/10289/7868
33 Responses
Over the last couple of years we have prioritised our connection with our Māori whānau and considered what might be best for these whānau when inviting them into our kura. We were responsive from the inception where our meetings were highlights of each term – a shared meal together, a sharing of our lives and being human first rather than educators first. We drew upon the inspiration of texts like Mere Berryman showed of the rangatahi’s 6 key statements as well as Niho Taniwha. Before each hui we would communicate as much as possible and ask for our whānau to indicate whether they would be there – a few of us would make phone calls and text messages directly. We had quite in depth conversations, such as breaking down the 6 key statements and ranking the school on the statements, considering how we could improve in any of the areas. We learned that our whānau appreciated the celebration of their children’s values in our Monday morning assemblies. We had something that resembled a group therapy session when we discussed what ‘mana’ means to us as individuals, essentially carrying out a MITEY lesson with our parents. At times we’ve opened up our meetings, such as inviting all of our kapa haka families along and the kapa haka performed before going into classrooms and facilitating poi making, Māori craft and waiata that our tamariki could do alongside their matua. Last year, we consulted our Māori whānau to see if we could include our Pacific brothers and sisters in these meetings and there was unanimous agreement. This year we could see the obvious gratitude of our whānau when we shared the photos of our overnighter and hikoi with their tamariki the week after Matariki. The relational journey has been such a privilege.
What I’d like us to work on is having a discursive curriculum and enable student self-determination. We have made sure that we’ve had transparency with our Māori whānau with our priorities and our planning in wellbeing, transdisciplinary inquiry, curriculum changes. We listen to their voice and include elements into our plans that they see as holding real significance. Yet, our classroom practices could do more to let our students shape their inquiries, through goals, so what? end tasks and assessments that show progress in the things that are important to them. It’s about power sharing.
Creating a Safe and Supportive Environment and Building Strong Relationships:
Over the last 5 years, our school has been on a journey of becoming culturally responsive. We started out with a ‘rank-based/stremed’ class system which was inherently racist at its core, these have been removed in favour of a heterogeneous class where students bring prior knowledge and support to the classroom, without judgement. This was a huge area for our school community to deal with as we are a 85% Pakeha school of decile 9, so there were community expectations (long histories of feeder schools ‘preparing’ students to be in the top streamed classes). This was a brave step taken by our Tumuaki at the time and the school community supported her.
The roles of Pasifika and Māori Deans were created to offer specialised support to these students and whānau in a way that encouraged connections. Throughout the year there are termly Whānnau huis and Pasifika fonos to encourage the whānau to come in and meet staff in an informal relaxed setting. Cultural nights, Matariki combined school celebrations and the visibility of minority people have been at the forefront of our school.
Vertical Whānau and Aiga form classes, which differ from our year-level form classes, allow the students within these classes to engage with students of varying year levels to gain support and provide opportunities for leadership.
Staff have valued opportunities for culturally relational PLD throughout the last couple of years to help them find ways to engage and connect with the varying and diverse range of cultures we have at our kura. This allows all cultures to be acknowledged through curriculum development and meaningful connections in class.
I chose these two concepts Connect with families and Learning about our students as they are connected by series of practices that our school does well.
At our school one of our strategic goals is built in Culturally sustaining pedagogy, which is founded in the NELP focussed on making sure the school is a safe and inclusive space to learn in. The actions we have that are affiliated with this goal are:
– All teachers maintain a record beginning at the start of the year, that is focussed on learning about students passions, interests, family life culture e.t.c.. This ensures we actually learn about them
– Before school starts in Term 1, we invite parents in to visit teachers and their new classrooms.
– All new parents are personally called by their teachers in the first 5 weeks of school, to make a baseline of communication. After this we track communication with students, ensuring that we make positive contact everyterm of the year.
– we have hosted whànau several times throughout the year through a Pasifika Talanoa night, Màori Hui night, and community consultation evening. We are just planning our final cultural celebration for the year where all cultural groups will present, along with food trucks e.t.c.
1. Reflect on your cultural knowledge and teaching assumptions related to culture: The focus of our whole staff professional learning this year has been the Niho Taniwha framework. As well as whole staff sessions that have focused on our understanding of Te Tiriti and its impacts, we’ve also be split into professional learning groups (PLGs) to discuss our own challenges and practices, share ideas, and support each other. This has been a really important process and a valuable opportunity for us to evaluate where we are on our cultural responsiveness journey, and to build individual and collective capacity. The hope is that this doesn’t become a one year focus, as often happens with initiatives like this. In the past, when there’s been a whole staff focus, we just move onto to something else the following year, when what we actually needed is a chance to embed and build on the previous year’s learning.
2. Connect with families: This year, the school has hosted its first Whanau Hui and Pasifika Fono for ākonga and families. Both have been well attended and there’s been positive feedback. We’ve started small, with the events being for students and families, and just select staff, but the plan is to grow the events. It’s important, moving forward, that the school involves ākonga and whanau in the planning process, and that more staff are able to get involved so we can all make those important connections.
Our school has adopted two initiatives which strongly encourage cultural knowledge, create a safe environment, and connecting with families and communities – Relationships First (Teaching to the North East) and Te Ara Whakamana: Mana Enhancement. Of these, Te Ara Whakamana was the first. This initiative builds relationships between tamariki and kaiako and also provides a base for teaching emotional literacy. This system replaced PB4L as we wanted an indigenous model and this has had good results. Akonga/learners are able to increasingly identify and talk about their emotions, they have classroom and individual mana plans and this all links with our House System, rewards programme and we have developed a scope and sequence which leads towards our new graduate profile. This is building a foundation of self-determination. Classroom and individual mana plans have given kaiako, team leaders and senior leaders opportunities for rich and supportive conversations with whanau.
Relationships First fits well alongside this initiative as it encourages kaiako to build effective pedagogy through knowing their learners and using akonga/learners’ cultural knowledge, perspectives and skills as a resource for teaching.
Our kaimahi are also encouraged to complete the He Papa Tikanga course (through Wananga o Aotearoa) to build cultural understanding of Maori – especially since while almost half our tamariki are Maori, many of our kaimahi are not from New Zealand.
Our next steps are to (a) ensure that our kaupapa Waka Way in which Te Ara Whakamana and Relationships First are embedded are secure within our graduate profile and professional growth cycles and (b) to work towards sustainability long term to ensure good practise is maintained.
Kia ora Jacqui, two things stood out to me from your post – reference to Teaching to the North East and the replacement of PB4L with Te Ara Whakamana.
As I was listening to Mere Berryman, I couldn’t help but think about the project that Russell Bishop was involved in, and although I have not completely read Teaching to the North East, I have come to understand the concept in which it is based. This book as well as Leading to the North East were pushed considerably late last year (when it was published?) yet I wonder how the new curriculum reforms stack up against it. I think it is the one thing that could easily distract us from the sustainability of the best practice you have been establishing. We are going to be reading ‘Teaching to the North East’ together as a leadership team and I hope to be inspired similarly to the way you have been. Kia kaha!!
Connect with families
At our kura, there is a strong emphasis on connecting with families through events and initiatives. Parent-teacher interviews, frequent student work showcases, arts events, sporting events, multiple prizegiving’s throughout the year, and pōwhiri are all key ways we engage with our students’ families. These activities create opportunities for families to engage with their children’s learning journey and the school community. They also offer subjects a way of showing their worth to parents and families beyond the surface level understanding parents may have. In addition, reporting is a method we use to communicate home to families in the form of insight reports, reports on student effort and behaviour not just academic achievement. There are numerous communications emailed to parents also so they are up to date with larger school events and changes.
The current format of parent teacher interviews tends to feel shallow and brief. While they provide a structured opportunity for parents and teachers to communicate, these interactions often lack depth due to time constraints. Additionally, while we hold several showcases throughout the year, there is potential for more frequent and varied displays of student achievement across all subject areas.
Next steps:
To enhance our connection with families, more purposeful parental meetings would be ideal. This could include extending the time allocated for parent teacher interviews, having an invite system to manage numbers, or offering more informal settings for meetings. Increasing the frequency of student work showcases across different subjects; both formal and informal, would provide additional opportunities for families to engage with the learning process throughout the year.
Connect with families / Connect with communities
What I believe our kura has done well in, is we understand that Maori whanau could potentially come through with deep rooted barriers and hold education at arm’s length. Our drive is to connect with families/whanau, all families.
A good number of our kaimahi/Teacher aids are parents of our akonga. After appropriate criteria screening, they joined the team and we as a kura benefit in many ways. We have insight into their lived experience as mum or dad into their Te Ao Maori world view. It helps us to adapt and tailor teaching strategies so that Maori can feel valued and achieve. It’s a reciprocal relationship and it builds rapport. Relationships develop and trust is earnt.
Our school (Special Education) really wanted our akonga to experience the beauty of kapa haka in an inclusion aspect, but we were mindful of the additional challenges and milestones that our students are faced with and need to meet. We were fortunate to have a teacher aide on our staff, a parent of one of our akonga. He became our kapa haka Kaiako. With his lived experience, his T.A experience within our school and his depth in tikanga Maori, this transition was seamless. He taught our students how to waiata, mihi whakatau, giving pepeha.
A lot of our kaimahi are connected to communities. We as a kura benefited from this because we had access to local marae, kaumatua and agencies/clubs for our students.
Next Steps:
I attended Te Tiriti o Waitangi training and I believe it will be beneficial for all of our staff to attend so that we continue to grow our knowledge.
Create a safe and supportive environment and build strong relationships
Building a supportive environment and building strong relationships is our cornerstone. We teach in an area where not every child has a supportive or safe home environment, or positive relationships with the adults in their life. Often our parents also have little to no support network. We endeavour to make our school that place for all of them. Our school vision is guided by the tenet of “Our Place” which is a core statement throughout the vision and supporting documents. The meaning behind it is that learning comes second, only after students and whānau feel safe, supported, and a part of our school. We have changed our late passes to ‘Welcome passes”. Principal, DP & AP have our cards and contact details front facing in our school office and are open to parent communication and questions at all times. We build space into our local curriculum on a termly basis for relationship building integrated into our learning. A culture has developed where parents/whānau will walk through and end up stopping for coffees and chats. We see through our whānau engagement that our efforts to provide a safe and supportive environment for all are paying off.
Connect with families & Connect with communities
We do this very well. We being our year in Term 1 with a ‘Whānau afternoon’, a time after school where our entire extended community is invited in. It is an informal affair, where we put out mats, we play music, and we provide dinner, and encourage staff and community to just mingle. We’ve that when holding more formal sitdowns or catchups with families/communities, that engagement just wasn’t there. As soon as we switched to this model, we saw a massive uptick in families coming into school, strengthening our connections with many of them. We prioritise regular school arts & culture performances where whānau are invited in. We hold them during school hours and after school, doing what we can to make sure they are accessible to as many parents as possible. For special occasions, we look to give parents notice and remove any barriers from attendance, with staff often picking up kids and families to ensure they can be a part of school events and celebrations. This conection is often cited by our whānau to us as an important part of why they are happy to be a part of our school community.
Next Steps:
We could do a stronger job with our language weeks. With the focus on core curriculum, multiple language weeks became very hard to fit into the programme in a meaningful way, despite our best efforts. However with our community continuing to become more diverse, we would like to continue tweaking our efforts to make sure that our smaller cultural groups are feeling the love within school learning and events. I would also love to do some work with my teachers on ‘unconscious bias’ as we are all guilty of it. Even for those of us with an awareness of the term, it is still valuable to continue revisiting this idea.
Congratulations on some very in-depth reflection on culturally responsive pedagogy practices within each of your Kura. I’m sure there are some great ideas here that would be worth implementing within your context and delegates who have posted willing to give your support.
It is heartening to know this is occurring across the range of contexts you all come from.
Learn about your students
Reflection: We are a Te Ara Whakamana school and part of this kaupapa is a concept called a mana wheel. In a mana wheel, individuals or groups of people identify things that are important to them which ground us (Papatūānuku – Earth Mother), how we co-regulate our emotions (Ranginui – Sky Father) and key factors that build our mana. At our school, our kaimahi as a whole, each class, and with some individual ākonga, a mana wheel is completed. This helps us to learn about our students as we get to know about their tangata, their whenua, their interests & hobbies, their taonga, their beliefs & values and how they care for themselves and others.
Next Steps: Our Waka Way team continually strives to improve the capacity and consistency for each kaiako in using this valuable information to strengthen their relationship with our ākonga in order to ‘paddle together to build mana and success for all’ which is our school vision.
Create a safe and supportive environment and build strong relationships
Reflections: We are also a Relationships First school which means we focus on the development of our kaiako’s ability to build their relational pedagogy. Kaiako are experiencing success in developing their ability to create safe and supportive learning environments and build strong relationships through aspects such as positive feedback, power sharing and eliminating deficit theorising.
Next Steps: For our school to tie this PLD to a formal professional growth cycle system.
Kia Ora Kevin.
I enjoyed reading about one of your kura concepts, a Mana Wheel. What a great concept to have in mind at the inception stage of truly getting to know your akonga.
Your kura understands ‘Relationship First’. This is evident through your Waka Way teams’ drive to improve capacity and consistency.
Create a safe and supportive environment and build strong relationships/Learn about your students/Connect with families
Our school places safety for each student at the centre of our day to day practice and to ensure from the first day students and their families feel supported for these school year ahead. If there is a sense of safety, then students will feel seen. This is achieved by a range of community connection days, daily mentor groups, “Know your Learner” (as a Power BI platform) and an experienced pastoral care team of Head of Year, Deputy Principal’s and Wellbeing Team. We also have a strong duty of care culture in boarding, with domestic and international students living with one another which helps building tolerant and understanding between students and enables staff to get to know cultural diversity to a great depth.
Our House events encourage cultural harmony and provided study an opportunity for self expressions. We have a rainbow Owls group for LBGTQ+ students, Cultural clubs at lunchtimes and most recently a International Cultural Celebration event where International students were able to perform items linked to their country’s cultural heritage to the entire boarding community.
Relationships for teaching is also at the core of our teaching practice and is an ongoing conversation through individual teacher appraisal, faculty goals and school-wide strategy goals.
For connection with families, we also have a strong programme of events which invite parents/whanau to engage with teachers, Heads of Year and Senior Leadership to hear school goals and direction and for them to offer viewpoints on the direction of the school and provide insight into their child’s education journey to date. These take place in the form of beginning of year Social occasions, PFA events, Faculty showcase events, Grandparents’ day, Academic Celebration events, Athletic’s Day invitations, Kapa Haka / Pasifika / Samoan performances and an open door policy for requested one to one meetings.
Learn about your students/ Create a safe and supportive environment and build strong relationships
This is something we do very well as a school. All our learners have a consistent Learning Adviser (LA) versus tutor teacher for time they are at school. These LA groups are cross year level as students often will act in the capacity as tuakana teina to help new students settle in the school. It is another layer of relationships that we consider critical to students feeling supported in a new environment. The LA meets with every learner in their group formally twice a year to discuss the learner and their learning. These meetings are for 30mins and includes goal setting and reflection time. Students lead these three-way conversations haring their successes and challenges. This is also a time for whānau to sit for the akonga and discuss what success looks like for the family. Spending four years with the same learner and their whānau also allows teachers to form conenctions with the families. It then becomes a safe place to have conversations that are challenging as well.
Additionally for our Māori and Pasifika akonga we include a cultural taonga sharing session at the start of the year. Students bring what they and their family consider special for them. This could anything from the family bible to a tapa cloth that has been in the family for decades. Students share their taonga and teachers move around the spaces to meet each of the learners we teach so that we can get to know them better. There are many other informal opportunities to connect with families including the language week celebration. Learners language and culture is visible in the school. As a school we are doing this very well.
On the other hand a survey done by the Principal found that other students felt their culture was not as visible other than on major events like Chinese new year or Diwali. In a school where 12% of our total cohort is Maori and Pasifika, this emphasis is making others feel undervalued. We are currently looking at how we can continue to feel, sound and look like a school in Aotearoa while celebrating the diversity that is present in our community. Additionally strong relationships are only the beginning of enhancing students achievement. As Russell Bishop explains in his book Teaching to the North East – strong caring and learning relationships are an essential first step because they enable teachers to undertake the job of teaching effectively. However, relationships without an shift in pedagogy will not result in increased outcomes for students. Te Kotahitanga taught us the value of these relationships but without effective pedagogy and clear expectations, these are empty relationships.
Learn about your students
Our Kahui Ako developed a cognitively portable framework to inform how we teach. We called it the Care Code.
Through our Kahui Ako, I have been allowed to develop specific interventions to address specific needs. The aim is to promote effective teaching practice and strengthen the use of effective approaches to teaching and learning within the school to achieve shared Kāhui Ako objectives.
After reading all of the source documentation the Kahui Ako created to develop the framework, I decided to find student voice before I developed a few trial activities.
The project will use a survey to find a baseline for our school to check in with our students about their personal experiences in and connection with the school. The survey results will then be used to develop specific interventions to address specific needs as identified through the survey. These interventions will be developed to cover the teaching strategies: Identity affirmations, Conferencing [academic mentoring – creating a framework of support] and Student voice and feedback within the “you belong” and “self-concept” domains.
The survey will be trialled with a few students from years 7 – 10. The results will be analysed and used to inform the thinking about the different interventions needed to address the needs.
Design of the intervention(s) will be done once the pilot survey is completed and the evaluation has been done. The initial (pilot) data will be compared to the data of the second survey. The interventions will be customised to address the identified needs.
The survey will cover student voice about Perseverance, Growth Mindset, Self-Management, Social Awareness, Self-Efficacy, Learning Strategies, Classroom Effort, Social Perspective-Taking, Self-Efficacy about Specific Subject [English / Math], Emotional Regulation, School Climate, Teacher-Student Relationships, Sense of Belonging, School Safety, Diversity and Inclusion, Cultural Awareness and Action, Engagement, Rigorous Expectations, Valuing of Specific subject [English / Math], Valuing of School, Positive Feelings, Challenging Feelings, Supportive Relationships.
As we all know, the changing face of culture and how it presents itself in our communities and in our schools have an impact on every aspect of teaching and learning. The goal of the survey is to give a voice to the voiceless. Not only to express the lack they experience in our schools but also to share the rich resources they bring with them as they walk onto our grounds and into our learning environments.
I hope to explore how the inherent biases present themselves in our learning environments and find a way to identify and address them. Every person has a backpack of unconscious biases and much of it comes from where and how we grew up and often the company we keep. The fourth article of the Treaty is a Mana Ōrite, it is the agreement that underpins mutual respect, equal authority and shared responsibility. I hope to honour the concept of Mana Ōrite as I conduct the survey, interpret the data and develop specific interventions to address specific needs as identified in the survey.
What my school does well…Over the last few weeks, our kapa haka group has been working incredibly hard to prepare for the Waikato Kapa Haka festival that was held today in Raglan. They joined hundreds of young people and the day was a huge celebration of Māori culture. As I watched our school perform (tears in my eyes), I realised that our kapa haka group included Māori students AND children from seven other cultures.
I reflected that this is some of what Mere Berryman was talking about when she said, “schools in New Zealand need to show Māori students that we can celebrate Māori culture, that it’s not just being celebrated by brown children that we don’t say, well the Māori students who are in the kapa haka can go to the Polynesian festival. No. We have to normalise that for everyone. Otherwise when are Pakeha going to receive the promises that they were made in the Treaty of Waitangi?”
Another reflection of the day was that our kapa haka group was the only group that did not have an adult present on the stage with them. Our student leaders, who have been taught kapa haka for many years at our school, led themselves with confidence and mana.
At Rotoakuri we have worked hard to be more culturally aware and responsive. Last year we appointed student cultural ambassadors whose role is to help bring awareness to significant cultural events and plan celebrations throughout the year. One of our highlights last term was to run a cultural food festival one evening. Each class cooked food from cultures represented in their classes and the wider school community came together to share kai and socialise. The evening was a huge success and many of our multicultural families voiced how valued they had felt.We are a small school with strong values that are embedded throughout our community.
Staff put a lot of mahi into building relationships with students, and their whānau. At the start of the year we go on a whole school picnic to Hamilton Zoo (families are included) and this is a great way to refresh and build relationships. As others have mentioned in their posts, we also have meet the teacher evenings, parents evenings, student led conferences, productions, and additionally, an annual car show event that give opportunities for meeting with families and developing relationships further.
The next step that we are working on is to develop our learning progressions for te reo Māori and move teachers and students beyond level 1 and 2.
Learning progressions for te reo Māori is becoming a priority for us long term as well. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of teaching the same language and stories every year. Good on you.
Reflecting on culturally responsive pedagogy is essential for ensuring that educational practices are inclusive and effective for all students. Two key aspects that my current school does well (and next steps for these) are as follows:
1. Using Students’ Cultural Knowledge, Perspectives, and Skills as a Resource for Teaching
At my current school, we have made strides in integrating students’ cultural knowledge and perspectives into the curriculum. For example, our teachers actively incorporate local Māori tikanga and Mātauranga Māori into classroom activities and lesson plans. This includes celebrating Māori festivals, integrating Māori perspectives into various subjects, and using culturally relevant materials and resources.
Next Steps:
1. Professional Development for Staff: Provide ongoing professional development focused on culturally responsive teaching practices. This training should emphasise how to effectively integrate students’ cultural backgrounds into lesson plans and classroom activities, and how to recognise and address biases that may affect teaching.
3. Student-Led Projects: Encourage students to take the lead in projects that explore their cultural heritage and share their perspectives with their peers. This can be done through presentations, creative projects, or cultural exhibitions. Allowing students to express their cultural knowledge and skills not only validates their experiences but also enriches the learning environment for all students.
2. Creating a Safe and Supportive Environment and Building Strong Relationships
Creating a safe and supportive environment has been a fundamental aspect of our school’s approach. We have implemented various strategies to ensure that students feel valued and respected. This includes our Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) framework, which promotes respectful interactions and creates a supportive atmosphere for all students. Additionally, we have established strong pastoral care systems and regularly conduct surveys to gather feedback from students and families about their sense of belonging and safety within the school.
Next Steps:
1. Strengthen Relationship Building Initiatives: Implement programs that facilitate deeper connections between students, teachers, and families. This could include regular family engagement events, cultural celebration days, and forums for open dialogue where families can share their cultural expectations and experiences. By fostering stronger relationships with families, we can create a more cohesive support network for students.
2. Regular Monitoring and Feedback: Continuously monitor the effectiveness of our support systems and environment through regular feedback mechanisms, such as surveys and focus groups with students and families. Use this feedback to make informed adjustments and improvements to our practices and policies.
At our school, we’re fortunate to have a strong Kapa Haka programme, great whānau connections, and regular school/community events, which help foster a sense of belonging and cultural pride. However, one area we’re focusing on developing further is learning about our students and using their cultural knowledge as a resource for teaching and learning.
For many of our teachers, this approach comes naturally—they understand that to teach effectively, they need to see the whole child and understand what makes them tick. But I’ve found that some team members need coaching in this area. Encouraging them to dig deeper into each child’s background and unique cultural experiences will help create more engaging, relevant learning opportunities. Our next steps are to continue fostering a culture where teachers see the student holistically and incorporate that understanding into their teaching. This will ensure we provide a learning environment where every student feels valued and understood.
Hi Jonathan,
I agree there is a continuum of teacher awareness and practice in my experience in this regard. When a teacher builds this awareness and knowledge into their practice, even to a modest degree, the response for the student is generally quite profound and builds the day to day relationship immeasurably.
There are areas of the curriculum where this does naturally occur a little more such as the Arts, English, History, but we have found cross faculty collaboration helps provide more opportunity in all teaching areas.
Reflection on Culturally Responsive Pedagogy:
Creating Safe and Supportive Environment and Build Strong Relationships
At my school, we focus and deliberately create environments where every ākonga (student) feels valued and safe. We actively promote whanaungatanga (relationship building), encouraging students to share their experiences and cultural knowledge in class. This open exchange builds mutual respect and strengthens connections between Kaiako and ākonga. Our pastoral care system also provides wraparound support for students’ emotional and academic needs, ensuring their overall wellbeing is prioritised.
To enhance this further, we could invest in more targeted professional development for staff on how to embed mātauranga māaori into their teaching and learning. This would ensure Kaiako are equipped with the skills to respond empathetically and maintain a supportive, culturally responsive environment. We are currently at our school working with the Niho Taniwha project, which is assistinng with this.
Encourage “Student Choice” and Enable Student Self-Determination
Particularly in the faculty, we consistently are making efforts to encourage a teaching and learning programme where ākonga are given space to engage in meaningful discussions and explore diverse viewpoints. We emphasise ako (reciprocal learning) by enabling students to take leadership roles in their learning, with opportunities to contribute their own ideas, choose their own context for assessments and cultural perspectives in shaping assessments and class discussions. This empowers students to take ownership of their learning and supports their self-determination.
A next step would be to further embed rangatiratanga (self-determination) by co-constructing units of work with students, giving them more agency in deciding what topics they want to explore and how they want to be assessed. We could also explore ways to incorporate more project-based and inquiry learning, where students can apply their cultural knowledge and personal interests to solve real-world problems.
Use students’ cultural knowledge, perspectives and skills as a resource for teaching:
As a school we have just recently celebrated ‘International Cultural Week’. Throughout the year we celebrate, along with other schools in NZ, different cultures from around the world. As a school we have found that these weeks only touch a certain percentage of cultures within our community, so we wanted every student to feel a part of a celebration.
For the week, we used the students’ direction to help plan and teach lessons across the curriculum, and be involved in activities that they were able to express who they are. In my pod, we had 6 students stand up and present their cultures and traditions to the class, together with parents traditional food was cooked and shared, and our students then presented it in other classes across the school. This gave all students in the pod a valuable insight into the other students’ lives and how their cultures impact their daily lives. To end the week, we held a Culture Parade where students, teachers, parents and wider whānau were invited to dress in their chosen culture outfits. This was a beautiful moment for everyone, as for 45 minutes, every student got to showcase their culture and walk with pride in front of their peers.
As a Leadership team we reflected on the success of this week and have decided to make it an annual celebration for our students. Our next steps is looking at having making sure things are not put in place at the last minute, have more school wide events so that all classes are involved, advertise the week with more information for whānau and the community, share ideas across the teaching staff so we not in isolation with what they we are doing, use our senior students to help plan events, activities and presenting opportunities to share their knowledge and expertise.
An area that I personally want to continue developing with my school’s culture responsiveness is our teachers celebrating the diversity of their students in class and being willing to share their own culture – being proud of who they are as well. I did find it hard that not many teachers put in the time and effort that our students had and want to encourage their engagement as well.
Learn about your students & Connect with Families:
At our school we start each year with students completing tasks sharing about themselves (their likes, dislikes, hobbies, strengths, culture, family etc). We also encourage teachers to send home a letter introducing themselves and their family and ask parents to write their child’s teacher a letter about their child. This is always insightful and helpful information and gives staff a good understanding of each individual student in their classrooms. Asking parents for these letters also opens up the lines of communication and connection between home and school. Throughout the year we also have whanau evenings, huis, fonos and parent/teachers/student conferences to have opportunities to continue these discussions. Twice a year we celebrate our cultural diversity at school and students and parents are given the opportunity to share about their culture. Students look forward to sharing about their culture with their classmates and teachers.
Our huis and fonos and parent/teachers/student conferences have given parents the opportunity to share their concerns, hopes and dreams for their children, and their background which has strengthened relationships between staff and parents. One outcome from one of our fono evenings was that our Pasifika families connected with each other and staff and then banded together to offer to run workshops for the classes celebrating and teaching about the different Pacific cultures and countries. This has become an annual event that students, staff and parents enjoy.
We also run a weekly coffee group for our new entrant parents which is run by our NE teachers. The teachers take turns sharing tips with the parents about how to support their child at home but it is also a great opportunity to build relationships and connections between the NE teachers and parents as well as parents to connect to other parents at school.
Next steps you would take to further develop your school’s cultural responsiveness
Encourage staff to reflect on their cultural knowledge and teaching assumptions related to culture and become more aware of the impact that has on their students. Continue to develop staff’s knowledge, understanding, awareness and pedagogical approaches for Maori students to improve opportunities for Maori to achieve success as Maori. (We have started to work on this with the Maori Achievement Collaborative).
To foster a safe, supportive and culturally rich learning environment for all students, we have established Curriculum Lead Teams. These teams, consisting of diverse staff members, play a crucial role in ensuring that our curriculum reflects the cultural richness of our community. By bringing together a cross-section of voices, these teams support us to ensure that all aspects of our school’s curriculum are informed by a culturally responsive lens.
I really resonate with what most of the previous responses have said in regards to ‘connection with families and communities. This is an area that our Kura continues to work on. I really enjoyed reading about the regular hui and fono evenings, as mentioned by Brieta. I have taken note of the ideas behind these regular sessions as well as the cultural weeks. These are areas that we have tried, but in reflection, we didn’t invest enough passion behind these to allow them to be a feature of our school calendar and a positive impact upon our culturally rich school whanau. I feel enlivened to re engage in these ideas to see the connections within our school grow further, deeper and more meaningful for all of us. A celebration of WHO WE ARE.
Hi Phillip
I highly recommend these regular huis and fonos as they are a very valuable time to connect with families and get them involved. I work alongside Brieta, and as a result of our fonos we have seen our Pasifika community in particular take ownership of running a Pasifika Celebration Cultural day each year. It is a highlight of our year and it is assuring to know that we have people who are experts sharing about their culture authentically.
Provocation:
Learn about your students
Taking the time to get to know students and their whanau is paramount in creating a supportive environment at school for all students.
The beginning of the year starts with Teachers inviting families to share a family photo (with their child) and write a small blurb about what their child likes, doesn’t like, what is important to them as a family and how they spend time together.
This is then organized as a class display where students can share with each other and when we have our Whanāu evening where Parents are invited into the classroom it encourages conversations with the family and the teachers.
For the Parents – it helps them feel that their child matters and is known. For the Teacher it highlights the funds of knowledge and cultural capital families bring to the classroom and to the school – tapping into these “funds of knowledge” / strengths with the learning happening in class, asking Parents to come and share or teach from their rich cultural backgrounds in language, culture and identity.
Throughout the term students and Teachers refer back to the display, and add as the year progresses. It becomes a wall of celebration and successes.
Connect with families and communities
Celebrating cultural diversity in our school within cultural weeks, having Parents volunteering their time to come and teach students about their culture and broadening the horizons of teachers, students and our community as we learn from each other.
Having had regular hui and fono evenings, it helps to build on connecting with our families and community. The first of these evenings were focused on getting to know the families, and how they ended up at our school. The second evening was focused more on the students in our classrooms, learning about their strengths and areas that they shine in school and outside of school. Following up from there our focus was on what our Parents hopes and dreams are for their tamariki’s futures. Hearing this and then coming alongside our families to support our students for a future and a hope to reach their potential.
In a previous module there was feedback about shifting / minimizing the power imbalance and having cultural evenings at a different venue. This was the route one of the schools went and found it very successful.
I have been reflecting on this statement/success story, and looked at our fono and hui evenings to see if it would benefit our families / community to have a different venue.
The conclusion I reached is because we are a primary school and we are building connections with families starting from year 0, having these evenings on-site is a way for our students to feel safe and secure in the known school environment.
Continuously reflecting and checking to see if we are connecting with our families, by asking questions and having conversations rather than relying on assumptions we as a school have made. Leaning into our elders in our community to help guide us in the where next with our families.
Moving the hui/fono offsite is something we trialled. Having it in local council facility worked and we ensured that there was no formal table hierarchal seating – just a few tables and chairs and people could sit wherever. It seemed that this alleviated some of the power imbalance. Once these relationships were established we have moved back to the school site for our hui
I’ve posted here as well as I am not sure which thread to post to.
Connecting with Families
My school has implemented the following strategies to connect with families:
Regular communication: We have consistent communication channels, like newsletters, weekly emails from class teachers, and parent-teacher conferences which help keep families informed about their child’s progress and school events.
Family involvement: My school encourages family participation in activities like volunteering, field trips, and after-school programs.
Cultural celebrations: At my school, we celebrate diverse cultures through cultural events, language weeks and lessons that help create a welcoming and inclusive environment.
Parent evenings: We have parent evenings on topics like internet safety, health topics that we are teaching and on educational resources that can empower families to support their children’s learning.
While these practices are valuable, I believe that my school can further enhance their cultural responsiveness by:
Having a culturally relevant curriculum: By this I mean that we can incorporate diverse perspectives and experiences into the curriculum to ensure all students see themselves reflected in the learning materials.
Building staff cultural competency: I believe that we need to provide professional development opportunities for staff to increase their understanding of different cultures and how to effectively interact with diverse students and families.
Building community partnerships: It is important for schools to foster relationships with community organizations and cultural leaders to provide additional resources and support for students and families.
Having inclusive practices: We need to ensure that all school policies and practices are equitable and accessible to students from all backgrounds.
By implementing these strategies, I believe that my school can create a more inclusive and supportive environment for all students and families, fostering a sense of belonging and academic success.
Hi Kalpana
Reading through your list, we have quite a few similarities to what we do as a school and what your school is doing. Building staff cultural competency is such a big and important goal for all schools and educators.
We have had a few Teachers do further study in Tessol and the benefits of encouraging students to bring their rich heritage languages, culture and identity to schools as a strength. In some of the research, Villegas and Lucas (2002, p. 26) argue that: . . . teachers who are knowledgeable about their students’ family lives are better prepared to understand the children’s in-school behaviour, and to incorporate into classroom activities the ‘funds of knowledge’ those families possess.
Which comes back to Teachers knowing their students and the funds of knowledge they bring to the classroom.
I agree, Brieta. Teachers who are culturally aware are more likely to communicate respectfully and avoid misunderstandings. Also, cultural knowledge can help teachers tailor their communication style to meet the needs of diverse learners. Then students feel valued and respected when their cultural backgrounds are acknowledged and celebrated.
Kalpana and Brieta, you have both written about the importance of staff being culturally aware so well. As teachers, taking the time to get to know our students, understand their culture and how to communicate with them and their whānau is valuable.
This year I have 9 students from India in my pod and I didn’t realise how different some of their traditions, religion beliefs, language and hierarchy systems are even though they are from the same country. It was through a conversation with one of these students parents that the teachers within my pod and myself realised we needed to broaden our cultural understanding of all 9 students and show our respect. It has been a really fun journey, along with the students, learning about all of these differences and being able to support them correctly and these students learning about how our traditions and culture works
Connect with Families:
Our family-centered approach in the IEP process is a key strength. By treating families as experts and incorporating student voices, we’ve created an inclusive environment that respects and prioritizes each student’s unique needs and aspirations. This collaboration ensures that educational strategies align with family values and goals, which is essential in a specialist school setting. Our next step is to build on this strength by engaging more effectively with families who may have a lack of trust in the education system or are reluctant to engage.
Hi Chantelle
I worked in a specialist school setting in England and, I’m not sure if this is possible in NZ, but we would go in pairs and meet families in their homes if they were reluctant to meet at school. We found this had a positive impact and would often be the catalyst for families to start engaging more fully.