A brilliant forensic investigation into the supine body of home-grown, child-centred bicultural education in Aotearoa. Here's a slogan: "The rata does not always kill the tree."
Thanks for drilling down with this fine grained analysis. Appreciated and really valuable. While I can see that being more explicit about knowledge in a curriculum may well provide a level of clarity for teachers, it is seriously disappointing to see how the idea of 'knowledge rich' is currently being interpreted. There does not appear to be a commitment to genuine consultation or a willingness to consider a wide range of alternative perspectives (especially from those who have expertise in curriculum and who understand the intense pressure our teachers are under). I am not unfamiliar with how the knowledge-rich curriculum has been rolled out in the UK but what seems to be an uncritical and wholehearted attempt to simply transfer these ideas to a NZ context- especially in regards the content to be taught - is really not a good fit. I worry that without a well-thought through and considered consultation process this curriculum initiative is not going to end well. I totally get how consultation can be frustratingly cumbersome and slow things down but ultimately it is a fundamental part of the process and getting things right.
Kia ora. Thank you for your article and for doing the work to make the process as transparent as possible to as many as possible.
What are the next steps? How do we work with communities to share perspectives with whānau who might not have access to the same level of information to draw from to make decisions about their children's education?
Should schools and teachers dedicate time to meeting with whānau and communities?
How do we continue to gather up and research evidence that rich depth of learning can take place when our young people can find ways to relate to multiple knowledge systems and make it make sense?
Reductionism is not pretty when it comes from someone who is meant to be an academic and scholar. However, it is now gaining considerable traction. The use of fear to promulgate it, saying that children are missing out on powerful knowledge must be palpable for whānau worried about their children's futures?
My current research is about examples of kaiako and mokopuna (Māori and not Māori) learning when drawing from multiple knowledge systems, starting from Māori and/or community learning, which helps them to gain greater conceptual knowledge of other learning areas. (Maths is the learning area focused on, literacy is also fully involved - we're seeing other learning areas come in and out of focus with depth and strength, after two years of part-time study). E.g. a teachers shows how drawing the right lines is important in wheku to tell the correct story, as important as labelling graphs properly, so that the graphs are telling the correct story... Just one example. Knowledge, like language is not mono. Learning only one type of knowledge will have the awful result of stultifying our children and giving them less to be informed by. Less to know, less to be, less to become. We need to stop this abuse of our children, we need to stop this symbolic violence against all of us. I'm done being colonised and seeing that colonisation didn't just happen to Māori, it's still happening to everyone, and Rata is the worst coloniser since her ancestors started the job. Forefathers? Seriously?
Trying to find a bright side - the “nineteenth century novel” that is to be compulsory in senior English may not be the decolonising, “civilising” influence that Rata et al seem to think. Heart of Darkness… Jane Eyre… Mansfield Park… explcitly or implicitly, in these and many other novels of the period, the horrors of colonisation and slavery are elephants in the room.
Love it. I keep telling myself that I need to be looking for the opportunities, instead of being bogged down with the awful. It's a great mindshift. Thank you for reminding me! I love teachers.
A brilliant forensic investigation into the supine body of home-grown, child-centred bicultural education in Aotearoa. Here's a slogan: "The rata does not always kill the tree."
Thanks for drilling down with this fine grained analysis. Appreciated and really valuable. While I can see that being more explicit about knowledge in a curriculum may well provide a level of clarity for teachers, it is seriously disappointing to see how the idea of 'knowledge rich' is currently being interpreted. There does not appear to be a commitment to genuine consultation or a willingness to consider a wide range of alternative perspectives (especially from those who have expertise in curriculum and who understand the intense pressure our teachers are under). I am not unfamiliar with how the knowledge-rich curriculum has been rolled out in the UK but what seems to be an uncritical and wholehearted attempt to simply transfer these ideas to a NZ context- especially in regards the content to be taught - is really not a good fit. I worry that without a well-thought through and considered consultation process this curriculum initiative is not going to end well. I totally get how consultation can be frustratingly cumbersome and slow things down but ultimately it is a fundamental part of the process and getting things right.
Kia ora. Thank you for your article and for doing the work to make the process as transparent as possible to as many as possible.
What are the next steps? How do we work with communities to share perspectives with whānau who might not have access to the same level of information to draw from to make decisions about their children's education?
Should schools and teachers dedicate time to meeting with whānau and communities?
How do we continue to gather up and research evidence that rich depth of learning can take place when our young people can find ways to relate to multiple knowledge systems and make it make sense?
Reductionism is not pretty when it comes from someone who is meant to be an academic and scholar. However, it is now gaining considerable traction. The use of fear to promulgate it, saying that children are missing out on powerful knowledge must be palpable for whānau worried about their children's futures?
My current research is about examples of kaiako and mokopuna (Māori and not Māori) learning when drawing from multiple knowledge systems, starting from Māori and/or community learning, which helps them to gain greater conceptual knowledge of other learning areas. (Maths is the learning area focused on, literacy is also fully involved - we're seeing other learning areas come in and out of focus with depth and strength, after two years of part-time study). E.g. a teachers shows how drawing the right lines is important in wheku to tell the correct story, as important as labelling graphs properly, so that the graphs are telling the correct story... Just one example. Knowledge, like language is not mono. Learning only one type of knowledge will have the awful result of stultifying our children and giving them less to be informed by. Less to know, less to be, less to become. We need to stop this abuse of our children, we need to stop this symbolic violence against all of us. I'm done being colonised and seeing that colonisation didn't just happen to Māori, it's still happening to everyone, and Rata is the worst coloniser since her ancestors started the job. Forefathers? Seriously?
Trying to find a bright side - the “nineteenth century novel” that is to be compulsory in senior English may not be the decolonising, “civilising” influence that Rata et al seem to think. Heart of Darkness… Jane Eyre… Mansfield Park… explcitly or implicitly, in these and many other novels of the period, the horrors of colonisation and slavery are elephants in the room.
Love it. I keep telling myself that I need to be looking for the opportunities, instead of being bogged down with the awful. It's a great mindshift. Thank you for reminding me! I love teachers.