Examining Cultural Context

Becoming a culturally responsive teacher means having the ability to learn from and relate respectfully with people from all cultures. As teachers, we need to take into account the cultural knowledge, experiences and filters which students bring to their individual learning.  We need to challenge the “deficit thinking” of student educability and become agentic teachers whose pedagogy is culturally responsive.

I concur with Bishop's concepts (Edtalks, 2012) around agentic teachers being the key to making a difference for Māori students.  Agentic teachers share the power with students to control their own goals, actions and destiny, where students are producers as well as products of learning.  Teachers with agency create the difference in Maori student achievement in secondary schools. Teachers who understand and are able to weave together all the things that create a learning context where students are able to bring themselves to the learning conversations, as Māori.  An environment where their own experiences and cultural understandings are valued and their knowledge is official and legitimate. That level of engagement brings about improved attendance, achievement and engagement, and ultimately success. Striving to answer ‘why did so many Māori students start out well, but still fail as they went through school?’ resulted in 2001 Bishop leading the development of Te Kotahitanga, a research and professional development project which led to Culturally Responsive Pedagogy of Relations.

In relation to the Mauri Model  (Pohatu, 2011),  I believe my inquiry action relates to ‘E pūmau ana’ & ‘E kakama ana’, as the use of Trello is engaging; meeting students where they are at, listening to their voice and experience, allowing ownership of their learning journey and end product. This inquiry is based on the use of Trello as a tool to create multi-faceted projects that presents their individual cultural identity. They are the experts, the context of the assessment is related to their personal and whānau identity. Each context is unique, based on their own story and set of experiences.  I monitor progress, discuss ideas, give feedback and suggest next steps. There has been regular communication with whānau and wider community groups have been invited to share in the success and high standards I am expecting. I am very relational with my students and have created genuine individual relationships and actively seek opportunities to build whakawhanaunga, manaakitanga & kotahitanga with both my students and their whānau. The use of Trello provides the opportunity to connect with each student as the assessment is self-regulated allows for collaboration, not only amongst peers but also with whānau.

My attitudes are influenced by my culture.  I may not think about my dominant white background, I may have assumed it is the way everyone thinks, I may have made assumptions about those whose cultural backgrounds differ from my own. This has, in the past, resulted in cultural insensitivity in my practice.  As I have grown as a teacher, as a wife of a Pasifika man, and as a mother of two bi-cultural children, I have learned to widen my cultural lens;  worldviews, beliefs, values, perspectives and assumptions that all people have.  When this prior cultural knowledge is different from the cultural lens of their school or teacher, this can be a barrier to their engagement and learning.  My next steps will be to attend a Te Reo language and Tikanga course. I want to always be culturally responsive; relating respectfully with people of my own culture as well as those from other cultures.  I want to validate students and their individual cultural identities and value their cultural knowledge. I see this as being a way forward.  I have the potential to make a difference.




REFERENCES:
Edtalks.(2012, September 23). A culturally responsive pedagogy of relations. [video file].Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/49992994

Pohatu, T. W. (2011). Mauri - Rethinking human wellbeing. MAI Review, 3, 1-12. Retrieved from http://www.review.mai.ac.nz/index.php/MR/article/v...

Fraser, D. and McGee, C. (2012). The professional practice of teaching. South Melbourne, Vic.: Cengage Learning.

Bishop, R. and Berryman, M. (n.d.). Te Kotahitanga: Raising Māori student achievement. [online] TKI. Available at: https://tekotahitanga.tki.org.nz/About/The-Development-of-Te-Kotahitanga [Accessed 24 Nov. 2019].