Tuesday 29 August 2017

Māori Language Week 2017

I thought I'd just write a few notes with Māori Language Week coming up September 11. There is far more to write about science and connections we can make in this area with Māori but this is more of a beginning type thing!

In terms of the NZC, the earlier green document (which I still see floating around schools!) was a lot clearer about integrating te reo and tikanga Māori into science. The newer document is a wee bit lighter about this but I think there's lots still out there! Of course those teaching in rumaki and kura have the lovely Putaiao document which has some similarities to NZC Science in that there are context strands (but only three with Living World and Planet Earth and Beyond combined, which could make for some interesting conversations!), and the Nature of Science across the top. Putaiao gets a fourth strand about history and philosophy in science, which I'm very envious of and do wish it was in the NZC as well (I know it is sort of, with the Nature of Science strand "Understanding About Science"...).

By the way, if you have ideas and comments, please do post them below. I'd love to build up a resource of places, websites and people that could support teachers in this! I don't profess to being an expert at all -In fact when I read an article by Dr Georgina Stewart who is passionate about Putaiao, I found that some of my ideas were some of those she thought weren't helpful!

At the least, putting te reo into science topics could be possible with most lessons. The Buliding Science Concept resource which is in most schools usually has a glossary at the back with words in te reo and I've noticed that sometimes te reo will be used in the information at the front of the book too, for example talking about forces and friction. If you're doing a Living World unit, you might be able to find te reo for insect names, or shells. Perhaps you all could describe an object with te reo, talking about it's colour (http://www.maorilanguage.net/maori-words-phrases/colours-nga-tae/) or shape (https://nzmaths.co.nz/resource/te-whanau-taparau-polygon-family)...

Another option, and this is a little bit from the last post, is to find topics such as spinning tops that have clear links to Māori. For example, spinning tops (potaka), or kites (manu tukutuku) could teach science concepts as well as share with children that science happened here in Aotearoa too! When I think about the particular wood that is used to carve waka, or the best places to grow kumara, in my mind this shows that science was happening here! People would probably have experimented with different places to grow kumara to find where it lived best. They might have compared different woods to decide which would be best for a waka. Why are there only certain rocks used for hangi? I know that students really connect to these kinds of topics and to using te reo in science lessons. This connection to their own culture engages and validates Māori students.

If I was doing a unit on natural disasters, I might set some time aside to bring up Ruamoko, god of earthquakes and volcanoes. This is seen as a 'pluralistic approach' where, although I might be teaching tectonic plates, I'm also exploring some other cultural views as well. If I was looking at heat transfer with hangi rocks, I would probably do some pluralistic bits as well such as looking at protocol with hangi. This idea is still a relatively new one for me, so I'm still getting my head around it. I'm trying to think about ways to share these views without saying this one's right and this one's wrong and at the same time I'm thinking that using these ideas could engage our Māori students as we, in a sense, endorse their culture.

For Putaiao users, there are some great resources on TKI and as I've looked through them, I have wondered about using some of them myself!

  • http://putaiao.tki.org.nz/ is one with some activities as well although I'm not sure about the translations to English here -I've found a few 'interesting' ones! 
  • http://eng.mataurangamaori.tki.org.nz/Support-materials/Putaiao has a lot of links for teachers with activities etc
  • http://eng.keitemohiokoe.tki.org.nz/ is more geared towards secondary students but never the less there might be some gold in there for you!
  • http://putaiao.tki.org.nz/Papakupu-Putaiao is a dictionary (and does go both ways so could be effective in finding those words in te reo!
Oh, and outside of websites and our own thinking, remember there are good resources around you! It might be parents who are fluent and can support you. It could be a visit to the local marae as well, to connect and share ideas around teaching science.

So there we have it. Some ideas for you to practice during Māori Language Week on the 11th. Give it a go! It might be as simple as getting children to use some te reo to describe their noticings! As always, do share websites, ideas and activities that could help us all!

Hei Konā,
Paora

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