Honoring the Treaty

In a few weeks time my learners and I will be heading off to Russell for a school camp focused on the Treaty of Waitangi and the history of New Zealand. To ensure that my learners can connect with this topic, we have been studying history and the Treaty in our inquiry lessons. 

 

This was the first time that my learners had investigated the Treaty in depth and many of them were quite surprised by what they learnt. In particular, they were startled by the fact that there were two versions of the Treaty and that the land wars occurred shortly after the Treaty was signed. As we investigated the clauses of the Treaty, there was much discussion around how it is used today. Many of my learners thought that it would contain laws much like those that we follow today. This lead onto a discussion about the partnership between Māori and Pakeha and the importance of learning Te Reo  Māori and about Māori tikanga.



As a class we reflected on the fact that we have a weekly Te Reo lesson, sing waiata, discuss whakatauki and learn a little about Māori customs or tikanga. However, I discovered that there are many gaps in my learners knowledge; some were unaware what a hongi was for example. To remedy this, I planned some lessons that would cover different areas of Māoridom. We looked at powhiri and marae protocol for example and made traditional Māori bread (Takakau).

                                      
I have written before about taking extra university papers in order to learn some Te Reo and the fact that I seek to use the langauge and Māori resources wherever possible. However, by studying this unit my learners have become more aware of the importance of using Te Reo and they are beginning to ask more about Māori tikanga. Despite having these conversations before, I believe that they lacked the knowledge to truly connect with what I was trying to stress. I am now really looking forward to the camp and to watch my students as they engage in authentic experiences around the Treaty of Waitangi.

Comments

  1. Sounds like an exciting experience you have planned Danni for your upcoming camp. Awesome that you helping the kids build their understanding of tikanga before they go to camp too, look forward to hearing how your camp goes!

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  2. Danni, I love the way you reflect on what the students know or don't know and plan for them to learn more deeply in all curriculum areas. Camp sounds like real authentic learning of the Treaty for your students. Providing them the pre learning will definitely help the students consolidate their learning of tikanga Maori.

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