Step one (what) If you look at how our world seems to be getting smaller and smaller through the connections we are making with other cultures in a global sense, it is no wonder that being culturally responsive is even more significant than before. Culturally responsive pedagogy is defined by Gay (2001, p.106) as “using the cultural characteristics, experiences and perspectives as conduits for effective teaching”. Another definition of culture responsive teaching that resonated with me was when Bishop in Edtalks (2012) discussed the idea that a teacher whose pedagogy is culturally responsive challenges the “deficit thinking” of student educability and believe that they have skills and knowledge that can help all of their students to achieve. Finally, cultural responsiveness is like being a “cultural translator” by which a teacher takes what the students know through their own culture identity and connects it with what is being taught. I believe our kura is at the green stage by which “indigenous and culturally centred structures and practises are embedded but still colonial”. To me this relates to our school’s core value of “know me before you teach me” which is a strong focus at the beginning of the year to make sure we fully understand our learners strengths and needs. At our kura, when a new Maori whanau arrive, they are greeted by our Deputy Principal - Tane Bennet and asked where they are from, what is there iwi?. We have a map of New Zealand which shows where all our Maori whanau have descended from and connections are quickly made. This approach is the first step we take to know our Maori learners and begin to build strong relationships with the whanau. I believe we have very high expectations of our Maori students and we provide them with lots of opportunities to express and explore their strengths and passions. We also believe that speaking Te Reo should be normalised, that learning the Maori language is for all and should be apart of everyday conversations. We have a radio station that delivers three different Te Reo lessons for our Junior, Middle and Senior students every day. The expectation is that all classes tune in and I know if has helped my own confidence in speaking Te Reo within my class. On reflection, I could almost argue that we tip our toes into the red zone, however I do believe there are elements of the “Pakeha comfort zone” even in my own classroom I would say I revert back to my own western mindset. Step 3 (What next) I did find it interesting at the end of Milne’s presentation (CORE Education, 2017) she spoke about the green zone being the most dangerous because when school’s reach that level, they feel they have “made it”. For our kura, I believe we still can challenge our “white definitions and structures’ in terms of what we teach our children throughout the year and what opportunities we give them to express their culture everyday. At times we fall into the trap of having a culture week where we celebrate the variety of ethnic backgrounds in our community, however this should be something natural and embedded into everyday learning experiences. REFERENCES CORE Education.(2017, 17 October). Dr Ann Milne, Colouring in the white spaces: Reclaiming cultural identity in whitestream schools.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cTvi5qxqp4&feature=em-subs_digest Edtalks.(2012, September 23). A culturally responsive pedagogy of relations. [video file].Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/49992994 Gay,G. (2002). Preparing for culturally responsive teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 53(2),106-116. Milne, B.A. (2013). Colouring in the white spaces: Reclaiming cultural identity in whitestream schools. (Doctoral Thesis, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand). Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10289/7868
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