The Relevance of The Treaty of Waitangi to Education in New Zealand

This document aims to reflect my knowledge of The Treaty of Waitangi and its relevance to education in New Zealand. It goes on to consider my current teaching practice in relation to the competencies outlined by Tataiako (2011) and examines ideas for strengthening my performance within each competency.
The Treaty of Waitangi, Te Tiriti O Waitangi, was signed by representatives of the British Crown and Maori chiefs from the North Island of New Zealand on 6th February, 1840. It was then taken around the rest of New Zealand to be signed by other Maori chiefs. Referred to as New Zealands Founding Document The Treaty is made up of 3 articles. It was written in English and Maori but the 2 versions have some differences in meaning.

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Article 1 Maori relinquish power or sovereignty kawanatanga to the British Crown.

Article 2 Maori are granted full ownership over their land for as long as they wish.

Article 3 Maori have the same rights as the British and the protection of the British Crown.

New Zealand Curriculum The Treaty of Waitangi is one of the eight principles used to guide the New Zealand Curriculum in our schools. However the other principles also relate to The Treaty.
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Principles guiding the implementation of the New Zealand Curriculum High expectations
The curriculum supports and empowers all students to learn and achieve personal excellence, regardless of their individual circumstances.

Learning to learn
The curriculum encourages all students to reflect on their own learning processes and to learn how to learn.

Treaty of Waitangi
The curriculum acknowledges the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and the bicultural foundations of Aotearoa New Zealand. All students have the opportunity to acquire knowledge of te reo Mori me na tikanga.

Community Engagement
The curriculum has meaning for students, connects with their wider lives, and engages the support of their families, whnau, and communities.

Cultural diversity
The curriculum reflects New Zealands cultural diversity and values the histories and traditions of all its people.

Coherence
The curriculum offers all students a broad education that makes links within and across learning areas, provides for coherent transitions, and opens up pathways to further learning.

Inclusion
The curriculum is nonsexist, non-racist, and nondiscriminatory; it ensures that students identities, languages, abilities, and talents are recognised and affirmed and that their

Future focus
The curriculum encourages students to look to the future by exploring such significant future-focused issues as sustainability, citizenship, enterprise, and globalisation.

Retrieved from: http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Principles/Exploring-the-curriculumprinciples The New Zealand Curriculum Update (2012) considers the relevance of The Treaty in education through 3 broad principles as put forward by the 1988 Royal Commission on Social Policy: Partnership Partnerships need to be developed between schools, parents, and the Maori community including whanau, hapu and iwi. Partnerships lead to powerful learning drawing on the wealth of skills and expertise available from a diverse group. Protection Teachers need to protect and preserve Maori culture including the knowledge, skills, values, traditions, language and taonga (treasures). This ensures that students understand the unique bicultural foundations within, what is now, a multicultural setting. Participation All students are entitled to equal opportunities for participation in learning allowing them to understand and value the richness the different cultures and languages of New Zealand provide and how this shapes them as individuals.

The New Zealand Teachers Council publication Tataiako: Cultural competencies for teachers of Maori learners (2011) uses the following model of 5 competencies to guide teachers performance when working with Maori students. The Treaty principles of partnership, protection and participation are addressed through these competencies.

Tataiako competencies applied to my teaching practice as a new entrant teacher Competencies Current Examples Future Developments Wananga The Board of Trustees ensure Develop relationships with the Teachers, students, there is always a trustee from the whanau of a child with ASD traits whanau, hapu and local Maori community. in my class in order to have a iwi involved trusting relationship to base together in The Board of Trustees send out discussion of how best to discussion around an annual questionnaire to all support their child. Possible best practice for families around current practices ways to do this include: learning for Maori and areas for improvement Invite the parents in to and for their child. across the whole school. share a Maori myth or legend as this is a focus The bilingual unit have a termly for this term. whnau hui for parents to gather Seek advice from the and discuss the direction learning parents in developing my should be taking for their children mihi. Encourage the parents to In my classroom we have a parent come with us on a trip to helper from the Maori the local museum looking community. We regularly share at Maori myths and ideas about strategies we can use legends. to support the children she works with. Whanaungatanga We maintain an open channel of Gain a better understanding of Positive, productive communication with all families the values, beliefs and relationships through weekly emails, blogs and whakapapa of my Maori families: between teachers, daily chats before and after Find out about their hapu students, whanau, school. and iwi. hapu and iwi. Ask for their ideas about Relationships based When chatting with families after how best to value and on trust, honesty school we often discuss things celebrate Maori culture and respect for each not directly related to the childs in the classroom. others values and education, e.g. the father of one Invite them in to talk culture. Maori family is currently studying about the protocols at the local polytechnic so we around a hangi to help regularly share our study children and adults experiences. understand more about the planned whole school Matariki hangi. Manaakitanga Whilst spending a morning with Develop a deeper understanding Showing respect, our bilingual unit I observed the of Maori culture and language integrity and trust tradition of removing shoes and model this with the children towards Maori before entering the whare. in my class. This could include: beliefs, language During korero with the children I Using bilingual labels for and culture. tried to use as much Te Reo as items/areas in the class

possible. At the end of my visit I shared a koha with the class. In my own class we use Te Reo for greetings, farewells, instructions and share waiata regularly. Te Reo is incorporated each day through use of numbers, days of the week and colours. We currently have a focus on Mori myths and legends and will be attending a workshop at the local museum to support us in this learning. We have all developed and shared our mihi this year and share these regularly at news times. Tangata Whole school assemblies start Whenuatanga with a mihi from the school Place learning in a Principal, who is himself Maori. Maori context giving The assemblies always include affirmation to the waiata. The school has a strong learners around bilingual unit with daily wa their culture, whanau, powhiri to welcome new language and Maori tamariki and staff, kapa haka and identity. links being developed with Mori communities in other schools. The inquiry topics followed in the bilingual unit celebrate Mori as Mori. Ako I have attended an adult Teachers taking education evening course for Te responsibility for Reo Mori and will seek advice their own learning from Mori staff if I am unsure and the learning of about an aspect of Te Reo Mori Maori children in that we encounter in the their care. classroom.

Set up some sessions when children from the bilingual unit can teach my children e.g. poi making, sharing of waiata and actions at our syndicate assembly Make good use of online resources available for Maori language week in July this year. Practice my Te Reo Mori by using it with our Mori staff daily.

Arrange a class visit to the local marae. Look at local Mori myths and legends. Look at the meaning behind local Mori place names. Share the whakapapa of our Mori children with the rest of the class.

By working through this domain I am deepening my understanding of both Te Reo Mori and Tikanga Mori and have sought opportunities for further learning e.g. spending time in the bilingual unit, offering to help with the school hangi.

Conclusion
When evaluating my teaching practice against the 5 competencies of Tataiako I can see what is already happening in my classroom and explore possible next steps to improve. At a basic level I am providing a culturally sensitive education for Mori but this could be further enhance by involving whanau, the local community and bilingual staff and students in our school. The Treaty of Wataingi is a key element underpinning education in New Zealand making our role as teachers unique. We need to have an understanding of how the principles of The Treaty apply to our individual pupils, classes and our whole school. However, this must be accompanied by a proactive approach to ensuring we gain the knowledge, skills and understanding to confidently out these principles into place on a daily basis. Tataiako provides a frame work to guide us along this journey.

References
Treaty of Waitangi. (2013). Retrieved from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Waitangi Education, M. o. (2011). Tataiako: cultural competencies for teachers of Maori learners. Retrieved from http://www.minedu.govt.nz/~/media/MinEdu/Files/TheMinistry/EducationInitiative s/Tataiako/TataiakoWEB.pdf Education, M. o. (2012, January). New Zealand curriculum updates:The New Zealand Curriculum Treaty of Waitangi principle. Retrieved from The New Zealand Curriculum Online: http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-resources/NZC-Updates/Issue-16January-2012 Heritage, M. f. (2012). Read the Treaty. Retrieved from New Zealand History online: http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/politics/treaty/read-the-treaty/english-text Immigration, N. Z. (n.d.). The Treaty of Waitangi: An introduction to the Treaty of Waitangi for migrants. Retrieved from http://www.immigration.govt.nz/NR/rdonlyres/79BB2C7F-58C8-45A0-9ACF423B7E4AE077/0/LivingGuide01Treaty.pdf The content of The Treaty. (n.d.). Retrieved from Treaty 2U: http://www.treaty2u.govt.nz/the-treaty-up-close/the-content-of-thetreaty/index.htm