Swings + Roundabouts Spring 2020

use prompts and “oral storying” as well as perform waiata (Stuart & Rameka, 2018, p. 87). Ritchie (2019) argues that some of the current difficulties arising within early childhood education is unconscious bias and no criteria for teachers within English medium schools to have any competency in te reo Māori, thus limiting centre and teacher practices. Ritchie (2016) also discusses that this lack of engagement with a bicultural curriculum suggests that many teachers despite the requirements do not “demonstrate that te ao Māori (‘the Māori world’) matters to them as teachers” ( p. 82). There are also deeper issues within the education system on why many teachers have difficulty implementing a bicultural programme and speaking te reo Māori as many students leave compulsory schooling “monolingual and monocultural” (Skerrett, 2018, p. 5), which poses a challenge to all current and future kaiako that we need to be the change to create change. Another reason why we should care and be committed to making te reo Māori stronger and increase our understanding in how to implement a bicultural curriculum is that in 2019, the majority of Māori enrolments/ attendances were in Education and Care services (57%), 16% of Māori enrolments/ attendances were for Te Kōhanga Reo, 13% were for kindergartens, 6% of were for home-based services and 3% were for Playcentres (Cowles, Evidence Synthesis and Reporting, Ministry of Education, 2020). The role of education under Te Tiriti o Waitangi is to ensure “equitable outcomes for Māori and ensuring that te reo Māori not only survives but thrives” (Ministry of Education, 2017, p. 3). Te Whāriki outlines the responsibilities of kaiako, which includes being “culturally competent: developing increasing proficiency in the use of te reo and tikanga Māori…” (Ministry of Education, 2017, p. 59). To support kaiako with meeting these capabilities educational leaders are required to ensure there is ongoing learning and development (Ministry of Education, 59). To commit to a culturally responsive practice and to avoid tokenism (Onley, 2014) leaders need to ensure all kaiako participate equally (Jenkin, 2011). Jenkin (2011) emphasises that this is the role of the leader, to empower all teachers to take responsibility for the Tiriti-based curriculum, reiterating that for a Tiriti-based curriculum to be visible and “accepted as the norm in mainstream early child education” (p. 50) all kaiako must take on ownership and responsibility for this to occur. When teachers have ownership, they too become leaders in their own right (Jenkin, 2011). Thornton (2006) states that courage is required by leaders who open up to others in the change they want to make, to then create change, and then rising to challenges. Walter (2014, cited in Berryman, et al, 2015) argues that leaders under transformative leadership need “the courage to persist with a vision for Māori students enjoying and achieving educational success as Māori despite what society and history would portray as the ‘norm’” (p. 66). And as Onley (2014) found in her research, teachers who were willing to give things a go correlated with how successful they were in implementing Māori practices. So what steps are you taking to both support Māori learners and our national identity? How are you making a difference in making te reo Māori stronger? He purapura i ruia mai I Rangiātea e kore e ngaro. A seed sown in Rangiātea will never be lost. Kia kaha te reo Māori. Māori language week: 14-20 Sept 2020 References Berryman, M., Eley, E., Ford, T. & Egan, M. (2015). Leadership: Going beyond personal will and professional skills to give like to Ka Hikitia. Journal of Educational Leadership, Policy & Practice, 30 (2), 56-68. Cowles, S., Evidence Synthesis and Reporting., & Ministry of Education. (2020). Ngā Haeata o Aotearoa 2019: Māori Education: A Summary Overview.. Wellington: Ministry of Education. https:// www.educationcounts.govt.nz/ publications/maori_education/ maori-medium-and-english- medium/5851/nga-haeata-o- aotearoa-2019 Education Council New Zealand. (2017). Our code our standards: Code of professional responsibility and standards for the teaching profession. Education Council of New Zealand: Wellington. Education Review Office. (2013). Working with Te Whāriki. Education Review Office: Wellington. Jenkin, C. (2011). Who will inspire the team? Leadership for bicultural development. Journal of Educational Leadership, Policy and Practice, 26 (2), 48-61. Ministry of Education. (2017). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mokopuna o Aotearoa. Early childhood curriculum. Ministry of Education: Wellington. Ongley, I. (2014). A bicultural curriculum for toddlers: Living it every day. Te Iti Kahurangi. School of Education Journal. Manukau Institute of Technology. Issue 2. Ritchie, J. (2016). Qualities for early childhood care and education in an age of increasing superdiversity and decreasing biodiversity. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 17 (1), 78-91. Ritchie, J. (2019). Renarrativizing our earth-centeredness. A perspective from Aotearoa (New Zealand). In J Kroeger, C. Y. Myers, & K Morgan (Eds.), Nurturing Nature and the Environment with Young Children, Children, Elders, Earth. London: Routledge, 24-35. Skerrett, M. (2018). Pedagogical intentions. Enacting a “refreshed” bicultural curriculum positioned at the crossroads of colonial relations, bicultural education and critical literacy. Early Childhood Folio 22 (1), 3-8. Stuart, M. J., & Rameka, L. K. (2018). Prismatic Storying: Making visible multi coloured codes. Knowledge Cultures 6 (1), 79-96. Thornton, K. (2006). Notions of leadership in the New Zealand ECE Centres of Innovation Programme. New Zealand Review of Education, 15, 153-167. September 2020 { 20 }