I've been on a voyage recently... one where I am exploring my personal and professional growth. One that has closed some doors and inevitably opened others. It's both exciting and unsettling.
Over the last 5 weeks I've been attending workshops that are the best PD I've experienced in years.
Here in Turanganui a Kiwa we have a hauora based program called Mahi a Atua.
Mahi a Atua has been developed by Diana Kopua (nee Rangihuna) and husband Mark Kopua. Together they introduced Mahi a Atua to the Tairāwhiti and together with the community, it has become a 'way of being' that can be interpreted in many ways. The common element to Mahi a Atua as an intervention is the deliberate effort to work as a collective to reinstate Mātauranga Maori into health and non-health services.
Through this program, our small group has begun to explore how we might live the 3 principles in our professional and personal lives.
The aim of this blog is to share a few insights that are reoccurring and how in my opinion this applies in a modern learning environment.
3 Principles of Mahi Atua
- Tēnei te Po nau mai te Ao (Indigenise your space)
- Ka mā te Ariki, ka mā te Tauira (Active learning)
- Hongihongi te Wheiwheiõ (Welcome Feedback)
The first principle is about connecting with our indigenous selves. As we spoke the indigenisation of space was initially about how we purposely design an environment that is inclusive and enabling identity for our learners. As we explored this idea it became apparent to the group how the environment can also indigenise us. Through time spent on traditional waka hourua I have experienced my self how this environment helped to indigenise me and how I see the world.
Ka mā te Ariki, ka mā te Tauira (Active learning)
Ka mā te Ariki, ka mā te Tauira (Active learning)
The source of wisdom and insight comes from all. Many educators will connect with this concept of learning through Ako. Learning is reciprocal and the position of the teacher and the learner is fluid and very much contextually based. The learner becomes the teacher in any instant under the right conditions/ environment. In this principle, all the participants involved in the korero have a valuable contribution towards the discussion and the development of our shared understanding.
Hongihongi te Wheiwheiõ (Welcome Feedback)
This is another concept that is prominent within education because of how it relates to Carol Dweck's work on Growth Mindset. Embrace the feedback, use it to learn through reflection, put this new knowledge into action and grow.
While within this group I am the only educator, I do know of other educators that have participated in these workshops. I am confident that educators that are drawn to this kaupapa already see the interwoven links between the education system and the health system. Especially in relation to its impact on Māori. Nothing of substance can be achieved when the hauora is not being maintained. No new learning program is going to change this without honouring the hauora of our Māori community. The more I learn the more I understand how this focus on Hauora must come from Te Ao Māori.
As an educator nothing here is new.. Even the principles shared are clearly linked to common research-based practices. However, what we also know that to implement these concepts as strategies in our schools is a complex challenge, that requires difficult questions to be asked and a heck of a lot of uncertainty.
One clear message however that was clear to me throughout these wonderfully deep and broad discussions was the need to use Pūrākau for the learner to better communicate where they are at this point in time. Pūrākau (stories that are commonly seen as myths or legends) are sources of great knowledge and insights. The definition for a myth is, "a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining a natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events." I am weary of the inclusion of supernatural beings or events in this definition because these concepts are so relative to culture and world view. I encourage others to not discount the taonga the pūrākau holds within it, just because it doesn't align with their world views.
Pūrākau enabled the people in this group to share experiences in a way that I have not experienced before. It enabled individuals to share personal insights while not being closely caught up in the emotion. It enabled to growth to occur through sharing it in a way that provides a bit of distance. It was personal yet not with the vulnerability that this personal sharing can be associated with.
The pūrākau was facilitated through the use of art, paintings or carvings that lead into a story. From this story we were asked to explore what we took from the key points in the story.. How might the challenge Mataora faced relate back what you faced during this time? How did he transform during this process he had to follow? What was the taonga that you brought back with you that related to the humility Mataora attained?
From this series of workshops I am growing in my own understanding of be Māori. I am also excited about incorporating the use of Pūrākau into my learning practices and environments.
I have attended a workshop relating to learning stories and have utelised them in my class but to in a way that I feel is utelising their full potential. I will begin exploring how these learning stories can become a tool to promote evidencing shifts in learning for our learners in a way that is similar to how we have used Pūrākau through Mahi Atua.
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