You are absolutely right; you bring up a good point there. The knowledge-rich component of the curriculum is important. It is important, but we still need schools and teachers, kaiako, to think about what does that knowledge look like from where we are, localise that context ay, because we know that those of us that are from the sea, our mātauranga is going to be very different to those who come from the ngahere (bush, forest).

Tino rerekē (very different).

And so the mātauranga, the knowledge-rich component inside the curriculum is really understanding, here is the knowledge, but you still need to put the context that is relevant for your mokopuna, for your ākonga, into that knowledge to make it, and enrich it even more.

I agree the, the document Te Marautanga o Aotearoa has included within it, chunked up pieces of knowledge, you talk about the knowledge-rich curriculum. What I think this has achieved will make it visible for our kaiako. Before it wasn’t so obvious to them, but now I think what they’re going to see within the document itself, are the skills chunked up into small parts and how you progress those skills from a foundation, through to their tau tekau mā toru (Year 13).

The things that are starting to come to the forefront, that’s been coined the Science of Learning. No-one’s disagreeing with that, but there is a perspective that is a, a Māori perspective to that, and that’s what we’re trying to grow. That’s what we are trying to understand.

We will start to see through the rauemi (resources) that we create, and the professional development that’s offered, with the curricula. There’s things like the forgetting curve, that if you teach something new, once, don’t assume that mokopuna are going to grasp it straight away. That’s mātauranga for us, ay. That is truly mātauranga for us, and so how do you coin that in a way that comes from that tirohanga (view, sight, aspect) Māori perspective.

There are some little brain games that kaiako, some of our kaiako will often use, to ensure that mokopuna are ready to learn. When you can see that they’re getting ngenge (tired, fatigued) or they’re getting tired or hōhā (bored, tiresome, annoyed) with the learning, they’ll swap it, and they’ll do a really quick game, and then they’ll bring them back into the learning. That’s all part of the Science of Learning, and those are the things that our Nannies have always done with us ay.

Āe, ahakoa he, tērā pea he hou te tapanga (naming, label, caption) Science of Learning ki tō tātou iwi, ēhara I te mahi hou. We’ve actually been doing our own version, indigenous version of Science of Learning, what’s great about it, it’s inclusion in our wāhanga ako and our marautanga, is it takes away the guess work. With some of our kaiako that don’t know. For our Kaiako, horekau (No, not) he hakaako (teach, educate) mō te wā roa. Some of these things are innate, that you learn because you’ve been teaching for ten years. We’ve got a lot of new kaiako coming through, and we actually want to grow our workforce, so now they have, they have some kōwhiringa (selection, options). They have some, he kai kei roto nei mēnā e hiahia ana, he wāhanga mō te neurodiversity. And it’s not saying this is the be-all-and-end-all, but anei ētahi timatanga, wāhi timatanga mō koutou (Here are some starting points, starting places for you (Kaiako mā)). And I think it's really really great and exciting because it’s going to help kaiako, like you said, the memory. You know, āta whāngaia te tamariki (gently nurture the child), and actually they give you practical tips and strategies how to do it. A lot of guessing work has been taken out, and it’s great for our kaiako. It will give them confidence.

We were talking about earlier, about the different types of activities, the Science of Learning. Because yes, tāua tāua (you and me both), we were both kaiako of the 1990s.

There’s some things that our kaiako do naturally that they don’t actually understand is the Science of Learning. And that’s part of the Science of Learning is, you know, there is a mātauranga that needs to be shared, and so you find the appropriate way for that knowledge to be shared. And learnt.

Can you talk to us about the Ngā Toi Mokopuna. We had some good wānanga about Ngā Toi Mokopuna. In the second iteration what you might remember is the thing that started to emerge in the New Zealand Curriculum was this position called key competencies. What are those key competencies that we want all students to be able to portray through their learning.

We had a wānanga about that during the early 2000s, and we left it to our kaumātua group. So inside that kaumātua group were Auntie Pepi, Te Heikōkō, Papa Blackie, Te Kepa , and Peti Nohotima. They had a wānanga about he aha tēnei mea te key competencies? (What are key competencies?). And then they came back to us and they said, “well as far as we can see, from how it’s been coined, key competencies you can’t learn if you don’t include these things.” So they are naturally part of our learning. And if we think about using symbols, was one of the key competencies, being able to identify and be considerate of individual learners but collaborative learning as well. So all of those sorts of things were part of the key competencies, and e ai kia rātou (according to them), you are not a learner if you don’t naturally bring those things in. And it was agreed by the government of the day that the key competencies be embedded through Te Marautanga o Aotearoa.

This round we started to talk about what were those dispositions, what were those capabilities, what were those types of things we wanted coming through our mokopuna, coming through their learning. And so, we started to have this conversation about Toi Mokopuna. So, we started to really wānanga about what that meant. And what we wanted to recognise is that every mokopuna comes with a position, a way of learning that is individual learning to them. A way of learning, a way of acknowledging and a way of portraying that mātauranga that they have, that mōhiotanga (knowing, understanding, comprehension) that they have.

We wanted kaiako to be a lot more alert to that. We really started to think about, ok so are we talking about a learner’s disposition, or are we talking about learning dispositions. So what are those things that we want to see coming through our mokopuna, but actually it’s something that has to be learnt. It’s not something that will naturally be part of them.

And so we talk often about manaakitanga (kindness, generosity), and tiaki tētahi ki tētahi (take care of one another), all of those sorts of things, but what does that actually look like when a mokopuna does that. So, it’s not just the academic mātauranga that actually, to enrich that academic mātauranga there is in āhua (condition, form, a way, manner) that comes with it. Kia ora. And you know, haramai tētahi āhua (It's awesome, fantastic, or incredible in some way). Āe.

āe, koirā te toi o te Mokopuna. (Yes, that’s it. That’s the point, the source/origin of the grandchild/ren, child/ren)

That’s the Toi Mokopuna that we’re trying to portray there, and acknowledge, and give mana to.

So, what are those four pou?

Before we go into identifying or naming those pou, I’d like to also note that they are also are whānui as they are, they are also can be narrowed down and honed into. And I think that’s important for us to note today because there’s a lot of room for our kaiako to be able to work through them. And like you said, have a go.

Yeah, make them their own.

Their growing, Yeah, personalise it for what those mokopuna look like in their classroom. Our four pou.

1. Te mokopuna hei uri whakaheke.
2. Te mokopuna hei puna kōrero.
3. Te mokopuna hei tangata.
4. Me te mokopuna hei ākonga.

Te mokopuna hei uri whakaheke - As each of the components of the curriculum come out, we’re going to be giving it out as it’s ready. So that they have time to engage with it, to start implementing it, and then growing on that implementation as new parts come out.

In addition to that though, I think that the other that we want them to understand is that alongside the curriculum there will be rauemi, that is there, straight away for them to use. There will also be professional development offered. And the professional development is targeted to that wāhanga ako, to those tūārere all the time. And so…

It will align and support as they go through this journey.

So we need that to be a two-way conversation, we need our kaiako who are inside our classes who are teaching through Te Marautanga o Aotearoa to come forward and tell us. Don’t be whakamā (shy, embarrassed) about sharing how their feeling, so coming and talking to you guys in the regions. Because you are the first step for them, and we acknowledge that all the time.

This is the first time that we’ve been able to actually create that hononga (connection), right from here where we sit in Wellington, where all of the work is done behind the scenes, where all of the wānanga occur that you have mentioned, and then out through to the regions, where our offices are there waiting to help, and they as a tight connection between our offices out in the regions through to Te Poutāhū in Wellington here. And then from our regions out through to our kura, connection there also. And so, when you say you want to know and you want to hear, there is a definite line of communication, they’re available for our kaiako and our tumuaki (principal) to use. And all they have to do is connect with their local regional office.

I really like how you have explained the journey, and the progress that has been made since the 1990s, through to today, and the differences in the learning that has gone on through each of those iterations of Te Marautanga o Aotearoa. And how today Te Marautanga o Aotearoa provides an opportunity for all of that learning to be pulled together and to hold on to what is still valuable to our whānau and our hapū, our mokopuna.

I think one of the luxuries that we have is that the people that were involved in writing the very first iteration of Te Marautanga o Aotearoa, we have the luxury of still having some of them with us. We have an obligation to not lose it, but to grow it even further. And the fact that, you know, we’ve got some amazing kaiako out there right now who were taught through their eyes of the marautanga.

So I’m really excited for our new wāhanga ako, me te whāinga kia rangitāmirotia ngā mea e rua (to bind the new learning area and the objective/goal together).

And that for me is what is exciting about the Te Marautanga o Aotearoa of today. Is that it brings that forward for our tumuaki and our kaiako. It enables them to be able to pick up this document and understand from a tirohanga Māori, how they are able to implement teaching and learning in their school, in a way in which is unique to te ao Māori.

Nā reira e hoa, he pātai tāku (So friend, I have a question). Is Te Marautanga o Aotearoa a national curriculum?

Kia ora.

Tērā pātai tērā. (that is the question)

Kia ora e hoa. In short, yes. What we have is a curriculum that sits alongside the New Zealand Curriculum. Te Marautanga o Aotearoa is the national curriculum for all schools that deliver teaching and learning programmes for years zero, one to thirteen through te reo Māori. So any context that offers learning through te reo Māori is able to pick up Te Marautanga o Aotearoa as their curriculum document.

There were some kaupapa that were put up as suggestions, but it was very prescribed in the way that you had to teach it. And what you needed to focus on in your teaching. Kaiako said very strongly that it’s so prescribed that it’s preventing us from being innovative in our classrooms. Give us the ideas that can help us with our teaching, but don’t put it in the curriculum. Put it in the resources that you create to support us implement the curriculum. The other thing that they talked about was make the language consistent. Because what you can see in the original seven is they created, because, you know a language that comes out of the curriculum that you don’t see anywhere else. And so, as we were developing each of the seven separate curriculums in the 1990s the writers had to create a huge corpus of language in te reo Māori. And then the third thing that was really prominent in the second version of the curriculum was just tell us what the outcomes are that we’re looking for and give us the opportunity to create the huarahi (pathway), that will get them there. That’s really hard to do in a national curriculum because you’re thinking about the universal expectation and then inviting each kura with their whānau, hapū and iwi and their community in general to look at that and then say, ok, so what does our graduate profile look like? And so, those were the three key things that came out of this second iteration.

The curriculum that we are creating now, we would not be in a good position to create if we hadn’t gone on the journey that we’ve gone on. What we’ve found is that the kaiako that are using it are struggling because they can’t figure out how to get the mātauranga that will help these tamariki to achieve the outcomes that are prescribed. And so, we’ve learnt from all of that, and we know how we need to create a new marautanga that meets the needs of the government of the day, but equally describes the aspirations that whānau are looking for their tamariki, for their mokopuna, that’s the huarahi (pathway) that we have to follow. Our schools have got a big job, we need to be a lot more specific about our expectations of what they will teach. We need to be very clear about our expectations year by year.

In the 1990s there were a group of kaiako Māori who had been in the system for quite some time, who had put a tono (request) to the Ministry to create curriculum that would support kura kaupapa Māori, because kura kaupapa Māori were our tūāpapa (foundation) then. Ay, in the 1990s we didn’t have Ngā Kura ā Iwi (a constituted body that represents and supports tribal schools), we had a number of Māori medium settings in general stream schools, but kura kaupapa Māori wanted something. And so, it was agreed very strongly by the whānau at the time that whatever was put into the New Zealand Curriculum for each of the curricula, because they were each curriculum then, they weren’t wāhanga ako, they had a mana of their own, each of the areas. So whatever was put into the English component of that curriculum, it would be transferred across to the Māori component.

Where we saw a huge shift, in the 1990s on the development of those, and it was seven curricula then, was in Tikanga ā-Iwi, because when we looked at the kupu and the mātauranga that sits behind that ingoa (name) Tikanga ā-Iwi, there were some things, that it was agreed that there were some things that were consistent across all of the iwi. But then there were some things that were pertinent to specific iwi as well. And what we found was as the later curricula started to be developed, there was more of a push towards a tirohanga Māori, a te ao Māori view. That we are starting to move away from a straight translation as such, as that is how they are described in general, those original documents, is that these are a translation of the New Zealand Curriculum documents. As we started to move into the later parts of the 1990s, then the early 2000s, that’s when the writers started to change.

When we were asked to develop the next iteration of Te Marautanga o Aotearoa, because what we are developing now is our third version of Te Marautanga o Aotearoa. So when we were asked to develop the second version of Te Marautanga o Aotearoa to inform what needed to happen in that curriculum, it was agreed by the then government that we would start with a stocktake. The curriculum had been out in schools for ten years, or just over ten years, and so we were asked to go out, the Ministry was asked to go out and interview 10% of the teaching workforce to inform the next iteration of the curriculum.

Tell us about the tūārere, and how do they work?

The tūārere are within each of the wāhanga ako. The first tūārere that teachers will have in the new year are tūārere tahi ki te toru (1-3). Those are available for use in term one, and within those tūārere you will see the key objectives that our teachers are required to implement and teach for each phase. Each phase covers a group or a phase or years. So, for example, tūārere: tuatahi (1), you’ll find tau tahi, tau rua me te tau toru (years 1-3). And within there you’ll see the progression of the whāinga for each of those tau (year level). What I like about the tūārere is that many of our classrooms are multilevel.

Āe.

So the curriculum has recognised that, and means that our kaiako are going to be able to pull from within the phases and across the phases in a way that is much easier than it has been previously. That was one of the biggest recommendations made by the sector through to our kaituhi (writer), and our kaituhi have taken a lot of time to ensure that that is obvious for our kaiako.

I look forward to seeing our kaiako have a go at that. And that’s all we are asking is for them to have a go at that, see how that fits for them in their classrooms, with their students, with their mokopuna, and reflect on how it works for them in their classrooms, and provide us with some feedback, or talk amongst themselves about how they can improve on that, in their own kura.

Tūārere: tahi me te toru (1-3), kura tuatahi - intermediate, tūārere: wha (4), we’re going into year nines and 10, we are going a bit deeper nē, and you can see it in our wāhanga ako pāngarau (mathematics) and te reo Rangatira, the knowledge is going deeper. Ka tae atu ki tūārere: rima (5), and then we arrive at phase five. This is when we start to see specialisation, and the nuances of the discipline o te pāngarau. Ngā kaupapa ako - the subjects, the NCEA, koirā te wāhanga e manaaki ana I tērā wāhanga o te mātauranga (that is the area and space that takes care of that piece of knowledge). So, he tino pai ki ahau tērā (I really like it).

Kia ora.