So I'm starting with the first post. I am interested in a press statement put out by Te Ururoa Flavell, Māori Party MP, about the findings of a recent Education Review Report. The report comments on how the principles set out in the national school curriculum include:
Treaty of Waitangi principle: 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 me one tikanga.
The Report found that this was the "least evident principle" being followed in the school curriculum".
I know this is about education, but I see education and the media as closely linked in telling us stories about Aotearoa New Zealand and the people in it. I think that the same principle that is included in the curriculum should also be part of a Chater for all media organisations in this country.
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OK. Now if I was going to assess this post I would say that it raises a good point, but needs to be fleshed out with more detail.
NOW it's your turn.
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ReplyDeleteI also have a concern with Te Ururoa's findings as I have four children currently in the education system and have recently found one of their schools is not very proactive in the promotion of the principles that Te Ururoa speaks of.
ReplyDeleteHowever, my concerns do not fall upon their teachers, but with the education system as a whole and media continuously displaying the "Wild Maori"
How can the principles of Te Tiriti O Waitangi be implemented into a system where their teachers are uneducated about what the principles actually are. I have a family member who is currently employed as a mainstream teacher after being a full emersion maori teacher for the last 10 years. She recalls only ever having a one hour lecture on Te Tiriti O Waitangi without going into depth about the actual principles. She is continuously fighting a battle as a minority within a system that is justified by the majority. That tells me that if our teachers are not educated in what the fundamental principles are, then how is a school expected to implement this into their education curriculums.
My next concern would be with how media portray the principles of Te Tiriti, for example, the recent debacle over the foreshore and seabed. If mainstream media continue to portray the negative aspects of Maori issues then obviously this will leave adverse thoughts in the minds of parents and leaders of our education providers.
One positive solution could be Government funding more pilot programmes to teach our education providers about the importance of Maori tikanga and the benefits of learning Te Reo. This in turn will promote NZ to be the bi-cultural nation that government purports us to be. http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/maori/5379 Copy and paste this link to read more information on pilot programmes provided by government initiatives.
Another solution could be for Mainstream media to focus more on exposing the positives to these initiatives so that parents are rest assured that implementing Maori tikanga and Te Reo into curriculums will give their child an advantage in life and therefore promoting cultural diversity.
Although these can be seen as great solutions with extremely positive outcomes, government will only provide as much as their faithful voters will allow them to provide and mainstream media will continue to publish the ideologies of the mass majority. In saying this, will there ever be a true solution?