Purpose
In Aotearoa New Zealand, teachers are required to "work effectively within the bicultural context of Aotearoa New Zealand" (Ministry of Education, 2011, p. 19) and embrace te ao Maori in their professional practice by giving all students the "opportunity to acquire knowledge of te reo Maori me ona tikanga" (Ministry of Education, 2007, p .9). Meeting the requirements is a challenge for teachers who teach in mainstream schools and lack confidence in connecting to the Maori language and cultural practices. This presentation describes how one school used culturally inclusive principles, with concepts from the New Zealand curriculum, as well as the Health and Physical Education curriculum to connect te ao Maori to their teaching practice. This was facilitated as a collaborative, relationship-based pedagogical professional development initiative with school kaimahi (staff).
Method
An action research method (Kemmis & McTaggart, 1992) informed the research with kaimahi in one rural co-educational New Zealand secondary school. In 2011, monthly hui were held where I participated as a "critical friend" to facilitate the reflections of kaimahi and planning of subsequent hui.
Results
Whakawhanaungatanga (building relationships) between facilitator and kaimahi; between kaimahi and kaimahi; and between kaimahi and nga tauira (students) was the key to success. The inclusion of Maori movement experiences, and the development of a reflective learning community with one another to implement te ao Maori into their teacher practice was another key factor in developing a positive and safe working environment. Ako Maori (everyone is a teacher and a learner), manaakitanga (ethic of caring), and whanaungatanga (relationships) were the Maori concepts that kaimahi most readily identified and engaged with. While the kaimahi were open-minded about working with a new conceptual approach, they were challenged by how to articulate and model the Maori concepts with their rangatahi (young people) in different learning areas. A most important factor to the success of the professional learning initiative was the leadership of te tumuaki (principal) who modelled her new learning of te ao Maori into the school's everyday programme.
Conclusion
The degree in which the kaimahi embraced te ao Maori in their teaching varied from applying cultural practices in daily programmes to including the day and date in te reo Maori on the class whiteboard.