Kāhu ki Rotorua: Museum set to enrich youth

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Nā te kaupapa mātauranga Mūheama o Rotorua (ELC) hua hihiko a hine-atamai, a hine-ngaro me hine kimikimi ēnei wāhanga tupua katoa o te rangatahi mō te rua tekau o ngā tau. Me tana whāngai mātauranga hoki ki ngā kura huhua kāore anō kia oti.

Ā te tau hou, kua whakamanangia e te kāwanatanga te ako me te kawe ngā hītoria o Aotearoa hai kaupapa tūturu e mātau ai ngā rangatahi o tēnei whenua ake. He ahakoa kai te rau noa atu ngā wānanga ngā kaupapa ako kai te kaha kawengia e te Mūheama e mana ai ngā tauira o te kura mai i te tau kotahi tae ki te tau kotahi tekau mā toru, e whakapae ana te Rōpū Mātauranga o Te Mūheama o Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa ka kake noa atu ēnei nama tangata me te rarahi o te tauira.

E ai ki a Kaiurungi Mātauranga o te Mūheama ki a Dominique Chandler kai te wāhi tika te Mūheama hai tautoko ake i ngā kura me te urunga mai o tēnei wānanga nui whakaharahara ki te mārautanga o Aotearoa.

Rotorua tamariki are keen to soak up stories of our past.Pictures / Supplied

“Ka noho mātau ki te apo kaupapa, ki te ahu wānanga e mārama kehokeho ai te tauira ki tōna taiao, ki ngā tangata o te hāpori me ngā tātai kōrero o te takiwā hoki. Kua mōhio hoki mātau me pēwhea te waihanga wānanga e mana ai ngā hiahia motuhake o ngā kura. Nā reira te orokohanga mai o te kaupapa- Ngā kōrero o Te Kura. He tono iti noa nā tētehi kura kia mātau ai rātau ki tō rātau ake takiwā kura, nā wai rā ka pupū ake hai kaupapa mana nui.

“E raka te māui, e raka te mātau pea tētehi o ngā take e mana nui ai tēnei kaupapa, tāpiringia ki tēnei ko te matū o te hītoria me ngā rauemi e tū kaha ai te tāhūhū mātauranga o te Mūheama mō ngā tau e rua tekau kua pahemo. Ko tētehi anō pou awhina ko te eke pahi kore utu. Kua mana tēnei kaupapa i a Ngāti Whakaue e tae katoa mai e ngā tauira hiahia ki te titiro ki ngā wānanga otīā ngā kaupapa mātauranga’.

He pouako tawhito a Dominique. Engari rā kua tino kitea e ia ngā hua pai o tēnei kaupapa me te waka e hoea nei e te Mūheama. “He rerekē katoa ngā kaupapa. E whātoro ai ngā ringaringa, e rongo ai ngā kanohi e rongo ai ngā taringa kai ētehi taimā e whiti kōrero ana ngā tauira mō ngā kaupapa nā reira e mōhio ai mātau kua tika ngā mahi.”

Nō te tau, kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e iwa tekau mā waru i tū ai tēnei kaupapa. Ā te tau hou ka whakanuia tana ekenga ki te rua tekau mā rima o ngā tau. He ahakoa ngā hapa o te māuiui kōwheori i ngā tau e rua kua hori, kai te pōteretere tonu ngā ama o tēnei waka mātauranga. Nā te atamaitanga o ngā pou mahi kua ea te huarahi e hono tahi ai te hāpori, te rangatahi me te whare Mūheama nei. Ko te mātauranga o te ao hou nei te huarahi i whakawhāitingia ai ngā awaawa. Ko ētehi o ngā kaupapa ka akongia ki tūā o te whare Mūheama, ko tētehi anō ko te hari i ngā tauira ki te whare pupuri taonga e noho puku nā ki tētehi atu taha o te tāone.

“Me he pahi taitamariki, me he pahi nohinohi me he taipakeke rānei ko te tūāpapa o te Mūheama he hāpai,he tautoko,he kauawhiawhi i ngā moemoeā o te rangatahi. Tērā pea he orooro māpere hai whakapakoko, he kauwhau rānei i ngā tātai kōrero mō te takiwā Waiariki me āna kawenga mahi turuhi, kai kōnei. He ahakoa he iti, he pounamu” . Hai tā Dominique Ko Tō-te-rā tētehi o ngā kura e whai wāhi mai ki tēnei whare mātauranga hai tā te tumuaki o te kura ko Eden Chapman, tērā pea ka heke mātau te kura ki te Mūheama ia tau. “He ngāwari noa ngā kaupapa engari rā he aronga kē atu i ā mātau mahi i te kura otīā e hāngai pū ana hoki ki ā mātau kaupapa o te kura. Ka ihiiihi ai te wairua o ngā tamariki, ka whai mana hoki ā mātau kaupapa. Kāore aku manawa kōrero mō ā rātau kawenga mahi. Kai te piki haere te kaha o ngā kaupapa me ngā wānanga, he ahakoa e noho puku ana te Mūheama i ēnei rā tāria te wā e pūare anō ai ngā whatitoka e haruru kau ana ngā pātū o taua whare kaumātua ka ora katoa ia i ngā tamariki”.

— Na Raimona Inia i whakamaori tenei purongo

Rotorua Museum’s Enriching Local Curriculums (ELC) Education Programme has sparked the curiosity and imagination of rangatahi for more than two decades, and its contribution to local schools is about to become even more invaluable.

From this year, Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories curriculum will become compulsory, ensuring all rangatahi are taught about New Zealand’s past.

With a broad selection of Rotorua-focused programmes for Year 1 to Year 13 students, the Education Team at Rotorua Museum — Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa— anticipate the curriculum change will boost registrations from local schools, on top of the thousands of rangatahi already reached every year.

Education Lead Kaiurungi Mātauranga, Dominique Chandler, says the Museum is in the perfect position to support local schools with the new curriculum requirements.

“We design programmes that will give students a deeper insight into our local people, environment, and history; however, we also tailor programmes to individual schools to ensure we add value where it’s needed.

“This is how we created one of our most popular programmes – Ngā Kōrero o Te Kura.

Rotorua tamariki are keen to soak up stories of our past. Pictures / Supplied

“It started as a request by one school to learn about their own history and that of the surrounding area. The idea was so well received that we have since personalised it to several other schools in our city.

“It’s this flexibility, as well as our wealth of knowledge and resources, that has helped the Museum’s education programmes remain relevant and sought-after for more than 20 years.

“On top of this, our free bus service, made possible by the generous support of the Ngāti Whakaue Education Endowment Trust board, and minimal resource fees, ensure all local school children have barrier-free access to our programmes.”

A former local teacher, Dominique has seen first-hand the positive impact the Museum’s education programmes have on students.

“These programmes give rangatahi a chance to learn in different environments, hands-on and with unique resources that schools find challenging to provide.

“You often hear the students talking among themselves during and after the programmes, and it’s clear a new fascination is sparked in them.” The Rotorua Museum ELC Education Programme – formerly Learning Experiences Outside the Classroom – has been a valued asset to the Rotorua school community since 1998 and will celebrate its 25th anniversary next year.

In the face of recent challenges, including the closure of the physical museum building and two years of COVID-related restrictions, the Education Team has continued to innovate and adapt, finding new ways to connect local rangatahi to the city’s taonga.

This has included carefully curating new, multi-sensory programmes that can be delivered outside the Museum’s walls and school tours of the offsite storage facility.

“Whether we’re teaching a group of 5-year-olds how to create their own marbling artwork, inspired by local artist Kylie Tiuka’s work, or taking Year 13 Geography students through Rotorua’s tourism history, the Museum continues to enrich the learning of new generations of local rangatahi,” Dominique says.

Sunset Primary School is just one of the local schools that utilise the Museum’s education programmes, and Principal Eden Chapman says most classes take part in at least one session every year.

“The lessons the Museum provide offer a point of difference for the tamariki and are designed to fit in with what we are doing in the classroom.

“This helps to fire the tamariki up about a particular topic we’re teaching and adds that extra spark to what is already a strong local school curriculum.

“The Museum’s education team has done a fantastic job of continuing these programmes while the building has been closed, however we are all eagerly awaiting the Museum reopening so our tamariki can once again learn within its walls.”