Rotorua Kaitao Intermediate principal Phil Palfrey. Photo / Andrew Warner
Rotorua Kaitao Intermediate principal Phil Palfrey. Photo / Andrew Warner
Staff at a Rotorua intermediate school will be taking te reo Māori lessons this year so they can promote the use of the language in the classroom.
The programme Te Ahu o te Reo Māori is funded by the Ministry of Education and is made up of 120 hours of learning delivered through weekly classes, online lessons, and wānanga or noho marae (overnight stay).
Rotorua Kaitao Intermediate School principal Phil Palfrey said about 70 per cent of the intermediate school’s students identified as Māori.
He said the school wanted to encourage its students to understand and speak te reo Māori.
“It’s like everything else. If we are trying to teach something [to students] we should be able to do it ourselves.”
“I can do my pepeha. I might greet [with] it. I get very nervous about it still.”
He said staff members were committed to completing three hours of personal study for the programme each week.
“It’s a huge amount of personal learning and sacrifice that you’ve got to go through.
“Everybody is in the same boat and we’re all learning together.”
Rotorua Kaitao Intermediate School principal Phil Palfrey. Photo / Andrew Warner
Palfrey said being an adult learner was “very hard”.
“There’s only one thing you can do. That is spend a massive amount of time on it.
“It will show the kids that we are all learning and we are all learners.”
Using te reo Māori in the classroom
Kaitao Intermediate School deputy principal Adrian Firmin said the Te Ahu o te Reo Māori created greater understanding of the Māori culture and supported teachers to use te reo Māori day-to-day in the classroom.
Firmin said he hoped to achieve “at least the beginnings of fluency”.
“I would like to be conversational... build that confidence and that quickness... [and have] an understanding of those words in a real-world context.”
Rotorua Kaitao Intermediate School deputy principal Adrian Firmin. Photo / Steven Parker
“Increase in student engagement”
PhD and clinical psychology student from the University of Otago’s Department of Psychology Yvonne Awhina Mitchell (Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Te Rangi) said she believed schools that prioritised te reo Māori would “likely [see] a subsequent increase in student engagement”.
Mitchell said the programme would “undoubtedly lead to more te re Māori use within the classroom” and a “steeper increase in educator self-reported proficiency” in the language.
“Given the recent attention [to] te reo Māori in Aotearoa, there is an increased importance in preserving, promoting, and prioritising te reo Māori wherever possible.”
PhD and clinical psychology student from The University of Otago’s Department of Psychology Yvonne Awhina Mitchell.
Ministry of Education Curriculum Centre acting hautū (leader) Pauline Cleaver said the ministry-funded initiative aimed to support the education workforce to build their confidence in using te reo Māori.
It included incorporating te reo Māori into teaching practices and programmes.
Cleaver said it aimed to grow and strengthen an educational workforce and was part of wider work to “increase the provision of te reo Māori” in early learning centres, schools, and kura.
She said schools had the option to use its operational funding to deliver the programme to upskill staff including supporting teachers.
“It is important that schools and staff members continue to learn te reo Māori, as this not only contributes to the revitalisation of te reo Māori in Aotearoa, but also supports Māori ākonga (students) to have their language, culture and identity valued by their school and teacher[s].”
Michaela Pointon is an NZME reporter based in the Bay of Plenty and was formerly a feature writer.
