Names a top priority, says head

Students are happy to help teachers who struggle to pronounce Maori names, a Wanganui principal says.

City College head Peter Kaua said two thirds of his students were Maori, which meant teachers had to familiarise themselves with te reo names.

Mr Hodgkinson's comments follow Education Minister Hekia Parata's rebuke for teachers who mispronounce names of Maori and Pasifika pupils.

Mrs Parata spoke out as she addressed more than 100 educators at the Post Primary Teachers' Association (PPTA) conference in Wellington yesterday.

"It starts with pronouncing names correctly," she told them. "It's one of the most common things I hear [from] focus groups with Maori and Pasifika kids."

Mr Kaua said all teachers at City College understood the importance of getting all names right, not just Maori ones.

"Our teachers are really on board with making sure they get the name right. They ask the others [staff members] or the kids if they don't know," he said.

PPTA president Robin Duff said many in the crowd were stunned by Ms Parata's reference to names, which came about halfway through her speech.

"It wasn't too bad up until then. Those who reacted ... were actually more alarmed by what they considered to be ... increasing evidence of the inability of the minister to be in touch with reality."

Mr Duff, principal of Burnside High in Christchurch, said teachers often went the extra mile to ensure that names were pronounced properly.

Mentors co-ordinate with student teachers in their first year of work to help with the pronunciation of pupils' names.

"Most commonly, schools today [also] have an elder or kaumatua ... who is able to specialise in that area.

"It's pretty basic teaching that if you're going to work with a student and you want the best from them, an inability to pronounce their name ... repeatedly is hardly conducive to a good learning environment."

The Maori Language Commission says the mispronunciation of names often has a long-lasting impact on people.

"We've had many comments and stories from people of all ages about the impact of mispronunciation of their names in schools and in a wider context," said chief executive Glenis Philip-Barbara.

"So I was very pleased to hear Minister Parata raising this as an issue."

And while efforts around pronunciation had improved over the years, a lot more work was needed, Ms Philip-Barbara said.

"For every one teacher who will take the time to try and make the effort, there are many more teachers - who for a whole complicated measure of reasons - don't make that level of effort.

"And we're not just talking about people's names but also place names and the importance of pronouncing those correctly." APNZ