Building, maintaining, and using responsive and respectful partnerships

Just as teacher-student partnerships need to be culturally-responsive and mutually-respectful, so do the partnerships between school, whānau and iwi.

Robinson et al (2009) highlight the importance of the people in the partnership working together. This links to the concept of ako, where people learn from each other and value each other's contributions.

Māori researchers (Bishop, Berryman & Tiakiwai 2003) suggest that it is easier for whānau/iwi to get involved in their children's learning if they can relate to the kaupapa at hand. That way, they can help their tamariki at home.

Questions / Things to think about / Activities

1. In our classrooms/learning areas, how could we incorporate a local community context in a meaningful way, in order to engage Māori students and their whānau, to make the teaching and learning process more relevant?
2. What could be some of the barriers to overcome in setting up an effective home-school partnership? Examples might include parents’ own negative experiences at school; teachers’ beliefs that school is their domain; extra time and energy involved; inability of teachers to plan work that has another world view/cultural lens. What strategies will we use to address these barriers?