Exploring the resources to learn more about engaging Māori students meaningfully in the learning process

Pedagogy designed to engage Māori students meaningfully in their learning is demonstrated across the resources, especially Te Mana Kōrero 2 and the Taihape Area School Case Study. School leaders and teachers can identify examples of teachers engaging Māori students meaningfully in their learning, explore what this looks like in action, consider what teachers have done to initiate these examples, and analyse how they enhance student achievement. This will be a way into inquiring how they engage their Māori students meaningfully in their learning.

To help the facilitator, some of the information and ideas that the group could identify and/or discuss when exploring the questions are suggested below.

Engaging students through a range of strategies

Te Mana Kōrero 1

• What examples of students being fully and meaningfully engaged in learning tasks can you identify?

[Rotorua Lakes High School: in the maths classroom, in the science classroom, in the writing classroom; Pakaraka School: during the reading lesson]

• What curriculum areas does this happen in?

[Maths, science, reading, written language]

• What do these examples look like? Think particularly about students co-constructing learning with their teacher, working in co-operative groups, and working through problem-solving. What is happening in them from both the students’ and the teachers’ perspectives? How does this enhance student engagement?

[Rotorua Lakes High School: maths and science – students are problem-solving in
co-operative groups, they are helping each other solve the problems, teachers rove from group to group challenging students through questioning and requiring them to ‘think deeper’ about the learning process, e.g., “Could you teach me how to do it?”, writing – students are totally engaged through story-telling and relevance of work to the local context and their own lives; Pakaraka School: reading lesson – teacher is
co-constructing how to comprehend texts effectively with students, she has shared assessment information with them and set learning intentions with them, students can now articulate what they have learned against the learning intentions.]

• What and how have teachers learnt about how to foster student engagement in the learning process?

[They appear to have learnt, through professional development, how to co-construct learning with students, use learning contexts that motivate students, and foster co-operative and problem-solving approaches to learning with students.]

• What appear to be the advantages of fostering engagement in the learning process for:
  students?

[Students are more motivated and more closely involved in the learning process, more aware of the need to take ownership of their own learning and some responsibility for meeting their learning needs, eager to achieve as they become aware of their learning needs.]

• teachers?

[Teachers can give more attention to individual needs as they rove (note student comment that “teacher helps individuals but helps class as a whole at the same time”) and can play the role of facilitator more than instructor, can challenge learning at a deeper level.]

Linking learning with students’ prior knowledge

Te Mana Kōrero 2

• What examples can you identify of teachers using students’ prior knowledge and local community contexts meaningfully?

[Waitara School: students make panels that represent ideas and incidents from their own lives – note teacher comment: “when they talked about them, they knew what they were talking about because it was relevant to them and their own lives”; Greymouth High School: students developed a multi-media production around a legend that was important to their community (“I knew the story was special and it belonged to the West Coast. We had something very very special and this gave us a responsibility. It wasn’t just about entertainment – it was about respecting something. If you didn’t, you were going to let everyone down” and “the story was really close to me because I’m from South Westland and there aren’t many stories left from our hapū.”]

• How do these teachers use students’ prior knowledge and local community contexts meaningfully?

[By including prior knowledge of local community contexts as the basis of skills-based programmes, e.g., being able to develop confidence and clarity as a speaker about ideas and incidents from your own life]

• How do these teachers set about making learning tasks relevant for students?

[By getting to know students’ backgrounds and interests and thinking laterally and creatively how they could be linked to the learning process, e.g., selecting a theme for a school production that links with students’ own lives]

• What do teachers need to know about students in order to enable them to use their prior knowledge meaningfully within the learning process? How would teachers get this information?

[They would need to know students’ social, cultural, and learning backgrounds and experiences. They could get this information primarily through talking with the student and their whānau, their friends, and previous or other teachers.]

• What would teachers need to know about the local community context if they are to use this knowledge meaningfully within the learning process? How might they get this information?

[They would need to know something of its history and geography from different cultural perspectives, the people who play important roles in it, and its current, political, social, economic, and leisure features. They could get this information through reading and observation but primarily through talking with key community members and elders.]

• What might be the advantages of using students’ prior knowledge and local community contexts within the learning process?

[Students’ learning from their previous experiences can be extended and made relevant to their own lives, their engagement in learning can become stronger, their self-efficacy can be enhanced, and their achievement levels can be raised.]

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