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Te Ao Hou, June 1960, Page 52

(Continued from page 9) Countries taking part in the seminar were Afghanistan, Australia, Canada, Cambodia, Ceylon, China, France, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaya, Nepal, Netherlands, North Borneo and Sarawak Phillipines, Singapore, Thailand, United Kingdon, United States of America, Russia, Vietnam and New Zealand, with special delegates from UNESCO and South Pacific Commission. The main purpose of the seminar was to find ways and means of so improving the content of school publications (whether textbooks or supplementary reader) as to increase the mutual appreciation of Eastern and Western cultural values. The ultimate aim of Unesco was to bring countries closer together by knowing more about each other. The conference began with a series of statements by all delegates describing briefly the systems of education in their countries, the problems they face and how they handle the textbook and supplementary readers problem. After hearing all these statements I was impressed by the following facts: (1) the importance of the English language as a means of international communication. It is taught as a second language in the great majority of Asian countries. (2) the determination of newly independent countries to introduce their national language as the teaching medium in their schools (primary, secondary and university) as soon as they could and the textbook problem associated with this. (3) the stupendous problems in many Asian countries caused by (a) rapidly increasing populations (b) a great demand for more and more education and (c) lack of adequate funds. In The Japanese delegate, Mr I. Utsumi, talking to children in the model flat, Whakarewarewa Maori School. (N.P.S. PHOTOGRAPH). South Korea there is a primary school with a roll of 8,000 pupils, which are handled in three shifts. There was tremedous interest on the part of overseas delegates, in our Maori people. They wanted to know something about our language, what it sounded like and so-on. At the Ngati Poneke concert there was great disappointment when one of our elders who stood up to greet the delegates in Maori, suddenly switched to English and incidentally embarrassed his interpreter, who was just getting into his stride. They saw something of our art and craft at the Rangiatea Church and at Otaki's well-carved house. The songs and dances they saw at performances by the Maori Club at Wellington Teachers' College and by Ngati Poneke who put on a very good show indeed. Some delegates, through their reading, had got the impression that we wear cloaks and piupiu all the time. After being a week in our country the Singapore delegate complained that he had not seen a single Maori since his arrival. I said to him, “You're talking to one.” “You!” he said, “Oh no, you're not a Maori. You don't look like one.’ “A Maori could look just like you,” I told him. “Like me?” he said, “Oh no!” It was explained to him that all he had to do was to stand at the entrance of the Midland Hotel, where the delegates were quartered, and he would see scores of Maoris mingled with the street crowds. But he hadn't seen any because he was expecting to see us clad in our ceremonial dress! And it was because of this very thing, a false idea of a country, given by textbooks, that the seminar was being held. The Nepalese delegate, who looked very much like a Maori, was greatly excited over the third embryonic eye of our ancient reptile, the tuatara. He thought there might be some connection with the Third Eye Cult in his country. This man has been trying to solve the riddle of strange unknown words appearing in ancient inscriptions recently unearthed in his country. After many discussions with the Indonesian delegate we both came to the conclusion that our two peoples must have been very closely associated in the dim past. There were far too many common words in our languages to be mere coincidence. Many of our numbers are the same as well as many other words. When he heard the Training College Maori Club performing action songs he said that if he closed his eyes he could well imagine that he was home in Indonesia, so familiar were the sounds. Some disappointment was felt by several delegates over the fact that we, the Maori people, had allowed the loss of so much of our culture and had neglected our language until it reached the present stage of threatened extinction. Our efforts to date in introducing the Maori language into our schools seemed inadequate and ineffectual.

Our “hit-or-miss” and “do-it-if-you-can” methods of teaching Maori culture in our schools also came under fire. In all they were not at all impressed with what we are doing in this country for the education of Maori children, on the traditional aspects of our culture, nor on the wider scale, of teaching the above to all New Zealand as part of New Zealand culture. What the conference etched into the minds of all was that every country had problems of education and that each was trying hard to solve them. Many practical conclusions were reached and definite proposals were made between several countries on the exchange of books, films, etc. Not least of the outcomes and results of the seminar was the making of friends on an international level. I have many friends now who are spread over a wide expanse of the world, and who have widened my own personal world over a broader horizon. An. action song for the visitors; Whakarewarewa Maori School. (N.P.S. PHOTOGRAPH).