Nga waariu e pa ana ki te kaupapa o te wharekura The place of Maori values in the school

Tu Tangata, Issue 14, 1 October 1983, Page 20

Nga waariu e pa ana kite kaupapa o te wharekura The place of Maori values in the school

“Enhancing the learning through enhancing the environment,” is how Wellington High School principal, Turoa Royal described maoritanga to the school-teachers gathered on the marae. Pointing out that the ideal set-up is for a school to be centred on the children, not the staff, school buildings or curriculum. In that way, he said, the children get a lot more benefit from school and the sharing of knowledge became easier all round. Another principal, Dick Grace of Titahi Bay Intermediate, said incorporating values such as whanaungatanga and aroha not only gave a big lift to the successful running of the school, but also were the values New Zealand society was acknowledged as needing most. By instilling those values in the education system, schools would be backing up the base of society, the family. Dick pointed out that Maori people didn’t have the copyright on those

values, as love respect and compassion were universal values. Values, he said, which are sometimes overlooked in the rush and bustle to educate our young. He had many interesting slides and charts showing how Titahi Bay Intermediate was organised to give teachers a greater chance to realise their potential and for pupils to share in the de-cision-making and sense of family. Just how the teachers gathered on the marae, took the input wasn’t obvious, apart from the uncharacteristic silence which greeted the speakers. Days like this of in-service training for teachers may bear fruit later in the season, but the value to our children is great, because the custodians of our children see and feel first-hand what a living marae is about and what it has to offer. They then have a base on which to decide the extent of any changes they wish to make in their own school. Ki nga hoa ma e mau tonu i tenei mahi, tena koutou.