Activities 9 : Evaluations of the cultural responsiveness in practice

Gisborne Intermediate School is now made up of over 50% Maori so it is important for our school to provide a culturally responsive programme that not only matches the makeup of the student population but also that of the community. Over the past five years we have been working hard on addressing the disparities between Maori student achievement and that of non maori. We have been upskilling our staff in the Tataiako and Ka Hikitia competencies and are fully aware that this is a continual journey. Our school has made great improvements with 

1: Whanau Engagement - Senior Management set expectations for all teachers to be in regular contact with our class whanau to celebrate and inform them of what goes on in the classroom. A next step is to regularly engage them in feedback and with the recent whole staff advancement in using Google Forms this should become a normal occurrence.

2: Prevalence of Te Reo and Tikanga in classrooms. Staff have undertaken PD in Tataiako, Ka Hikitia and Te Reo lessons using outside providers such as Ako Panuku, Core Education and inside support as well. The outcome is that staff feel more confident and each syndicate has at least one team member available to assist in these areas.

Although progress has been made over the last 5 years we were not happy with the data and the amount of students who were still not achieving at the expected level so in 2016 we are having a pilot syndicate that hopes to close the gaps by teaching through tikanga and te ao maori. We completed additional background research whilst completing our DCL and LDC assignments and these proved vital to our proposal being accepted. One of the standout comments I have taken from this research comes from Sir Russell Bishop who states that what works for Maori will work for others but what works for others will not work for Maori. This statement along with the principles from Mason Durie's whare tapa wha model, te taha hinengaro, te taha whanau, te taha wairua and te taha tinana ensures we are teaching the whole child and are likely to achieve more success. I believe by following these principles will make a difference for all students regardless of their cultures and to me that is what being a culturally responsive teacher is all about.

How does Gisborne Intermediate ensure we are culturally responsive?

Goals 

• Our target groups for numeracy in 2014 were Maori students who were below the standard.
• In 2016 we aim to address and improve all statistics (Truancy, self harm, achievement) through our pilot sydnicate that will teach through tikanga and te ao Maori,

Communication methods

• Staff are expected to make contact with all whanau within the first few weeks of the year. Staff are then expected to regularly communicate with classroom whanau. Many classes have established class blogs in 2015 which not only communicate class information and celebrations but these also have links to their children's blogs so they can share in their learning. We have a regularly updated school Facebook page and weekly newsletters are shared with whanau too. A number of consultation surveys have been distributed this year and next year I can see our school using Google Forms more effectively to gather regular whanau and student voice. I also see teachers using Google Forms more for assessment purposes with their students. We know that the partnership between home and school is vital. 

Planning and assessment

• We have target groups to ensure that teachers place special focus to the students within these groups. 
• Our whole staff PD with Maths expert Charlotte Wilkinson was based around providing real life problems for our students. Classroom observations showed that this was successful with our target groups.
• Our 2016 pilot syndicate will become an onsite model of best practice for culturally responsive teaching so it is hoped that this practice will continue to filter throughout the school. 

Learning activities

• Our school prides itself on the number of opportunities available to our students. Staff work during their own time to provide activities such as drama, whaikorero, kapa haka extension, Japanese, pasifika, te reo, 40+ sports and debating to name a few. Whatever one's 'culture' is can be celebrated at Gisborne Intermediate. 

School-wide activities

• Five years ago we made the move to making whole school kapa haka compulsory as we wanted our whole school to be able to participate in powhiri together. Every year we are one of the only schools to perform together at the Turanganui Schools Kapa Haka Festival. 

References

Bishop, Russell, Berryman, Mere, Wearmouth, Janice, Peter, Mira, & Clapham, Sandra. (2012). Professional Development, Changes in Teacher Practice and Improvements in Indigenous Students' Educational Performance: A Case Study from New Zealand. Teaching and Teacher Education: An International Journal of Research and Studies, 28(5), 694-705.

Bishop, Russell, Berryman, Mere, Cavanagh, Tom, & Teddy, Lani. (2009). Te Kotahitanga: Addressing Educational Disparities Facing Maori Students in New Zealand. Teaching and Teacher Education: An International Journal of Research and Studies, 25(5), 734-742.

Kerryn Pollock. 'Public health - Social and ethnic 

inequalities', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New 

Zealand, updated 23-Dec-14 

 http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/diagram/31387/maori-

health-te-whare-tapa-wha-model