Reflection - Te Reo 2016

This year I've embarked on my own Maori Te Reo learning journey. Since the beginning of the year our school have put more emphasis into ensuring that students have greater exposure to learning Te Reo. As I am not from New Zealand I can say that I had felt like I had not mastered even the basics of the language myself. Therefore, this year I have embarked on my own learning journey to improve my pronunciation and to bring te reo more into my classroom. 

In my classroom, we begin the day with 15 mins of te reo and then have a half hour lesson every Friday. So far it has been an interesting journey and a great learning opportunity. I enjoy learning more about both the Maori language and customs. I have written and published my own mihi and used it as a teaching model for my students. Since then all of my students have put time into completing their own mihi's and publishing and illustrating these.

I need to keep the model sentences on display more for myself than for the students! In my class I have two Maori students and they also have a very minimal knowledge of te reo.  There are noticeable improvements in my students te reo knowledge this year compared to previous years. I can see the importance of my role as the teacher to make this part of our learning. My enthusiasm counteracts the otherwise disinterested attitude which many students have brought with them from home.

Building my own knowledge of Te Reo, has given me greater confidence to teach it. The greater emphasis on teaching tikanga and Te Reo to students also helps to show that I respect Maori language, culture and heritage; therefore so should our tamariki. This supports me to build relationships with akonga and whanau.

Next steps
I plan to introduce some whakatauki (proverbs) into our discussions and classroom display.