Tracy Giacon (Matua Kindergarten).
Kaiako are a crucial part of the ECE environment. It is our responsibility to be knowledgeable about the identity, learning and development of tamariki through thoughtful and intentional practice. We plan and conceptualise a curriculum that grows cultural competency and diversity, giving agency to tamariki and enhancing their mana. Applying the lens of He Awa Whiria has helped the kaiako at Matua Kindergarten to braid Māori and Western knowledge in their practice.
From Hikairo Schema to He Awa Whiria
In 2021, our kaiako of Matua Kindergarten attended the Inspired Kindergartens Conference where Melissa Derby (together with Angus Macfarlane and Sonja Macfarlane) presented the Hikairo Schema – a cultural review tool. This tool really resonated with our team of ECE kaiako as at the time we had begun to explore cultural responsiveness in relation to our Philosophy kaupapa. We asked Melissa to attend our staff hui to help us delve deeper into the tool and plan how it might work for our kindergarten. During the first session, Melissa introduced us to the He Awa Whiria framework, which uses the metaphor of a braided river to illustrate the blending of Indigenous and Western bodies of knowledge. This creates an approach that is more powerful than either knowledge stream is able to produce on its own. We learnt about some of the key features of the framework, including a foundational premise that each stream has an integrity of its own, at times interacting and blending with the other, and at other times remaining apart. Like the flow of water, the He Awa Whiria framework reflects the fluid nature of knowledge and the need to constantly reflect and amend.
He Awa Whiria: a braided rivers approach (Macfarlane, Macfarlane & Gillon, 2015). The kete can represent concepts, approaches, values, research, practices and more depending on the context in which the framework is applied. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
At Matua Kindergarten, we felt excited that we could all embrace the He Awa Whiria framework to help us understand and delve deeper into the perspectives of many people. We decided that each kaiako would explore their own Inquiry topic through the lens of He Awa Whiria, considering what culture, identity, beliefs, and values mean to us and our community. Thinking in this way revealed opportunities and possibilities to look holistically at our practice through a He Awa Whiria lens and think deeply about our own cultural identity and awareness as individuals and kaiako before making change to our practice. We put the phrase ‘’we need to know ourselves well first, before we put this onto others’’ at the forefront of our thinking.
Evaluating what we were already doing
The Virtues Project has long inspired our practice and beliefs by strengthening our principle of growing the character, mana, and self-esteem of all tamariki. We had already embarked on a bicultural journey through Professional Learning with Rose Pere’s Te Wheke, Te Whatu Pōkeka and Te Pumaomao. An evaluation of our bicultural practices was our next step. Using the Hikairo Schema aspect of Huataki – The beginning – we began our evaluation. We evaluated our existing linguistic landscape by considering what language – child-speak, te reo Māori or English – we used and when. We also evaluated whether our daily routines were culturally responsive and respectful. Through this, we discovered that we already had a good integration of English and Māori waiata, books, karakia, stories and pūrākau, and wall posters depicting both languages. We found a particular strength was storytelling, which is a big part of our culture at Matua Kindergarten. In continuing our evaluation, we asked ourselves how we could improve on what we were already doing. We set up times and ways to kōrero with kaiako, whānau and tamariki, through informal discussions and hui, ensuring all voices were recorded and acknowledged, and thus reflecting our community.
What changes did He Awa Whiria bring?
We wanted to use the He Awa Whiria framework to to value and develop a local curriculum of place-based learning, rather than have a homogenised curriculum. To do this we learned the stories and whakapapa of our special places and investigated what our place means to our local community. We continued to grow our local knowledge and curriculum through exploring landmarks, history and pūrākau, recognising tangata whenua as tohunga of the whenua and learning local tikanga. We wanted to deepen our knowledge of te ao Māori so we could weave our understandings into stories that share geographical knowledge and whakapapa together with values. A folder was collated of the local stories we know and love, with examples of story scripts and table scenes we could set up to inspire tamariki. For example we wrote a story called ‘’The Beautiful Pūriri Tree’’ about the tree that became our outdoor climbing structure. All this learning about te ao Māori also led to a desire to explore where Western knowledge streams originate too. For some kaiako this began with a wondering: “where do some of my own tendencies come from?”
As individuals, as kaiako and as a kindergarten, applying a He Awa Whiria lens to our ways of teaching led to exciting and meaningful growing, discovering, deepening and questioning of our own beliefs. The He Awa Whiria lens has helped individuals to grow aware of and shift some of our own ideologies and behaviours to transform their teaching practices. Kaiako have grown to be more comfortable in sharing local pūrākau, and allowing knowledge streams to intertwine and enhance each other as we share well-known stories such as ”Lady Autumn”. We are developing a kindergarten calendar which celebrates ethnic diversity in ways that ‘teach about’ rather than ‘induct into’ cultures, something that Melissa Derby explained to us. Some other changes that have come from this growth include honouring individual tamariki potential by considering their abilities, strengths, interests; building whānau relationships; and growing cultural/ethnic identities.
Challenges we faced along the way
Applying the new approach of He Awa Whiria was not always easy and we faced some hurdles. When we began this process our Philosophy included kindness, respect, care, love and family. However, we needed to deepen this by exploring what it might look like through te kaupapa Māori. Before we could further embrace and embark on growing and facilitating cultural identities in our learning environment, kaiako and our quite diverse kindergarten community had to spend time collaboratively identifying and expanding on what we understood to be cultural identities. Although kaiako understood why they needed to be culturally responsive, they also need to know what they need to do and how to instigate particular strategies and approaches in their practice. On a personal level, I found it challenging to reflect on my own values, beliefs and routines, and ensure I am implementing both knowledge streams in my own practice.
What was helpful
Three key things have been important on this journey:
- Melissa’s mentoring conversations that explained and helped us to explore both knowledge streams were very helpful.
- Constantly returning to the thought processes of the He Awa Whiria framework helped to ensure bicultural practice.
- We identified the links to our documents that support our philosophy and practice. For example:
Our Philosophy
Whanaungatanga: Where the place of whānau and tamariki is treasured and they know they belong and have a place here. At Matua we welcome and treasure the relationships that create community. Tamariki have every opportunity to connect and engage, creating their own place, bringing who they are and where they have come from.
Wellbeing: “Managing themselves and expressing their feelings and needs | te whakahua whakairo”
Belonging: “Showing respect for kaupapa, rules and the rights of others | te mahi whakaute”
Contribution: “Recognising and appreciating their own ability to learn | te rangatiratanga”
Communication: “Enjoying hearing stories and retelling and creating them | he kōrero paki”
Exploration: “Making sense of their worlds by generating and refining working theories | te rangahau me te mātauranga”
“A co-constructed curriculum that promotes intercultural learning encourages children to be curious about the lives of others… able to experience diversity… including and responding to diverse languages and cultures of the community we show that we view cultural competency as a strength.”
“Exploring cultural contexts and methods that contribute significantly to nurturing all aspects of children’s growth and development.”
“Have high aspirations for every learner/ākonga, and support these by partnering with their whānau and communities to design and deliver education that responds to their needs, and sustains their identities, languages and cultures.”
The challenge of honouring both Māori and Pakeha wisdoms. It is not a task unique to Enviroschools but one shared by our nation.’
In conclusion, this is not the end of our journey. Just as braided rivers keep flowing, we will keep learning and improving our practice to use He Awa Whiria to the benefit of our tamariki.
Tracy Giacon is the Head Teacher at Matua Kindergarten in Tauranga, where she has worked since 1992 and as Head Teacher since 1994. She has been involved in various aspects of the early childhood sector nationally and globally. She is especially passionate about nurturing respectful and reciprocal relationships with tamariki and whānau, and creating caring environments where whānau, kaiako and tamariki can thrive.
Cover image credit: Karen Finn.
Ipu Kererū 