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A culturally connected curriculum

This resource explores how the staff, board, and whānau at Te Kura o Hiruharama worked together to create a culturally connected curriculum.

Two traditional Māori wooden carvings.

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  • AudienceSchool leaders
  • Resource LanguageEnglish

About this resource

The E Tipu e Rea Education Partnership supported cluster workshops for principals and lead teachers to share, listen, reflect, and review their curriculum developments. There are three videos in this series exploring the review process of Te Kura o Hiruharama: 

  • Developing whānau priorities at Te Kura o Hiruharama 
  • Striving for personal excellence 
  • A culturally connected curriculum 
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    A culturally connected curriculum

    Developing whānau priorities at Te Kura o Hiruharama 

    "It's about everyone having an input on a whole. It's not just the teachers who are there; the whānau are there; we are all one unit working together, hopefully." – Parent 

    The staff, board, and whānau at Te Kura o Hiruharama went through a process to identify their priorities. This video explains the process and outcomes of this exploration and how this transferred into the life of the school. 

    Tauwhaituhi ā-kiriata
    Tauwhaituhi ā-kiriataTauwhaituhi ā-kiriata
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    These questions and suggested actions encourage you to reflect on your own school context. 

    Promoting professional conversations 

    A productive partnership in education means a two-way relationship leading to and generating shared action, outcomes, and solutions. Productive partnerships are based on mutual respect, understanding, and shared aspirations. They are formed by acknowledging, understanding, and celebrating similarities and differences. 

    A productive partnership starts with the understanding that Māori children and students are connected to whānau and should not be viewed or treated as separate, isolated, or disconnected. Parents and whānau must be involved in conversations about their children and their learning. They need accessible, evidence-based information on how to support their children’s learning. 

    Ka Hikitia – Ka Hāpaitia

    • What are the priorities of your whānau for student learning? How could you find out? 
    • In what ways are whānau involved in their children’s learning at your school? 
    • In what ways do whānau contribute to the curriculum and strategic decision-making at your school? 
    • What opportunities do whānau have to share their knowledge and expertise within your school curriculum? 
    • Can you harness community knowledge and expertise further? 
    • Once you have a relationship with whānau, how do you embed and sustain it?

    Striving for personal excellence 

    As a part of the process of community consultation, redeveloping the charter, and strategic direction of Te Kura o Hiruharama, the board made the decision to change the school's mission statement. Here, the school's principal, Sue Ngarimu-Goldsmith, explains the process and thinking behind the school's mission 'Striving for personal excellence'. 

    Tauwhaituhi ā-kiriata
    Tauwhaituhi ā-kiriataTauwhaituhi ā-kiriata
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    These questions and suggested actions encourage you to reflect on your own school context. 

    High expectations   

    The curriculum supports and empowers all students to learn and achieve personal excellence, regardless of their individual circumstances.

    The New Zealand Curriculum 2007 

    High expectations should be supported by high-quality teaching. Projects such as Te Kotahitanga show the powerful effect of high expectations when accompanied by effective teaching developed through collaborative, evidence-based, whole-school professional development (Bishop et al., 2007).

    Discuss the ways that Te Kura o Hiruharama brings the principle of high expectations to life. 

    • What do you currently do in your school that reflects the high expectations principle? 
    • What additional steps can you take to support and empower all students to achieve personal excellence? 

    A culturally connected curriculum 

    At Te Kura o Hiruharama, inquiry-based learning is aligned with the school vision statement. This video discusses how 'Hiruharamatanga' is actively incorporated into the school curriculum to ensure the localised curriculum is culturally connected. 

    Tauwhaituhi ā-kiriata
    Tauwhaituhi ā-kiriataTauwhaituhi ā-kiriata
     | 

    These questions and suggested actions encourage you to reflect on your own school context. 

    Promoting professional conversations 

    There is a strong link between well-being and achievement. Students’ well-being is strongly influenced by a clear sense of identity and access to and exposure to their own language and culture. Students do better in education when what and how they learn reflects and positively reinforces where they come from, what they value, and what they already know. Learning needs to connect with students’ existing knowledge assets and provide a foundation of knowledge on which to build and celebrate learning and success. 

    Ka Hikitia – Ka Hāpaitia

    • What might your students say if you asked them who they are and where they are from? How can you support your students to have a strong sense of themselves and their origins? 
    • How could you increase cultural connections with your local place and people? 
    • How could you increase the cultural connectivity of your school curriculum?