Confederation of Principals
te-pati-maori
Tue Apr 03 2007 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Confederation of Principals
Tuesday, 3 April 2007, 4:50 pm
Speech: The Maori Party
8th World Convention of the International Confederation of Principals; ICP 2007 Convention, Aotea Centre, Auckland
Keynote Address: Tuesday 2 April 3pm Dr Pita Sharples; Co-leader of the Maori Party
‘I’m here too Sir’
I am delighted to be here, to partake of the world of knowledge which this organisation represents.
The invitation to speak to a network of over 135,000 school leaders across five continents is indeed humbling. That represents a lot of potential memberships for the Maori Party – and before there is any confusion about this matter, let me just say, we welcome you all!
I am greatly inspired by your conference theme: the leading edge – and its call to innovation, creativity and future thinking within the context of school leadership.
In the tribal territory that I come from in the midst of the Hawkes Bay there is a place which is sacred to us as the people of Ngai Te Kikiri o te Rangi of Ngâti Kahungunu.
It is known as Horehore, the location of the old pa site at Takapau. It is a very spiritual place, a place where over the years I have taken the participants of our annual taiaha wananga, up there, to feel the spirit, to sit and to reflect on the world.
As we scale the mountain to reach Horehore, I am always driven by the knowledge that our toil in our pursuit, makes the view from the top even more exhilarating.
And so, when I thought of ‘leading edge’, I think of Horehore. I think of those who have passed on before me, their knowledge, their experience, their wisdom.
Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
I think of Horehore as the repository of tribal excellence; a site rich with precedent of lessons tried and true, a place where energy can be restored and courage gathered, to explore another new frontier.
A time where the strength of our foundations can be drawn upon to provide a firm basis for innovation, creativity and future thinking.
This then, is what I think of as leading edge leadership.
Indeed, I was surprised that out of the 1600 or so delegates that were going to be here, that the Aotea Centre wasn’t brimming full with tangata whenua – with Maori educationalists, Principals, deputy Principals.
Because to be on the edge, the cutting edge, the leading edge – is something which is very much part of the Maori experience.
Being boundary riders – on the verge of two worlds – being able to access one world and others – is a special opportunity that many Maori educationalists know as part of our reality in Aotearoa.
There have been other categories and labels dreamt up – at risk, marginalisation; alienation; and initiatives conceived to ‘close the gaps’; to address the disparities.
But being on the border also creates that space and friction which can so readily become innovation and creativity.
The Bloomsbury writer, Virginia Woolf, described such a space in ‘A Room of One’s Own’ in which she referred to:
“Imaginative work... as like a spider's web, attached ever so lightly perhaps, but still attached to life at all four corners”....
The opportunity for leadership to emerge comes from a vantage point of stepping outside; of looking beyond the boundaries of one’s own experience, while knowing where the attachments exist.
In the Booker Prize Novel, the bone people, Keri Hulme also addresses this concept of the outsider/insider and how life on the periphery can create leading edge thinking.
In that novel, Joe and Kerewin, as Maori, are on the fringes of Pakeha culture; while the boy, Simon, lives in the outskirts of society because of his muteness.
Kerewin, in observing Simon as he gestures to Joe, thinks:
"You need eyes like an archerfish, able to see what happens on two planes at once. One set for watching the hands, and the other for watching whatever it is he mouths".
So what does this background – of traditional pa sites; of English and Maori literature; of my tribal history – have to do with the 8th World Convention of the International Confederation of Principals?
I would say everything – and I would hope there would be none here that would say nothing!
To be leading edge, to flirt with creativity, is to willingly suspend disbelief, to take the risk, to explore the known and unknown.
That is what we have seen in this country, with the advent of Maori immersion education through kohanga reo, kura kaupapa Maori, whare kura, wananga – literally education immersed in Maori worldviews from birth through life.
In order to think creatively, we might need to look anew at what we have taken for granted.
And in many ways, for those who have been leading the charge here in kaupapa Maori education – they have looked anew at two worlds. A world of Western educational frameworks and traditions; and the world of Matauranga Maori.
I presume that the world of Western intelligence is an area this conference is very familiar with.
The world in which Matauranga Maori emerges is through a concept of whare wananga which developed as a learning process, rather than a particular site of learning.
Maori have always embraced knowledge, and sought to acquire learning in the pursuit of growth – intellectual, cultural, spiritual, physical, emotional.
In our tribal histories it is common to refer to the sources of knowledge as the three baskets of knowledge, from the heavens.
As people of Ngati Kahungunu, we speak of: * Te kete uruuru matua: the knowledge of peace, of goodness of love; * Te kete uruuru rangi; the knowledge of prayers, of chants, of rituals; * Te kete uruuru tawhito: the knowledge of war, of agriculture, woodwork, stonework and earthwork.
Such concepts remind us of the significance of the natural world and the senses; the knowledge of intuition and cognition; the knowledge of spiritual realities.
Knowledge was passed on in a graduated process, learning becoming enrichened over the years and through succeeding generations.
At the time of signing Te Tiriti o Waitangi in 1840, our ancestors would have had the expectation that the essence of Article 2 of that Treaty, was tino rangatiratanga – that Maori communities would be entitled to continue to identify themselves, and to manage their own affairs, in accordance with Maori custom and values.
It was that call, which section 155 of the Education Act reflects, in recognising the establishment of Kura Kaupapa Maori, in which te reo Maori is the principal language of instruction.
But in signing the Treaty, our tribal leaders would also have had appreciation for Article 3, which was to enable Maori to participate in state education; indeed to enjoy the same rights and duties of citizenship as the people of England.
It is the interplay between these two Articles, which have seen Maori on the educational edge – walking between the worlds their tupuna inhabited, and the world of the British Crown.
And in thinking how that can create possibilities for excellence, I need look no further than the case of Sir Apirana Ngata; a leading statesman, politician, tribal leader, impressive school, and this country’s first Maori university graduate in 1894.
Sir Apirana Ngata left behind the following message for his mokopuna,
E tipu e rea mo nga ra o tou ao To ringa ki nga rakau a te pakeha Hei oranga mo to Tinana To ngakau ki nga taonga a o tipuna Maori Hei tikitiki mo tou mahunga To Wairua ki te Atua Nana nei nga mea katoa
Grow up o tender youth in days of your life With your hands grasp the tools of the Pakeha to sustain your material wellbeing Your heart to the treasures of your ancestors as a plume for your head. Your spirit to god the creator of all things.
This passage is often quoted to illustrate the readiness of Maori to acquire the knowledge of other cultures, in order to walk confidently in the constantly changing environment; as well as remaining firmly grounded in the wisdom and learnings of their own traditions and worldviews.
It was a lesson that Sir Apirana himself, was schooled in from an early age. His father, Paratene Ngata and his granduncle, Ropata Wahawaha, insisted that he be nurtured in things Maori, but also that he be educated in the learning and skills of the Pakeha.
It was the edge between the two worlds that was the constant focus of his elders. So when the boy, Apirana, was excelling in a classical education of French, Greek and Latin at Te Aute College; his old people removed him to take him back home to enhance his knowledge of the Maori ways; to inculcate him in nga taonga Maori.
It saddens me today, in our contemporary climate, when I see the Government of this land, arbitrarily making decisions such as refusing to allow more than five kura kaupapa Maori a year to be established – despite the call for more– or making wide ranging decisions such as removing the Treaty of Waitangi from the school curriculum.
And I think back to Sir Apirana, and the courage his old people took in taking care that the schoolboy had access to different worlds, taking the risk for the betterment of their future.
In constraining the capacity of kura to be developed, the Government has yet to truly face up to the challenge that 91% of Maori children remain in general education.
Last week a report came out, describing the situation for Maori students in general education, in which teachers spoke of having little hope and low expectations of being able to make a difference for Maori students.
The scoping report for Te Kotahitanga describes the situation in the following ways:
“This deficit theorising by teachers is the major impediment to Maori students’ educational achievement for it results in teachers having low expectations of Maori students. This is turn creates a downward spiralling, self-fulfilling prophecy of Maori student achievement and failure”. Along with this report, is a dismal catalogue of statistics which include that
* the proportion of our Maori students who leave school with qualifications higher than level one, is up to thirty percentage points behind other students;
* that Maori are disproportionately represented in suspension, truancy and expulsion statistics;
* all which lead to the fact that Maori students are participating in the lower levels of tertiary education; (sub-degree qualifications) rather than at bachelor and post-graduate levels. And yet what we also know is that in 2005, Maori students in year 11, who attended schools where teaching was in te reo Maori for between 51 to 100% of the time, had a higher rate of attaining National Certificate of Educational Achievement qualifications than Maori in other schools. I want to return to this notion of the boundary rider - the freedom and opportunity provided by taking the risk of having your feet planted in different worlds. I was struck by a saying of a Seneca orator and political leader, born into the Wolf clan, of the Six nations of the Iroquois, Segoyewatha.
He said,
“It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult”. I hope in this wonderful opportunity that you all have to share time together, to discuss professional development, to massage your networks; you consider issues of leadership, that you may take time, that you may dare to listen to the voice calling, “I’m here too, Sir”.
It may be a voice in another language; it may be a voice that is muted and at risk of not being heard; but it will be a voice that is as capable of innovation; of creativity; of futures thinking as any other call in your classroom. All that it takes is to listen for it.
ENDS
Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
a.supporter:hover {background:#EC4438!important;} @media screen and (max-width: 480px) { #byline-block div.byline-block {padding-right:16px;}}
Using Scoop for work?
Scoop is free for personal use, but you’ll need a licence for work use. This is part of our Ethical Paywall and how we fund Scoop. Join today with plans starting from less than $3 per week, plus gain access to exclusive Pro features.
Join Pro Individual Find out more
Find more from The Maori Party on InfoPages.