Te Rito Toi 7 - cultural identity, creativity, and a language aspiration for Hornby High school

I wrote previously about the opinion I have formed that for creativity to thrive, learners need to feel culturally located , they need to feel safe and strong in their sense of cultural identity. There is lots of powerful voice out there about what that mahi looks like in kura, perhaps some of the most useful and transformative is that from Anne Milne with her work captured in her writing and presentation 'Colouring in the white spaces'.

There are many ways in which we can meet this challenge. I wanted to share this assembly address that I gave to both junior and senior assemblies at the end of term 1 2021. I hope you have the patience to read to the end, it's not too long.

Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua: ‘I walk backwards into the future with my eyes fixed on my past’.

This is the title of an academic article written by Lesley Rameka, University of Waikato, New Zealand. In the Abstract she says “This whakataukī or ‘proverb’ speaks to Māori perspectives of time, where the past, the present and the future are viewed as intertwined, and life as a continuous cosmic process. Within this continuous cosmic movement, time has no restrictions – it is both past and present. The past is central to and shapes both present and future identity. From this perspective, the individual carries  their  past  into  the  future.  The  strength  of  carrying  one’s  past  into  the  future  is  that  ancestors are ever present, existing both within the spiritual realm and in the physical, alongside the  living  as  well  as  within  the  living.”

That’s quite a mouthful but it sets the scene for what I want to say today. I really believe that our language defines and captures who we are, and where we come from. It carries with it our past, our present, and our future. In Aotearoa we have three official languages: sign, English, and Te Reo. Sign, and English, are used around the world. Te Reo is not. It is unique to Aotearoa, and it is a taonga of this land. I think it is a beautiful language  .. i love hearing the language spoken, it captures my heart, even though I understand only a very little of what I hear.

What is my point? Because Te Reo Māori is one of our official languages, I ask myself this question: why don’t I hear it more often? In Canada, where there are two official languages (English and French) one hears them both depending on which province you are in. In my head it’s simple .. we haven’t yet taken the time to learn the reo, to make use of this wonderful gift that we have.

And before anyone says why would I learn Te Reo, let me say these few things. First because it is one of our three official languages in Aotearoa, Secondly, we know from imaging of the brain that when we learn a second language we actually rewire the brain, we create more connections within our brain, and that makes it easier to learn anything else. It also makes us more creative. Wait.. wut? Centre of creative excellence”? BOOM!! It doesn’t matter what language we learn, we get this same benefit. And then, once we have learned a second language it becomes easier to learn a third language, and a fourth, and so on.

And think about this. Put your hand up if you already speak a language other than English? YOU are heroes. And whatever else you do NEVER NEVER NEVER lose whatever other language or languages you speak.

I want to lay a challenge down in front of you today: I want to hear Te Reo Māori around our campus as often as I hear English. I also want to hear Tongan, Samoan, Tagalog.. I want my hearing to be battered by a rich range of languages as I walk around our kura. But I especially want to hear Te Reo Māori.

How do we start? Well we start by .. making a start. For example, I’m not sure if any of you have noticed, but I ALWAYS greet you in Te Reo. Mōrena, kia ora, ata marie, tēnā koe, whatever. That’s not a bad place to start.

So I challenge you, every one of you. Make a start, use a word or words in Te Reo, every way. Go on Youtube, ask someone, do whatever it takes, but try a new word or phrase each week.

My wondering, my hunch, is if we can foster greater creativity by supporting Te Reo Māori specifically (for the reasons I outlined to our rangatahi), and the languages that are used in homes across our community in general, in our kura.