Living our culture in our everyday

 

E kore au e ngaro,

He kākano I ruia

Mai I Rangiātea

I will never be lost,

For I am a seed

Sown in the heavens

For all of us, as individuals, groups and nation, our culture gives us strength and direction, and as a teaching team and a learning centre it is important to acknowledge and celebrate this fact within our collective way of being and our curriculum at Mairtown Kindergarten.

Nicki Lisa Cole (2019), explains culture consists of the values, beliefs, systems of language, communication, and practices that people share in common and that can be used to define them as a collective. Culture also includes the material objects that are common to that group or society.

 As was explained in our previous blog, we have experienced lots of changes and transitions over the last year, and to a degree that is a constant process within a kindergarten, as tamariki and kaiako join us, grow and develop and then move on to pastures new. Throughout the process of change and renewal it has always been really important to hold on to the identity and culture which makes our kindergarten so special.

 

Our centre philosophy is key to expressing our centre culture, and guiding our decision making to ensure our curriculum and relationships remain authentic. Each time the teaching team changes, we review the philosophy so that we know it fits with us as individuals and collectively.

The tikanga which have always been the central pou (supporting pillars) of our cultural expression are Manaakitanga and Whanaungatanga. The Māori dictionary defines these tikanga as…

Whanaungatanga - relationship, kinship, sense of family connection - a relationship through shared experiences and working together which provides people with a sense of belonging.

Manaakitanga - hospitality, kindness, generosity, support - the process of showing respect, generosity and care for others.

                

For us, all learning begins from a place of nurturing, relationship and belonging; and recognising all tamariki bring with them their own whānau culture, knowledge and gifts which they then build on within their learning environment. We seek to promote an excitement for learning within our learning community and see play as the essential means by which tamariki explore and develop their skills, strategies and existing knowledge (Mairtown Philosophy). 

We also love to celebrate special individual milestones, birthdays with our special birthday ritual, and the time of leaving us to take the next step in learning by adorning the tamaiti with our beautiful Kahupukuwhiwhi. These Mairtown kindergarten rituals recognising the importance of these landmark events for each tamaiti, and their own important place within our kindergarten whānau.

                            

We love to recognise the mana of Te Tiriti ō Waitangi in our rituals, routines and curriculum provision. This document preserves the rights of Māori as tangata whenua of Aotearoa, and also offers those who have come to settle here since the signing of te Tiriti ō Waitangi, the ability to make this their home too and a framework within which to live respectfully.

As we express in our centre pepeha, we all come from ngā hau e whā (the four winds) to gather and learn together in the beautiful spaces we share; the kindergarten itself and our wonderful Mair Park, home of our Nature programme. Our pepeha has become a way for us to come together and understand the context we are each part of here – our geographical features, the peoples who have come before us and ourselves as a group. This is an understanding which forms the basis of our connections at kindergarten, and we are so proud to see the way our tamariki show their ownership of our pepeha, standing together to sing the words and do the actions which depict what they are describing.

                                                             

Our Morena song, mihi mo te kai (which offers gratitude for the food we have been provided with and those who have prepared it), and our mihi mo te ngahere (our nature programme greeting to the environment we are entering for the morning), are examples of ways we share our bi-cultural expression on a daily basis. 

We honour the potential which individual tamariki demonstrate within their ways of being, knowing and doing at kindergarten, qualities which demonstrate the principles of Tika; doing the right thing, Pono; being honest and truthful and Aroha; showing love and caring, with our Tui award; as these Kaupapa all strengthen their leadership and learning potential. We also celebrate our emerging leaders with our Rangitiratanga award.

Sharing kai is also something we value highly as part of our Mairtown culture; offering us opportunities to come together as a group and get to know each other better, building our sense of unity and sharing aspects of our individual cultural knowledge. We love to learn about and celebrate the diversity of cultures within our community, and it is always special to share in some way within kindergarten, a special day or event which is of cultural importance to members of our kindergarten whānau. Recently we enjoyed recognising two significant annual events for our kindergarten whānau and nation, first Waitangi Day and then the beginning of the Year of the Ox, during Chinese and Korean New Year.

 

As a teaching team we are always learning, yet always have so much still to learn every day. We are lucky to be on this special journey with so many wonderful people around us at Mairtown kindergarten, and we love the rich cultural knowledge that each tamaiti and whānau brings with them to strengthen our shared culture. Learning and growing together will surely support our tamariki to grow up strong in identity, language and culture, able to engage with new contexts, opportunities and challenges with optimism and resourcefulness (Te Whāriki, 2017).

Tangata ako ana i

To kāinga, te tūranga ki

Te marae, tau ana

A person nurtured in the

community contributes

strongly to society

Ma te wā

Anne