Our Session with Rhonda

Rhonda is a figure in our school whose expertise includes teaching based on the Maori culture and catering for Maori learners.

We had the opportunity to be her students one afternoon. Here is what I got from the experience:

I liked that she focused on the idea that a student must like you, in order to learn from you. I believe that in my practice I place huge emphasis on building a rapport and I feel that I get the best out of my students when they are enjoying what they are doing. I also like to focus on the positive. I felt that, with her analogy of gardening, she highlighted the importance of the role of the teacher; someone more than a giver of content but a person that develops many aspects of learning including moral integrity. The idea is that you are growing them.

I thought it was interesting how she considered bodily kinaesthetic learners. I'm lucky in that many of my (technology) classes are energetic and that they use their knowledge and skills to produce something beautiful. I find that some students that perhaps struggle with 'academic' subjects can use my space to shine. I have however thought about my practice and reflected on how I can cater for more of the intelligences in my teaching.

I like the idea of capturing thoughts (not thinking in a linear way). I offer a range of avenues to learn, gather and present information, in which the student can choose what suits them. I always aim to learn new things and by doing that I can empathise better with my learners. Of course this can only happen to a certain extent because of my age, culture and own learning experiences. It was useful to know that in general, Maori learners don't always like to ask questions. I can now be mindful of this.

She shared with us a number of pedagogies such as Heutagogy, Andogogy, Gamefication. I still need to really figure out what each one is about.

I think it is really important for all teachers to have exposure to the knowledge Rhonda had to offer. I would also like to find out more about different cultures and the values they hold and ways in which they learn.

The things that I really liked were the interactions we shared and the opportunity to be a student using movement and motion in learning. I also liked the indigenous vocabulary and rituals intertwined into the lesson.

#TeTiritioWaitangipartnership #Professionallearning