Embracing a place and space that celebrates Māori

For 22 years Kararaina Luke, of Te Atiawa and Ngāruahine i te Rangi, has been a school principal. She talks to UNICEF NZ about past, present and the future for Māori children.

Our language was dying. Our culture was dying. Generations missed out on the opportunity to speak te reo and connect with our Māori protocols. Families were fragmented and dislocated from their whānau, hapū and iwi.

In the early 80s there was a resurgence of te reo Māori which led to the evolution of Te Kōhanga Reo. Parents, families, nannies,
uncles, aunties, everyone was getting involved in this movement. It was about being Māori and it was driven by Māori. It was about the survival of our language and normalising te reo in the future.

SHELLEY KNOWLES

School principal Kararaina Luke had dream - to build a kura that was smoke-free, junk-food free, vibrant and inclusive.

Today, when you walk through the doors of our kura, at Te Ara Whanui Kura Kaupapa Māori in Alicetown, you're in the world of te reo Māori. The language that the children learn by is te reo Māori and for 25 hours a week, this is their domain.

You come into the profession because you want to make a difference to children and to society. For us as Māori, we want to be able to make a difference to our future as Māori.

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SHELLEY KNOWLES/UNICEF

Principal Kararaina Luke talks about the resurgence of Maori culture.

When we travel the world, we acknowledge and visit other indigenous cultures. We hear their language, we eat their food, we explore their customs, we listen to their music, we get excited about their religions and their buildings and we pay money to do that.

So why would we not pay the same homage in honouring what we have here in Aotearoa?

SHELLEY KNOWLES

Teachers use pipes, jandals and bits of wood, incorporating Maori myths and legends into lessons.

For Māori, we have nowhere else. This is our last bastion, and this is who we are. The kura gives our children the opportunity to be educated in te reo Māori so that they are strong in their identity.

To nurture any child is not easy and teaching is a hard road. It's a way of life, it's not a job. It can't be a job. A job is something you can leave behind.

Teaching is part of who you are. We're always under the spotlight. We're expected to be the pinnacle of society and the knowledge base of every curriculum area there is. Still, teaching and making a difference for the future generations is the reason I get up every day.

SHELLEY KNOWLES/UNCEF

Making a difference in a child's life.

I was fortunate to have the childhood I did. I woke up every morning knowing that my Māori world was there. I went to school with my cousins and the marae was at the centre of my world. To have those visual aspects of your culture available to you 24/7, normalises your identity. Particularly as a young child, you don't question your identity and your culture then becomes a strength that you draw from as an adult.

Intermediate years was a real culture shock. I had to learn French for two years and I think I spent most of my time outside the door because I couldn't understand why I had to come to a school and learn French, yet I couldn't use te reo Māori at school. I didn't want to go to France!

I started questioning the validity of the education system and becoming quite rebellious. At secondary school I was identified as one of a large group – "those Māori who were never going to make it in this world."

SHELLEY KNOWLES

To nurture any child is not easy and teaching is a hard road.

"Ok I said, I'll show you" and I became a scholar. When I first started teaching over 35 years ago I would never have dreamt that kura could exist and be what it is now.

By 1995, Kōhanga Reo had been in existence for a number of years and the movement was gaining momentum across the country. There was a meeting held for all the Kōhanga Reo in the Hutt Valley where my father - Mr Richard Luke and Nanny, Keriana Olsen, asked the question, "Shall we build a kura for our Kōhanga Reo tamariki of our rohe?"

We had a dream: to build a kura that was smoke-free, junk-food free, vibrant and inclusive.

A place for children to embrace learning in a place and space that celebrated being Māori.

At our kura, we give students a range of authentic contexts as opportunities to find success, whatever success looks like to them. Children build their reo Māori in everything they do.

Our philosophy is 'Pono ki te kaupapa, Puna ko te reo' which means: 'Be true to the kaupapa and te reo will forever flourish'.

Everyone in New Zealand has a place, a people and a history. I hope that at this kura, our tamariki can feel the depth and knowledge of their language, their tikanga and the practices of their ancestors, far into their future and their world that is yet to be designed.

This article was supplied as part of Stuff's partnership with Unicef NZ. Unicef stands up for every child so they can have a childhood. Find out more at unicef.org.nz