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Cultural Relationships for Responsive Pedagogy (CR4RP)

Cultural relationships for responsive pedagogy.


Cultural relationships for responsive pedagogy.

CR4RP has been the focus for our Kaahui ako mahi, but what exactly does this mean?  To understand this first we need to look at cultural relationships on its own and then at responsive pedagogy and what this consists of.

Cultural relationships
In an education setting this challenges and changes the ‘top down’ approach to teaching which was prevalent in a ‘white stream’ school system.  Berryman, Lawrence and Lamont state that “cultural relationships require us to create spaces in which we must first listen to our students and their whanau” (p.4).  Effective relationships ensure that power is shared, individuals and their culture counts, learning is fun and interactive, connections are made and their are high expectations for achievement for all parties, in particular Māori.

Berryman, Lawrence and Lamont talk about three key aspects to cultural relationships.  I will try to explain what these are below:

Whanaungatanga - taking responsibility and care for students and treating them how you would want your own children to be treated, ensuring high expectations in terms of achievement in all areas.

Whakapapa - knowing the students, who they are and where they come from, but also knowing yourself and understanding your own culture and identity and how this impacts on your day to to day life and interactions with others.

Kaupapa - being on the same page as whanau in relation to their child's schooling, engaging in dialogue across multiple settings to ensure this plays out for the child and their whanau.

Responsive Pedagogy
Active listening is a key aspect to responsive pedagogy alongside this is effective two way dialogue.  Berryman, Lawrence and Lamont state that “dialogue within responsive pedagogy requires relationships in which risk taking is encouraged, where there is no shame in being a ‘not knower’ and where it is understood that everyone brings with them knowledge, ways of knowing and experiences of value to share” (p.5).  Responsive pedagogy entails knowing a range of different pedagogical approaches to teaching and learning and being able to select the appropriate approach to suit the students and the situations.  It entails being flexible and giving things a go and knowing that each student may require a different approach dependant on their needs.  

Berryman, Lawrence and Lamont talk about three key aspects to responsive pedagogy.  I will try to explain what these are below:

Wānanga - using your knowledge of the student to select from a range of different pedagogical approaches to personalise learning for each student.

Ako - learning from each other.  This includes learning from students and whanau and students learning from each other.

Mahi Ngātahi - is about using student voice and collaborating to achieve goals.

From the understandings I am developing around cultural relationships for responsive pedagogy I believe that relationships with students and whanau are the foundation to which we can then be responsive with the pedagogical approaches we use in our teaching and learning programmes.  It involves ensuring all parties are working to understand their cultural identities and that innovative teaching practices are applied in response to students needs.  This also asks us to look at education from a different lense, a lense which is not solely academic, one that values cultural, spiritual and physical wellbeing as well.


When doing this work and reading it reminded me of a great whakatauki… 

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