Week 8 - Activism

Until doing this paper, I hadn’t really given much thought into the origins of our education system in Aotearoa. I suppose I just accepted it for what it was. In the last module I reflected on the colonisation of Māori and how there was an expectation by the Crown and British settlers that they would assimilate into European ways, because that was the ‘best’ way to do things. Settlers who came to Aotearoa had been heavily interpellated into a class system and wanted that system to be replicated in their new colony, including the education system. 


Our current education system is modelled on a traditional western society, it perpetuates the concept that there is a required and desired ‘normality’. Schools reproduce “a set of universals that articulate and normalise one way of being” (Ball & Collet-Sabé, 2021, p. 6). That ‘way of being’ allows the government and wider society to retain power and control through pushing their own agendas in classrooms. While critical thinking is one of the values listed in the New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007), critical thinkers are not exactly conducive to the power structure of society. Everyday practices within schools and classrooms interpellate tamariki over time without it seeming like massive indoctrination in one go. As Backer (2018) puts it, “interpellations are therefore small moments with big meanings” (p. 5).


It is hard to be sitting within the education system and see genuine possibilities for change when the mountain seems to be so big. Simply modifying what we currently have will not be sufficient. That is not transformative, not a true counterinterpellation. However, if we as educators and change makers do start to counter-act or counterinterpellate those small moments with big meanings then the transformation begins. While small moments of activism seem like just a drop in the bucket, it is these small moments that can change the tide. 


I remember when National Standards were introduced and I was asked to tell whānau that after six months at school their tamariki were 'below' expectation. I outright refused and instead talked to whānau about the progress those ākonga had made since they started school, recognising that they were all individuals who were developing and learning at different rates having started at different stages. Until now I hadn't thought of this as activism but can now see this was a process of interpellation that I was rebelling against. The government was telling kaiako that this was the way things needed to be done and kaiako were in turn telling whānau. I would like to think that the removal of National Standards also removed that insistence of creating an "institution of normalisation" (Ball & Collet-Sabé, 2021, p. 3) but sadly I don't believe that at all.


References:


Backer, D. I. (2018). Interpellation, Counter-interpellation, and Education. Critical Education, 9(12), 1-21. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M6VD6P449 

Ball, S., & Collet-Sabé, J. (2021). Against school: an epistemological critique. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2021.1947780 

Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum. Learning Media.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 1 - Identity

  Narrative identity as described by McAdams (2011), is the internal sense of self that makes sense of your life, justifies who you are and where you might be going. It is shaped by the encounters and events throughout your life and can change over time dependent on those. Changes in narrative identity occur naturally through developmental phases as we age or through specific events. Early drafts of personal identity are more mythical or can be grandiose but get grounded in reality as people reach adulthood. During later life narrative identity takes on a softer glow as life stories become more general with less emphasis on specific events (McAdams, 2011) Negative experiences can sometimes lead to a redemptive change of narrative where people go through a process of altering their own narrative identity after a period of atonement or recovery. While narrative identity is an internal discourse it can also be affected by social elements leading to a performance of narrative identity ...
Read more

Week 11 - Mātauranga Māori and Indigenous Knowledge Systems

Building on from last week's mahi, I was particularly struck by the explanations around Mātauranga Māori existing in the past, present and future. This to me was a key way to highlight the ongoing relevance and importance of this knowledge system and how to effectively incorporate it into teaching and learning. Science Hub (2023) explained this as the knowledge from the past being used today and into the future. The knowledge system is continually being adapted to new contexts, scenarios and problems to allow for new discoveries and innovative ideas and practices (Varghese & Crawford, 2021, as cited in Science Hub, 2023). Knowledge passed down through generations and interpreted in different ways according to how you want to apply it (Science Hub, 2019), changing over time.  Incorporating Mātauranga Māori into teaching and learning requires the understanding that it is a completely separate system to others and that while differing knowledge systems may compliment each other, t...
Read more

Week 12 - Assignment 2: Ka Mua Ka Muri

Ka Mua Ka Muri   Ka mua, ka muri: walking into the future by looking back. To truly transform education in a neo-colonial settler society, there must be a clear understanding that the “past, present and future co-exist and are inherently tethered through ancestry and action” (Gray, 2024, para. 2). It requires the ability to look to the past to inform the future. Transformation requires the conscientisation of the entire population, not just the indigenous population, with a critical reflection of how identity shapes and steers individuals and society. A comprehensive understanding of the indigenous culture of Aotearoa and recognising the similarities and differences between euro-centric and indigenous knowledge systems. An honourable engagement with Te Tiriti and what promises that provided for Māori. There is a need to recognise the power that policy and legislation hold and how education can be seen as a possible change agent. I will discuss the themes and key concepts of t...
Read more