Indigenous Knowledge & Blue Mink (1969)

 Miessler (2008)

What we need is a great big melting pot

Big enough to take the world and all it’s got

And keep it stirring for a hundred years or more

And turn out coffee coloured people by the score

Blue Mink (1969)

Ah the late 60’s and early 70’s when the Melting Pot Theory was proposed as a somewhat naïve utopian way of removing division as a result of difference.  If everyone was the same and treated the same then there would be no conflict.  However, the subtext to that idea was everyone had to adhere to the dominant White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) paradigm.  My how things have changed.  Diversity is celebrated.  Viewpoints outside the dominant culture have challenged the status quo and become increasingly acknowledged in education and integrated into current practice.  Indigenous knowledge in New Zealand has transformed practice over the last decade by challenging the view that everyone is the same, and one size fits all in education.  Indeed, New Zealand is seen as a model of how a willingness to engage with indigenous knowledge has led to a “humanizing” and “holistic” view of education (Fickel, Angel, Macfarlane & Hikairo, 2017, p.45).

Back in 1988 when I was at Teacher’s College in Christchurch I recall our tutor telling us that you may have the subject knowledge, skills, and piece of paper to say you are a teacher, but if you cannot establish relationships with your students, it counts for nothing.  It seemed at the time like common sense, yet common sense for a few people does not necessarily bring about a meaningful change in practice.  I would take a series of highly influential pieces of Kaupapa Maori research to move the importance of relationships in student achievement (and Maori achievement in particular) from “common-sense” to research informed practice.  At the centre of initiatives such as Te Kotahitanga, He Kakano, and Kia Eke Panuku is indigenous knowledge and the importance of indigenous knowledge, and the cross cultural benefits of indigenous knowledge.

Durie (2004) informs us that indigenous knowledge, “the categorisation of life experiences, and the shaping of attitudes and patterns of thinking” (p.1139).  Further, within Maori culture, whakapapa (relationships), “form the substrate for indigenous knowledge” (p.1139) as a collective good, an integral part of the social and physical environment, and creates dynamism within a society.  This is echoed at a later date by Te Huia (2014) who points out that Maori connectedness/whakapapa is difficult if the individual is not, “embedded within a set of culturally affirming relationships, or if the individual is not supported to create connections within their culture” (p.238).  Durie (2004) concludes by lamenting the fact that there is a perception that indigenous knowledge is rooted in the distant past and as such has not relevance in the present.  This view misses the point of indigenous knowledge.  Indigenous knowledge by necessity is creative and innovative and creativity and innovation are relevant contexts regardless of the historical context.  This later view dismissing indigenous knowledge as irrelevant is referred to by Te Huia (2014, p.236) as “sanctioned ignorance theory”.  That is, an acceptance by the mainstream that particular sets of knowledge can be ignored.  Given the nature of the Te Huia’s article, this could include indigenous knowledge.

You know you lump it all together
And you got a recipe for a get along scene
Oh what a beautiful dream
If it could only come true, you know, you know

Stewart (2016) writes that from Te Kotahitanga, the central issue of deficit theory or deficit thinking was brought to the fore and challenging teachers to reflect on their views and prejudices within the classroom (or wider school).  Deficit theorising is based on the assumption that teachers have ideologies about Maori which are used to ‘explain’ poor Maori achievement.  In effect, it is an approach that looks to absolve the teacher of responsibility for poor Maori achievement by laying the blame at Maori themselves (both individually and collectively).  It is based in ideologies around socioeconomic status, inter-generational distrust of education, and an inability to integrate/assimilate into the dominant European culture.  It may be a very confronting viewpoint, but if we are truly reflective and honest with ourselves, we all harbour ideologies around certain groups of students, cultures etc. (consciously or unconsciously).  By way of example consider the following as examples of deficit theorising or cultural assumptions:

1. Asian students do better than all other students at school because they have a better work ethic.

2. Girls are better than boys at internal assessment.

3. Top band/streamed students are best in classes of their own so they can maximise their potential.

4. Streaming and banding in schools…period.

Through initiatives such as Te Kotahitanga, He Kakano, and Kia Eke Panuku, schools have arrived at a place where culturally responsive practice is a lens through which schools view the programmes, policies, goals, initiatives, and the like, they implement.  It is best expressed by asking ourselves, “Does this promote equity, excellence and belonging for all learners/akonga?”  Ongoing professional development continues to challenge the lenses through which we view school practice (Bishop & Berryman, 2010).  Bishop, Berryman, Cavanagh & Teddy (2009) note that culturally responsive practice is a shift from a teacher-centric transmission of knowledge approach, to one where the, “learners own culture is central to their learning capacities” (p.8).  This helps make meaning through a personal connection to their learning and its impact on them.  In effect, it is co-constructed/collaborative learning rather than a one-way transmission model. It consists of four key strands:

1. Ako – Practice in the classroom

2. Manaakitanga – Values

3. Tangata Whenuatanga – Socio-cultural awareness

4. Wananga – Participating with learners and communities

In my personal practice, I spent time at the start of the year doing something called “getting to know your learner”.  Here, students fill out a form on which they write down their personal goal(s) for the  year in my subject, ways they like to learn (or not learn), personal sporting interests (it is PE after all), and anything else they would like me to know about them.  The wealth of information that comes from this means I am able to weave their interests throughout what we do.  I can ask them topic specific questions related to their interests so they concretise theory into practice.  It is such a simple thing to do yet it gives me an insight into their expectations and interests, and, hopefully, they feel like they are contributing to their own learning and that of others through shared experiences.  

In conclusion, the Melting Pot song was from a particular point in time when the solution was the remove of difference (as divisive) by stripping away all cultural, racial, religious and geopolitical differences and getting back to what it was to be human.  However, we have now moved to a place where cultural, racial and religious differences are more widely accepted because they provide us with different points of view on the world.  Indigenous knowledge continues to permeate the research and provide us with a world view that challenges both our thinking and practice.  One size does not fit all.  It is the very acceptance of difference that humanises us.

But we still have such a long way to go.

References:

Bishop, R., & Berryman, M. (2010). Te Kotahitanga: culturally responsive professional development for teachers. Teacher Development, 14(2), 173–187. https://doi.org/10.1080/13664530.2010.494497

Bishop, R., Berryman, M., Cavanagh, T., & Teddy, L. (2009). Te Kotahitanga: Addressing educational disparities facing Māori students in New Zealand. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25(5), 734–742. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2009.01.009

Blue Mink - Melting Pot Lyrics | SongMeanings. (2018). SongMeanings. Retrieved 1 March 2018, from http://songmeanings.com/songs/view/3530

Fickel, L. H., Angel, M. N., Macfarlane, S., & Hikairo, A. (2017). Humanizing Secondary School Contexts: Learning From Aotearoa New Zealand and Peru. Knowledge Cultures, 5(6), 45–66.

I’m still in New Zealand after four years. Here’s why. | Cultural Connections. (2018). Culturalconnections.co.nz. Retrieved 2 March 2018, from https://www.culturalconnections.co.nz/im-still-in-new-zealand-after-four-years-heres-why/

Miessler, D. (2008). Thoughts on the "Melting Pot" Metaphor. Retrieved 11 March 2018, from https://danielmiessler.com/blog/thoughts-on-the-melting-pot-metaphor/

Te Huia, A. (2014). Indigenous Culture and Society: Creating Space for Indigenous Māori Cultural and Linguistic Development within a Discriminatory Post-colonial Society. Psychology and Developing Societies, 26(2), 233–261. https://doi.org/10.1177/0971333614549142

Stewart, G. (2016). Indigenous knowledge and education policy for teachers of Maori learners. Knowledge Cultures, 4(3), 84–99. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.libproxy.unitec.ac.nz/ps/i.do?&id=GALE%7CA458164603&v=2.1&u=per_unit&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&authCount=1