“We need our whānau voice, to hear from their perspective what’s working well and what’s not.”

Ange McAllister
Fairhaven School, Across-school teacher, Te Kāhui Ako ō Te Puke

In this video, Professor Mere Berryman explains what drove the development of the Rongohia te Hau survey items and how the comparisons of different perspectives of students, whānau and teachers inform teacher reflection and action.

Regardless of where a school is on their journey, the systematic use of the survey offers a rapid sounding on how teaching and learning is experienced differently by students, whānau and teachers at that time.

Whānau inform education

“Actually, the school’s going to look at those results, people are going to take responsibility to action those points and together everyone’s going to grow. And that’s come directly from whānau filling in these surveys.”

Tātai Takuira-Mita
Kaihautu Kaiwhakaako Kura Auraki, Fairhaven School
Te Kāhui Ako ō Te Puke, Across-school teacher

Addressing power imbalances

Leaders and teachers from Te Kāhui Ako o Te Puke explain the shifts they have made. They now use feedback from whānau to inform and support culturally responsive teaching and learning. These educators explain the importance of the Rongohia te Hau approach in addressing power imbalances between schools and whānau.

Inclusion

Teachers have created practical opportunities for parents to participate in the survey. Enabling all whānau to give feedback matters. Parents whose first language is Punjabi, for example, are assisted by their bilingual children to work through the survey questions so their perspectives are heard.

Educator reflections

Poutama Pounamu Expert Partner, Therese Ford, explains the role of Rongohia te Hau in focussing teacher reflections on what they have been doing and why.

Teachers are supported to discern whether their intentions are visible to their students and whether teaching practice has been effective in supporting learning.

Find out more

Rongohia te Hau is a tool that helps to build and sustain cultural relationships for responsive pedagogy in context in the here and now. See Ako: Critical contexts for change.

This video highlights the high-trust relationships that Fairhaven School in Te Puke has built with Māori whānau. Fairhaven School has addressed many common barriers to productive school-whānau partnerships through partnering, for example, with Te Iwi o Tapuika to offer the Reading Together® Te Pānui Ngātahi programme at Ngāti Moko Marae. Tātai Takuira-Mita, Kaihautu Kaiwhakaako Kura Auraki at Fairhaven School has taken a leadership role in establishing learning in te reo Māori at this English-medium primary school.

Berryman, M., & Ford, T. (2017). Culturally responsive relationships promoting partnerships between schools and indigenous Māori families and communities. In R. McNae & B Cowie (Eds.). Realising innovative partnerships in educational research: Theories and methodologies for collaboration. (pp.147-156). Rotterdam/Boston/Taipei: Sense Publishers.

Education Review Office. (2016). School Evaluation Indicators: Effective practice for improvement and learner success. Wellington: Education Review Office.
See links to School Evaluation Indicators: Domain 3: Educationally powerful connections and relationships. pp. 26 – 28.

Eley, E. (2020). Fanning the divine spark: Gaining understandings of micro-interactions in New Zealand classrooms. (Unpublished doctoral thesis). Hamilton: The University of Waikato.