Te Whai Hiringa Peterhead students Oaklyn, Te Aaio and Mahia practising a pōhiri with their marae as part of their play-based learning. Photo / Supplied
Te Whai Hiringa Peterhead students Oaklyn, Te Aaio and Mahia practising a pōhiri with their marae as part of their play-based learning. Photo / Supplied
A groundbreaking plan to indigenise play to help learning at a Flaxmere primary school is set to be supported by a $200,000 grant.
Te Whai Hiringa Peterhead is one of three in New Zealand to get $200,000 to develop te ao Māori activities that will help its pupils learn.
The New Zealand Council for Educational Research, Ranagahau Mātauranga o Aotearoa, will administer the Teaching and Learning Research Initiative fund to help the school develop and implement an indigenised framework for play in a primary school.
Tineka Tuala-Fata, who will be Peterhead principal in 2023, said it was a big win.
“Play pedagogy has been identified as a useful approach for ākonga (students) and whānau as they transition to school,” she said.
With little Aotearoa New Zealand research available addressing the position of play within a culturally sustaining approach to teaching, this project aims to identify how play can be used to foster the school’s values manaakitanga, whanaungatanga, māramatanga and honour the goals of mana whenua - whānau, hapū, and iwi.
Te Whai Hiringa Peterhead students Constance, Layla, Mareikura and Te Aaio pretending to be Mr Genet at assemblies giving out awards. Photo / Supplied
To be considered for the play-based learning research grant, the school has gone through months of rigorous processes, from putting in an expression of interest proposal for the initial round, making the shortlist, and then completing a full proposal.
The proposal was completed by lead investigator Dr Sarah Aiono from Longworth education, guided by Massey University’s Dr Tara McLaughlin and Tuala-Fata, under the guidance of Dr Jeremy Tatere MacLeod and Pouahrea Hawira Hawea to ensure the te ao Maori process, reo and tikanga was right.
“The research is won on its merits and is unique in terms of research about indigenising play,” Tuala-Fata said.
She said Te Whai Hiringa Peterhead School was excited to embark on its journey with Longworth Education and Ngāti Kahungunu.
Te Whai Hiringa Peterhead’s New Entrant class, He Kupenga enjoying the balloons from former principal Mr Genet’s Farewell. Photo / Supplied
“Together, we will work together towards affirming the goals of the Ngati Kahungunu education plan. Utilising te reo Māori me ona tikanga to underpin the Mā te tākaro ka ako - Learning through play approach.”
Dr Aiono from Longworth said research of this kind had not been conducted in this way in Aotearoa New Zealand before.
“It is timely that we examine and understand play through the lens of te ao Māori and develop a framework that reflects an indigenous and relevant understanding of play in the Aotearoa New Zealand context,” Dr Aiono said.
The research will not only contribute to the local understanding of how play can be used as a teaching and learning tool with Ngāti Kahungunu, but the hope is that the research approach developed will then be useful for other iwi, and even other indigenous communities worldwide.
Tuala-Fata said the school’s staff are ready and willing to take on the challenge.
“Our tamariki deserve the best, and the team leading this research are just that,” she said.
