Eureka High School, Eureka CA
Study New Zealand’s Maori language and cultural education model while investigating bi-cultural, place-based education in rural schools to incorporate findings into culturally relevant and place-based practices that are responsive to and supportive of Indigenous students.
Practicing a growth mindset in Manapouri
Learning about Māori creation stories at the Rakiura Museum
Fellow in the wild on Rakiura
Learning about the role astronomy and constellations play in Māori traditions
At Aoraki, New Zealand's tallest mountain and a deeply important place in Te Ao Māori
Walking a bicultural interpretative trail in Kaikoura
The highlight of this fellowship was spending a day at the Twizel Area School. Seeing a comprehensive and collaborative school pioneering bicultural learning was deeply inspiring. From middle school science to high school English to PE, Māori culture and Te Ao Māori (the Māori worldview) were evident everywhere. Teachers were finding small ways to build in activities and ideas that had a big impact, and this created a warm and inviting learning environment.
I learned that I need collaboration to thrive. Every meeting and school visit that I had left me feeling fired up and eager to try new things in my own classroom; but this was directly connected to the fact that I was talking and sharing ideas with other educators. I will not be able to maintain the energy I need to create change at my own school unless I’m working with others.
I had a number of changes to my fellowship. It was harder to coordinate school visits than I anticipated, and so was only able to actually spend a day at one school. However, by leveraging professional connections at home, I was able to arrange a visit to the University of Canterbury School of Education to speak with several professors, which was a great experience. Due to weather and other challenges, I also had to rearrange some of my cultural tourism, but still had incredible experiences.
I am in the process of developing a place-based storytelling unit that incorporates my fellowship learning. This will include local geography lessons and student research into the stories (both myths, and histories) of local Native tribes. In the hopes of embodying the Maori principle “Ako” (reciprocal learning), my students came up with classroom contracts this year, and I have students involved in big-picture unit planning.
I would like to do a current events unit with my students that focuses on a local environmental issue and what local groups (including tribes) are doing to address it. This unit will culminate in a student-chosen research project that is solution-focused, and includes interviews or field work with local organizations.
I hope to have my students do a school-wide exhibition of their projects. Ideally, this will also involve inviting families and community groups. Additionally, the story-telling unit I mentioned previous is something other 11th grade English teachers have committed to using in their classrooms.