Maori integration as a model

Within the Polynesian group, the best known are the Maori that inhabit New Zealand for several aspects rooted in popular culture, such as tattoos and Haka dance.

But for New Zealanders most important thing is the culture that still cling to them even yet. In this sense, institutions have been created to preserve these aspects that are believed forgotten, until the mid 70's, because of all the conflicts that shook the world and since its colonization by England. Here's how it happened with the Maori language (Reo Maori) that was proclaimed by the English language ofcicial in 1985 by what is now considered a national treasure (national taonga).

Since then has come a revival of Maori identity, being created educational institutions (schools and universities) that preserve indigenous wisdom and traditions, in addition to this, radio and television stations that broadcast them.

Education model



Due to this feeling of revitalization it was created the concept of Kōhanga reo ("language nest") that are Māori immersion kindergartens.

The first Kōhanga reo was founded in Wainuiomata in 1982, when there were fears that the Māori language was dying out. The success of the kōhanga reo programme is such that they have been followed by primary schools and secondary schools (Kura Kaupapa Māori) where Māori is the primary language of instruction. The role of Maori language in education in New Zealand is enshrined in the Education Act 1989.

The success of the concept has led to kōhanga reo in New Zealand that instruct in other Pacific languages, such as Fijian, Rarotongan, Samoan, and Tongan and other countries adopting a similar concept. A notable example being Pūnana Leo established in Hawaii to revitalize the indigenous Hawaiian language.

There exist  Wānanga too, that  is a publicly owned tertiary institution that provides education in a Māori cultural context. Section 162 of the Education Act 1989 specifies that wānanga resemble mainstream universities in many ways. As of 2009, wānanga offer certificates, diplomas, and bachelor-level degrees, with some wānanga providing programmes in specialized areas up to doctorate level.
Wānanga educational programmes are accredited through the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) and the Ministry of Education, and are partly governed by New Zealand's Tertiary Education Commission (TEC).
In traditional times the word wānanga conveyed meanings related to highly evolved knowledge, lore, occult arts, and also "forum" in the sense of a discussion to arrive at deeper understanding.

In conclusion, as I wrote above, this model of preservation of a culture through formal education has been adapted to others cultures in almost all Oceanian countries and colonies with positive results, but at the same time, standardizing what maybe it was a little more dispersed and richer in cultural terms.

How Hollywood stereotyped the Native Americans

Stereotypes are generalizations about a group of people whereby we attribute a defined set of characteristics to this group. When we make stereotypes in our home with our family, the ones we damage with this is our own family, but when in television or movies, who are part of the most massive source of information, millions and millions of people (especially the children’s who are the one that absorbed all the messages and subliminal messages in movies and don´t have a critical point of view) get infect with stereotypes and racism.

It is very shocking to see that one of the major economic potency and civilized country, that claim is the land of freedom and opportunities, and in many aspects is a role model for our country; it is also the land of racism (native population, black people, immigrants, so on) and stereotypes. In that same land people were (and still but in lower amounts) segregated by color, class, studies, nationality, so on.

And Hollywood and the television have a major importance in these problems, because these massive Medias were used by a few to spread the seed of racism and stereotypes in the population on united states and created the wrong illusion that some race, some people are better than others and because of that, they had the power to do with the others what they want and think was the right to do. In some cases that means kill, beat, torture, remove from their land, enslave, segregate, and so on.

 Pamela Avila Pinilla

Racial Segregation

    

Segregation is defined by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance as "the act by which a (natural or legal) person separates other persons on the basis of one of the enumerated grounds without an objective and reasonable justification, in conformity with the proposed definition of discrimination."

Since the discovery of the USA, black people have always been discriminated against. For example, they had to be slaves for American people until the thirteenth amendment was passed on December the 6^th 1865.
 
 In spite of this, segregation continued at water fountains, at restaurants, waiting rooms, at theatres, on buses and even at schools. But, a man wanted to stop  segregation, Martin Luther King (1929-1968). His role in the history of the human rights movements as leader was very important. He inspired many people to fight against discrimination. And his actions have been heard. 

"I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. That is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant" M. Luther K. Jr. However, nowadays, racial segregation still exists.
 

We could see racial segregation during the period if the "Stolen Generation". It was a State Goverment law that Aboriginal half-cast children and European descent should be taken away from their parents. 

  

According to The Universal Declaration of Human Rights: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights...". There's no reason to despise other people. There is fear to equality and difference. People hate for the slightest reason. Most people are intolerant. It doesn't change if you travel, listen to songs or read. It is not as simple as that. Our mind has to be aware that this discrimination is not right. The world is a melting pot. We should love each other and see beauty in other cultures, their feelings as humans, and learn from them, instead of only seeing the color of the skin.


Practice tolerance and respect for gender, ideologies and cultures. Racism is transmitted and reproduced culturally. As you can see in the following video, this experiment was created for an antiracism Mexican campaign.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z341bBS7oj0

This makes think that parents have a huge challenge. This challenge is to bring up children full of values and principles. Giving the kids a good education.


Can you see the problem? You may consider these questions: Do we discriminate people because of their race, sex, religion, etc..? Do we act based on our prejudices?


Our challenge for the future is to cross that bridge of prejudice and discrimination and respect each other.  

India's Culture ♥

I choice this video because is about India's culture and cuisine, the same topic that my classmates and i choise for our presentation today.
Now, the main idea that i have about India is sincretism and pluralism. Food, music, beautiful clothes, and other elements make it a very attractive culture.

In my opinion, food is the most recognized Indian element in the rest of the world. The reason? like we said before, indian ethnic food is famous for the use of differents spices and herbs that are native from the country that give it an special flavor, but the most important reason that explains why indian food is so consumed around the world is the  number of indian people living in different countries.

About the movie: "Bent It Like Beckham"

This is a movie that I never saw until 2 weeks ago. Personally, I liked, It was interesting, fun, etc. But something that really called my attention was the fact that the Indian culture was very emphasized in the movie. During the whole movie the mother of the protagonist (Jesminder) always was talking about the culture and the honor of the family. The movie also showed a bit about the Indian weddings and how this are a really big deal in the Indian culture. At first, someone would think that all the things about culture and honor in the movie would be a little exaggerated, but then, in the end of the movie I noticed that the director (Gurinder Chadha)  was in fact  a guy with Indian origins. So, considering this fact, and the fact that the movies usually do not show the things like they really are. I would like to ask, the Indian culture is really like this? It is exactly like in the movie? This is something that we really must considerer.

Respect for Diversity

         Respect for the ethnic and cultural diversity, civic education supported by full and widespread citizenship, the relevance of the curriculum to different social and cultural realities that are children to schools, as well as the promotion of communicative practices based on respect for the other and reciprocity in the understanding, are basic elements that must have school today.

        It is necessary to respect the cultures and traditions of the different ethnic groups, but  the nursery school has to integrate divesity education. That means that children must be very early educate in respect for diversity.

      Today in class we were talking about the culture in India and we compared it with our country, but I realized that some of us were saying a word again and again, it was the word DIFFERENT because we are all different. We can not compare two different countries because the whole world has many cultures and all of its are DIFFERENT.

      But I want to know, What do you think about teach cultural diversity to children?

Why is Elizabeth I important for Education? 

In the first classes of this year, we covered the life and work of Elizabeth I, who became Queen of England in 1558. This period was known as The Golden Age because of the efforts made during her reign. This led to her country to achieve several triumphs, to obtain the position as one of the world’s major powers and to give England a great prestige around the world and throughout the history. All this created in us the memory of a queen with perfect skills and great ideals which remain until today.

Based on this historical facts and the success reflected by the image of Elizabeth, it is possible to have a necessary and very useful example to insert it and relate it (in a positive way) to the contemporary education. But… why is Elizabeth so important for education? The answer to this is what is going to be explained in this report, analyzing several authors and showing important factors related to the topic.

First, Flores (1994) quoted by Bazán (2008, p.21), says that "education is the social process whereby society incorporated or assimilated to its members according to its own rules, values, ideology and knowledge shared by the majority of society". You can found all these factors in the story of Elizabeth I that is mentioned above so we can say that she is part of big culture. We must learn from it and make our students and ourselves to do it also; to incorporate their values to education such as confidence, certainty, decision and perseverance, which are very important to educate and learn, too. 

What I propose is that Elizabeth can become a role model for students; to discuss this idea in more detail it is necessary to begin by sorting the elements involved in this education and how she is related to.

It doesn’t mean that the idea is not to forcing students to believe in a stereotype of person to imitate and take their ideology but to take from her the ideas and values. The main “actors” involved are the teachers and the students so we'll see how it can affect both roles.

Firstly, it is useful for teachers to introduce Elizabeth to students as content, given that we know that our profession is devalued and we need to add new strategies to teach and motivate students. It is necessary to motivate them, because learning is the responsibility of both the teacher and the student; if the latter does not feel interested in the matter, their results will not be optimal neither in the acquisition of knowledge or in skills. 

This idea has existed for many years. Rousseau (1762) proposed that “a child should receive education from their senses”, for example, stimulating the need to learn. So I believe that presenting a model guide would be a very good alternative, considering all the positive aspects that the personality of Elizabeth I has.

Here is where we find that teachers “could teach” something but most of the times they “have to teach" something, which is determined by the educational establishment in the so-called "curriculum". Defined as the selection of the knowledge and skills to be transmitted through the educational Act (Bazán, 2008), it is what is expected for students to learn, planning the content to teach, processes in which the teacher has the main role, must be attentive to different processes of learning for each student and should be able to innovate and to recognize possible problems.

As Boggino (2006) proposes that the curriculum always must be open and flexible. For example, it must always be possible to include other content not provided. Then it is a feasible option to include the personality of this Queen, as a guide.

Elizabeth, whose strong personality led her to defend her ideals and who knew how to deal with all the problems that were submitted resolving them successfully, is, without doubt, a perfect example of overcoming and perseverance for pupils in times when the education becomes complicated. And it is also for teachers an innovative tool to teach, giving also a new chance for learning teachers.

Education is not only transmitting knowledge, but also forming people of integrity. Education is to create culture for our students. And the primary responsibility for this, are we as future teachers. 

Elizabeth I was a Queen of England who made a memory of her based on their attitudes and skills. She became part of the culture, shifting borders.

She is the subject of historical research, films and political studies that includes the relationship between the female gender and power. In a time where everything was more complicated for women, she learned how to succeed.

She had the courage to face their enemies, make decisions that sometimes not liked but she knew he was right, and that made it succeed and became part of the story.

It is under this point of view that I relate the need to study and to include it in our own education as a positive example for students and as a tool for teachers.

Following the thoughts of many authors throughout history, I made sure it is necessary to motivate children to learn in a positive way. It is also essential that teachers investigated and renew the teaching methods.

With the purpose of improving the quality of the people we educate, transmitting not only knowledge, but also values which we can rescue on the life of Elizabeth as the decision, perseverance and confidence in oneself.

In this way the students and teachers began to create their own identity and create culture for all. Because the responsibility that the education is optimal, it is not only on a master or a student, is both and the society, and are appropriate the teachers who guide their students to rescue only the positives offered by the world.

As Bazán (2008, p.27) says, "…and this teacher should be a professional to promote integral development (read intellectual, emotional and social values of our children and young people)." 

Finally, because of all this I make the invitation and recommendation for future teachers who include Elizabeth I, a very interesting topic, within their content, and link it with the skills of their students and their environment, with the society in which they are, and with which intended to live.

Bibliography:

·         Elizabeth I, Biography

http://www.elizabethi.org/contents/biography/

·         Domingo Bazán Campos, (2008) “El oficio del Pedagogo: aportes para la construcción  de una práctica reflexiva en la escuela”. Rosario. Homo Sapiens Ediciones.

·         Norberto Boggino (2006) “Diversidad, Aprendizaje e integración en contextos escolares”.  Buenos Aires. Homo Sapiens Ediciones.

·         Jean Jacques Rousseau ( 1762) “ Emilio, o De la Educación”.  

   Gabriel Vega.