We could a lot from Māori

My study in early childhood education has forced me to look deeply at the Māori culture, this was done with some reluctance at the beginning due to ignorance and my upbringing. But as I learnt more I realised, almost longed to have the core values of Māori.

The first thing I realised was the value they placed on family and their connections to ancestors.

Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi engari he toa takitini

I come not with my own strengths but bring with me the gifts, talents and strengths of my family, tribe and ancestors.

 

 This saying sums up their thinking on how the connections work. In every person the gifts of those before live. In traditional Māori culture everything is done for the good of the whole family, and iwi.How much to we value our families, do even know where we have come from, I know I don't know anything further back than one generation. Often the time we spend with wider family is tokenism, do we really know these people and how do we get past the small talk to really learn about and reconnect with them? Remember all those cousins we have now lost touch with, they are part of our family.

The Smith branch of my family, I haven't physically seen them for 10 years!

The second core value I can relate to is the importance of the child, for they are the future of the iwi. The child is protected, nurtured and celebrated. The wider family shares their knowledge freely with the child and in particular the sibling relationships are nurtured. This has a two fold effect, it provides a model for the younger children and teaches the older to nurture. Something my children could learn more about!

The way in which Māori children are taught within the iwi always celebrates the positive and adds on to that child's strengths and abilities, not like mainstream NZ education where children are in large classes with a one size fits most curriculum. While the teachers in mainstream work hard to provide the best possible outcomes for each child, time works against them as does the adult to child ratio.

My culture which I have had to also explore has room for improvement. I find I live in a very selfish society generally, families struggle to come together and work hard to improve their own lot sometimes sacrificing time with their own and  wider families. The drive for better homes, cars and gadgets takes over the need for our support of families. What kind of message are we sending our children?

Māori also have a strong spiritual side. They have gods of the land, sky, sea and forest, their legends are beautiful and are always focused on nurturing the Papatūānuku land. They believe they come from the land and return to the land so it must be used respectfully. Something we are only just starting to come to in my culture. Would the world be in such a state if we had always respected the land as Māori do. Where is my spirituality, what do I believe? I know what I don't believe but need to explore this further. My children are coming home with questions I have not really thought about, how do I pass on my beliefs when I'm not sure what they are?

Māori have beautiful welcoming processes and treat visitors well, they are never too busy to stop for a meal with friends and family and are good hosts. The language and song used adds a sense of occasion to everyday events. We need to treat every relationship with respect and value time spent with them as not an interruption to our lives but adding to our lives.Something I need to work on, the people I value the most are sometimes treated the worst.

I could go on for longer but I can see your eyes glazing over, I just want to finish with saying we can learn a lot from Māori and other people, our way is not always the best way, make room for change.

Love you more than my spell checker!