Why is speaking te reo Māori important?



I have been contemplating my role as an early childhood education (ECE) teacher and how I can authentically incorporate Aotearoa New Zealand's bi-cultural curriculum, Te Whāriki:  He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mōkupuna o Aotearoa/Early childhood curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2017) into my teaching practice and what this involves for myself and perhaps other teachers in New Zealand. The importance of language and how a person's culture is expressed and carried through language. Te reo Māori and it's use in ECE is in the news and the following link leads you to an article of a mother's opinion of the value of speaking te reo Māori to our young children.
The following questions are where my thoughts have been leading me and I hope to explore these questions and hopefully draw some conclusions in this blog. 
Is speaking te reo Māori a requirement to uphold the principles of Aotearoa New Zealand's bi cultural curriculum Te Whāriki. 

 I wonder if interweaving te reo Māori and English together is authentic and respectful.
I will explore the history of te reo Māori language in my next post and set the historical context before I discuss the questions further.




Ministry of Education. (2017). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mō ngā mōkupuna o Aotearoa/Early childhood curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Ministry of Education.

Comments

  1. Cheryl McConnell25 March 2018 at 21:39

    I really like your title Julie and think this is a very topical political question that is becoming omore prominent in the national debate - not just in the educational field. I look forward to your investigation and discussion.

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