This visit really inspired me, in two key ways. Firstly, I was so warmly welcomed into the learning community that Vicki and Makaore are helping to shape down in Otaki. They really reminded me of my childhood, where I grew up in Palmy before moving to the very busy, fast paced life of Auckland, 10 years ago. They reminded me again of the simple reason why we are teachers...it's all about the kids. It's all about doing what ever we can to connect our beautiful tamariki to learning in such a way that they continue to learn, even as adults.
Secondly, I was so inspired by their passion for their heritage, their culture and their language. There were so many times during the day where they would break into animated conversation in Te Reo Māori, laughing and enjoying learning together, that I wish I could speak Māori and join in too. Don't get me wrong - they didn't do this to leave me out, but did this because it was natural and normal for them. This reminds me of all out kids at PT England who should be doing the same. Talking, conversing, LEARNING in their own language. This has truly inspired me to think of ways that we could be doing this more at PES... what would this look like? How could we make this happen? What community connections could and should we be looking into to have our children speaking more and naturally in their own languages?
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