Teachers Kohanga Reo — marae life teaching

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 3, Issue 21, 15 October 1985, Page 9

Teachers Kohanga Reo — marae life teaching

on marae Twenty teachers from the Wanganui region spent two days last week at Maungarongo Marae, Ohakune, on a Taha Maori course. The course aimed to familiarise the teachers with Maori values, culture and language, as they affect teachers and children at school, and also the wider community. During the course they worked on the Ataarangi language teaching method, as seen on TV, discussed different approaches to learning and experienced the etiquette and feeling of the marae life. On Wednesday night they each gave a speech and sang a waiata in the traditional manner. They all enjoyed the wonderful food and hospitality provided by the local people. The course was funded by REAP and organised and coordinated by Te Manawakore Leach, a teacher at Taihape College. Ian Cormacks teacher seconded to the advisory service in Wanganui, and Sonny Mikaere, an education officer with the Department of Education in Wellington, ran sessions on the. two days.

Kohanga Reo — language learning nest — is far more than a Maori language class. Every day at Maungarongo Pa in Ohakune, 20 or so youngsters sing, play, dance and enjoy all the experiences offered by life on the marae. Biddy Mareikara, secretary of the marae trustees, says the marae offers a total experience for the children, some of them Pakeha. "The whole living culture

of the marae is what they get," she says. Mothers of the children help, as do six trainees who are paid by the Department of Labour through the Te Kohanga Reo Trust. The trainees learn child care as well as language, marae customs and values. The trainees also do other work round the marae which they feel comfortable with. Some are making piupiu, while others have already made kowhaiwhai to decorate the new kohanga reo building. Maungaronga Pa's kohanga reo has been working for three years now and it's not long to go before the new building is completed. It is hoped that the children can move in early next year. Lunch is provided for the children by mothers, who take it in turns to do the cooking. Children do not bring their own lunch because that would "make them different." "We want them to learn to love, share and play, and not to show up their differences," said Biddy. As the children laugh and play they are absorbing a way of life — learning by experience — the best way to learn. "We want to give them the best we can — these are our people for tomorrow — we have to nurture them."