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Evaluation/Reflection

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"Usually with the PD that we go on, one person talks to us and we might dabble with it but we have been working with the children and with the facilitators and so we can't lose." Jo Coxhead – teacher

Evaluation of positive outcomes

The positive outcomes relating to the goals that were set included:

  • The teachers gained an increased understanding of ways of implementing the Arts in the New Zealand Curriculum document.
  • The process of modelling and mentoring gave the teachers increased confidence and competence to teach the focus arts discipline.
  • The use of a common learning context enabled learning in each discipline to be integrated.
  • The use of Māori context in the arts across all four disciplines provided richly relevant learning and links for the school community, and the wider community.
"It's not pointed out that we are using Māori content, it's just there. Everything is immersed in it" "As a classroom teacher I've got to see these wonderful people coming in and making the kids follow them and try all these things and it has given me more confidence to try things myself and take more risks" Denise Hawton – teacher

Additional outcomes of this arts programme were:

  • There was active participation and enthusiasm from the staff at all stages. Engaging in an integrated programme was a learning process for staff and students working together. The team was apprehensive of working collaboratively on a project that involved so many different aspects and teams. Their motto became 'trust the process'. The staff and community worked together and made compromises to reach a common goal.
  • Some students found a platform for learning not always catered for in a classroom programme. There was ongoing interest and commitment beyond the school hours for both teachers and students, with many sharing the learning with their families.
  • Students worked cooperatively through a range of different ages. Many enjoyed making a musical instrument and showed immense determination and fortitude when applying the level of skill needed to make music.
  • The environment was so stimulating and there was so much activity that the students were learning without realising they were working.
"One of the highlights has been to see the enthusiasm of the children. I don't use the word passion very often but in the last three days with the facilitators, I have seen a lot of passion going on in our school with the adults and also with the children. It's been just so wonderful to see the children expressing themselves through the Arts and also this wonderful story of Maikuku that belongs to the Ngati Rahiri people. From my experience, in the schools that I have worked in, I have never seen such a thing happening and I would urge and encourage teachers and principals to look at our case study, and if they can implement the Arts the way it has been done here, I think it is a wonderful experience that everyone can learn from " Ian McCormack – principal

The intensive was challenging, and at times frustrating, but the enthusiasm and feedback from the students made the whole project a very rewarding experience. The infectious greetings from the children set the scene for each day.

Those involved with the programme see it as having immensely enriched all the students, in many ways. They have been given knowledge and understanding that, for the Māori children, is theirs by right. What has happened for the children can be paralleled with sentiments and aims expressed in significant resources, such as Te Mana 1 (2003, Ministry of Education: Wellington):

Finding out where you come from can very often lead to other things – having a sense of pride in self, being more understanding of other cultures and other people.

Paora Trim – Kapiti College, in Te Mana 1

They wanted their prior knowledge to be recognized – particularly their prior cultural knowledge.

Professor Russell Bishop – University of Waikato, in Te Mana 1

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