Te Reo Māori

This weekend a Māori language course – Māori 4 Grown Ups – will be held at our school for the second time. It is a programme whose organisers, Westmere parents Stacey and Scotty Morrison, initiated in 2014 and which focuses primarily on whānau-centred language learning, practical reo to use in the home.

For parents of students enrolled in Nga Uri O Nga Iwi, the Maori 4 Grown Ups wananga offers a relaxed environment in which to develop their reo and to be supported in their commitment to Maori language survival.

With the establishment of the first kohanga reo in 1982 and the subsequent development of kura and a range of Maori medium education initiatives, Maori parents have been working to reverse the threat of language loss.

In the 1970s researchers were predicting the death of te reo Maori, if urgent steps were not taken. Richard Benton highlighted that in a 1930 survey of children attending Native Schools, 96.6 percent spoke only te reo Māori at home. By 1960 that number had decreased to 26% . There had been an interruption to the intergenerational transmission of the Māori language and one of the leading causes was the Native Schools Act of 1867, which banned the speaking of te reo Maōri at school. It’s underlying aim was spelt out by school inspector Henry Taylor:

“The Native language itself is also another obstacle in the way of civilisation, so long as it exists there is a barrier to the free and unrestrained intercourse which ought to exist between the two races [sic], it shuts out the less civilised portion of the population from the benefits which intercourse with the more enlightened would confer. The schoolroom alone has the power to break down this wall of partition."
(Appendix to the Journal of the House of Representatives, 1862. E-04, p. 38)

While the assimilationist goals of the early colonial governments have been discredited, the negative effects of marginalising te reo Māori persist and moves to revitalise it are as urgent as ever. As in all countries where indigenous languages are endangered, children need to see te reo normalised and validated across all sectors of New Zealand society to value and speak it themselves.

Both schools and families have a role to play in language transmission from one generation to the next, so we welcome the opportunity to host Māori 4 Grown Ups this weekend in Te Hononga O Ngā Wai. Registration is open to all, Westmere teachers included who are keen to strengthen te reo Māori learning within the studios.

In subsequent newsletters, I will outline the teaching philosophy and history of Maori medium education at Te Rehu and te reo Maori programmes and resources operating throughout the school. If you have questions please feel free to email me at jcooper@westmere.school.nz.

Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou katoa

Jane Cooper

Paeārahi

Ngā Uri O Ngā Iwi