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Digital fluency but no cultural fluency
MARTYN BOMBER BRADBURY
It's good that digital technology will soon become a compulsory part of our education system so that students have digital fluency, but in the week where we celebrate the Maori language, when will our students gain cultural fluency?
It's not just that the Maori language is as far away from being compulsory in our schools as it ever has been, it's our total lack of understanding of our own history.
Louisa Wall called for more Maori history to be taught in schools as her iwi's settlement was finally passed through Parliament. The Hineuru Claims settlement attempts to make peace with Ngati Hneuru's past, but it is a past barely recognised within the mainstream of NZ culture.
The slaughter and land confiscation of Ngati Hneuru land throughout the 1850s and 1860s is barely understood or known, the Chatham Island expulsions and the massacre of 137 members simply doesn't register as a chapter in our history.
This is by no means the first commission of our own history, in March of this year the Ministry of Education decided that NZ History would not be mandatory in our national curriculum. This after a 12 000 strong petition arguing for NZ Schools to teach the impact of the land wars. The Ministry was as always, measly mouthed…
"Rather than prescribing in detail, you have to teach this subject – and this subject, we maintain the broad areas of learning across the year levels and then support and encourage with resources.
"We think that is the approach which will eventually lead to greater take-up of teaching around the land wars."
…wonderful, a do nothing approach.
Part of the problem as to why we have Government's who are so resistant to being genuine with the Treaty or reparation is because of the deep seated ignorance of many Pakeha who are oblivious to the violence of our early colonial state.
Imagine the country we could be if Pakeha were aware of the past and the injustice served upon Maori. Imagine how much more equal a country we could be if we understood our own history and how it has impacted the present?
Martyn Bradbury
Editor – TheDailyBlog.co.nz
Waatea 5th Estate
twitter.com/CitizenBomber
Radio Waatea and it's Board would like to advise that the opinions posted are those of Martyn 'Bomber' Bradbury and not the views of Radio Waatea, it's Management or it's Board.
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