First te reo curriculum launched
Friday 20 March 2009, 2:58AM
By Anne Tolley
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Education Minister Anne Tolley marked the fruition of 25 years’ work today when she launched the Te Reo Curriculum Guidelines at Taurua Marae in Rotorua.
Te Aho Arataki Marau mM te Ako i te reo Mori – Kura Auraki provide guidelines for teaching te reo Mori in English-medium schools in years 1 to 13. Work towards the guidelines began at a planning hui at Taurua Marae 25 years ago, and some of the original members of that hui were at today’s launch.
“Many teachers want to teach te reo Mori, and many families and whnau want their children to get high-quality te reo Mori teaching,” Mrs Tolley said.
“Te reo Mori is one of our country’s official languages. It is a taonga, yet some teachers and schools have found themselves limited to teaching days of the week and short greetings in te reo.
“These schools and teachers can now be supported to achieve a greater fluency in te reo, a greater understanding of tikanga Mori, and a greater confidence in working with families, whnau and community”, Mrs Tolley said.
The guidelines are intended to help every English-medium school in New Zealand design and shape a curriculum that includes te reo Mori.
They include a basis for planning student programmes, describe the knowledge and understanding that students need, and the levels of proficiency they’re expected to achieve as they progress through the curriculum.
The guidelines link to online and multimedia teacher resources and assistance, and later this month workshops with te reo advisors will be held for teachers, principals and whnau throughout New Zealand.