We need a law change to recognise te reo Māori as a curriculum, the same as English

Wednesday, 15 September 2021

Te Akatea (Maori Principals' Association) president Bruce Jepsen says it’s cool to kōrero but legislative might is needed to take te reo Māori to the next level to truly ensure the language not only survives but flourishes.

OPINION: I love Te Wiki o te Reo Māori and everything it represents – it is amazing what our language and people have endured.

Although it has been around nearly all of my lifetime, Te Wiki o te Reo Māori is enjoying something of a renaissance in our country. Signs indicate that we are responding with our heads and hearts and are ready to act as kaitiaki for our beautiful language.

Te reo Māori is more visible and looks different because it is not only Māori who are using it. It's a more familiar sound which is being heard beyond the ranges and limitations of the past. It feels different to me – our nation is responding in “te reo”, a unique characteristic of Aotearoa.

Te tiro whakamuri kia haere whakamua. This whakatauki invites us to understand how our past has shaped our present reality and importantly how we might create a more equitable and socially just future for our people – tangata whenua and tangata tiriti.

* Te reo Māori should be a part of every New Zealander's identity

* Stacey Morrison: Learning te reo Māori is sometimes a luxury

Supreme Court Justice Joe Williams speaks about the importance of te reo Māori - using the language itself.

One hundred and fifty-four years ago, through the Native Schools Act 1867, te reo Māori was effectively banned in New Zealand schools.

I was two years old when the Māori language petition was delivered to Parliament asking for recognition of te reo Māori as a language. This resulted in Māori Language Day.

Māori Language Day extended to Te Wiki o te Reo Māori three years later in 1975; when my formative years of education began at an English-medium primary school. I received no te reo Māori instruction as it was not provided or given as an option until I attended intermediate in 1982.

In 1984, Ngā Kaiwhakapūmau i te Reo/The Wellington Māori Language Board lodged a claim – known as Wai 11 – with the Waitangi Tribunal to confirm te reo Māori as an official language of New Zealand.

There are so few teachers available to meet the growing demand for te reo in schools. And, as often the only te reo Māori teacher on staff, the extra burdens are scaring away new teachers.

The Māori Language Act of 1987 made te reo Māori an official language and set up Te Taura Whiri i Te Reo Māori/Māori Language Commission.

We now hear the sweet sounds of Stan Walker (Ngāi Te Rangi, Tūhoe), Six 60, Lorde, our TV news presenters, and national role models using te reo Māori daily. These are definitely positive signs of the times. Te reo Māori courses across the country are maxed out months in advance with our Millennial and Gen X parents, and other cool-as, open-minded matures.

These people are leading the charge into the future and beyond. They are setting things up for the next generations, Gen Z and the bilingual Gen Alpha.

They are not interested in those dying grey attitudes or voices played out to a backdrop of banjos because they know that it is “cool to kōrero”.

Te reo Māori and its ongoing health and strength requires strategy to elevate it to the next stage of revitalisation.

If we are serious about this, the strategy needs to be powered up through the current New Zealand Curriculum refresh and legislated to recognise te reo Māori as a curriculum, in the same way English is. This is the only appropriate response to short-circuit the intergenerational cycles of disadvantage for Māori learning our language, a national language. It is currently recognised as an “other” language and not a curriculum!

Immediate action needs to be taken to address the shortfall in numbers of fluent, training and aspirant te reo Māori kaiako across full immersion Māori-medium, wharekura, kura-a-iwi, and English-medium schools. Comprehensive initiatives need to be implemented and investment made in initial teacher education programmes that build such capacity.

The system for Māori Language Programmes needs to be “undone” as it is a long way off representing a genuine Te Tiriti partnership.

Te reo is tied up in an approach where schools identify what level of te reo they will offer from a menu of options: Level 5 – less than 3 hours; level 4b – at least 3 hours; Level 4a – up to 30 per cent; level 3 – 31-50 per cent; level 2 – 51-80 per cent; level 1 – 81-100 pr cent.

In general, the current provision of Māori language within most English-medium schools is minimal and the system places little emphasis on teaching “other” language or any need to do so. It is clunky and the quality of the experience depends heavily on the knowledge, beliefs and dispositions of the school leaders and teachers.

Last year 246,516 students who were eligible for Māori-language funding did not receive any Māori language at all and the majority of the 349,663 eligible learned simple words and waiata.

This tokenistic and superficial approach is a disgrace in this day and age and unfortunately not much has really changed when comparing the provision of te reo Māori to my own primary school education. It is amazing what our language and people continue to endure.

There is a rising groundswell and the reo Māori movement is catching on. This wave has epic potential to be the next major milestone in the revitalisation of te reo Māori.

Are we ready to reflect our maturing nationhood?

Embrace her (te reo Māori) and enact responses so the promises of Te Tiriti might finally be realised for all who call Aotearoa home.

Bruce Jepsen is the president of Te Akatea – Māori Principals Association.