Inquiry Record & Description I had been thinking about the place-based knowledge of my students after a PD discussion at my school around Tātaiako, which was at the heart of our schools overarching teaching and learning inquiry goal. I was interested in the concept of tangata whenuatanga and how I might redesign my Year 10 Māori Art unit to build my students (and also my own) knowledge of the area around my school. In the past my department had taught a unit about Parihaka of which there are loads of resources available, but not so much about the Pukeahu area of Wellington, the history of the Basin Reserve, or the ancient Te Akatarewa pa site that sits near my school. After doing some research and talking with colleagues, I gathered enough material to put together a cohesive unit plan that would support my students in their own art projects. As I was researching, I also found information about the Tuna Kuwharuwharu (the Long Fin eel), which was endangered and still swim around in culverts underneath the ground in that area. I felt that the awareness of these eels could be an instrumental part of my students’ artwork. I gave my students a questionnaire at the beginning of the project and I determined that only a small proportion of students knew that the Basin Reserve used to be a lake, and no students knew about the eels or even cared much about them. As I progressed through my inquiry cycle, I noticed that the project kept evolving with new ideas that students were bringing to the class, and engagement was high. I also noticed that students started to feel that bringing awareness to the protection of the Long Fin eel was important to them. Based on this inquiry I am now going to talk through the inquiry cycle framework, the inquiry’s naturally occurring evidence, and where my inquiry connects with the Standards of the Teaching profession. I began by charting up my inquiry cycle. An inquiry begins by noticing something or wondering about something. In my case I was inspired by the PD discussions around Tātaiako, and in particular, the concept of tangata whenuatanga and wondered how increased knowledge of the area of our school might increase all my students’ engagement in the project, but also, how it might support the tangata whenua of the class and acknowledge their
Inquiry Record & Description I had been thinking about the place-based knowledge of my students after a PD discussion at my school around Tātaiako, which was at the heart of our schools overarching teaching and learning inquiry goal. I was interested in the concept of tangata whenuatanga and how I might redesign my Year 10 Māori Art unit to build my students (and also my own) knowledge of the area around my school. In the past my department had taught a unit about Parihaka of which there are loads of resources available, but not so much about the Pukeahu area of Wellington, the history of the Basin Reserve, or the ancient Te Akatarewa pa site that sits near my school. After doing some research and talking with colleagues, I gathered enough material to put together a cohesive unit plan that would support my students in their own art projects. As I was researching, I also found information about the Tuna Kuwharuwharu (the Long Fin eel), which was endangered and still swim around in culverts underneath the ground in that area. I felt that the awareness of these eels could be an instrumental part of my students’ artwork. I gave my students a questionnaire at the beginning of the project and I determined that only a small proportion of students knew that the Basin Reserve used to be a lake, and no students knew about the eels or even cared much about them. As I progressed through my inquiry cycle, I noticed that the project kept evolving with new ideas that students were bringing to the class, and engagement was high. I also noticed that students started to feel that bringing awareness to the protection of the Long Fin eel was important to them. Based on this inquiry I am now going to talk through the inquiry cycle framework, the inquiry’s naturally occurring evidence, and where my inquiry connects with the Standards of the Teaching profession. I began by charting up my inquiry cycle. An inquiry begins by noticing something or wondering about something. In my case I was inspired by the PD discussions around Tātaiako, and in particular, the concept of tangata whenuatanga and wondered how increased knowledge of the area of our school might increase all my students’ engagement in the project, but also, how it might support the tangata whenua of the class and acknowledge their