Language as learning tool

The Pasifika teacher aide professional development project emerged from research commissioned by the Ministry in 2004, when it was realised that there wasn’t at that time an effective programme to up-skill and support teacher aides in using Pasifika languages for learning.

The Ministry-contracted project is directed and facilitated by Rae Si’ilata of the University of Auckland, who also founded the initiative, and has reached more than 250 schools, 250 coordinating teachers, and 660 teacher aides. Rae works with regional facilitators in delivering the programme nationwide. The criteria for selection are wide-ranging and include the number of enrolled Pasifika students, the recommendation of ESOL verifiers, and particularly those needing support in meeting the needs of Pasifika students.

Schools register one coordinating teacher and at least two teacher aides in order to participate; around 10 schools and 40 participants then form regional cluster groups for the purpose of facilitating the programme.

Foundations

Rae Si’ilata’s career in education began in Porirua as a teacher in 1981. As she moved forward in her professional life, she has focused ever more closely on educational success among Māori and Pasifika people.

She has since successfully embarked on an academic career, having worked as a researcher with the Literacy Professional Development Project Pasifika Research as an ESOL adviser, and currently as a lecturer in the TESSOL graduate diploma at University of Auckland.

During her nine years in Samoa, which fell between teaching and academia, Rae was approached by her community to help them in founding a primary school, which she says was a seminal experience and one that informed her entire career. This year is the school’s 20th anniversary.

“It was amazing. We were so well supported by people back in New Zealand, who sent resources over. We formed a really strong connection with the school and the community. However, I do wish that I knew then what I know now! Samoan parents at the time wanted an English-medium school. If I went back and did it again, I would make sure that we used a bilingual programme, so that we ensured we were teaching parts of the curriculum in Samoan, in order to produce bilingual and biliteracy outcomes.”

Leaving language at the gate

When the investigation began into how Pasifika teacher aides were using languages in class, it became apparent very quickly that educators of Pasifika heritage did not readily associate their own first language with learning itself, and tended to mainly use their language for social communication and discipline only. Obviously, palagi/European teacher aides had, through no fault of their own, little idea of how to integrate the languages of their Pasifika students.

When asked, many among this initial sample group of Pasifika TAs expressed frustration at the perception that they should be leaving their language at the gate when coming to school. Many felt that it was intuitively obvious that they would be more effective in class if they were encouraged to use their first language. Rae says that there was a glaring need for stronger systemic change, especially in light of modern research that supports the idea that continued development of students’ bilingualism and biliteracy has strong connections to academic success and identity formation.

“In the years since the research, attitudes have shifted considerably around the place of first languages in education. I think we’ve still got a way to go, but certainly, the biggest change in recent years has been the surge in enthusiasm and good will toward the idea of using first languages, not just as an acknowledgement of our multi-cultural society, but as a tool in education.”

Rae and her team have just finished working with a Canterbury regional cluster, and she says that there was some very strong uptake of the ideas among the group. Because of the different cultural mix around the country, sometimes the design and delivery of the workshops must be adapted, she adds.

“We modify the programme depending on who we’re working with. Currently, I’m in Blenheim teaching an intensive regional programme. I think we had one Pasifika person at the gathering, a Tongan teacher aide, who had recently arrived from Tonga, having been a teacher. She had also engaged in PhD study. In that context, it’s so valuable for the palagi/European people to see the huge linguistic resource that TAs like her can bring to the discussion.”

“They [palagi/European participants] were really committed to utilising their students’ languages. So we had lots of palagi/European teacher aides bringing all these bilingual and multilingual resources that they had created in school. How did they do that? Well, they tapped into their community independently, so for me, knowing that these aides and teachers are actually asking Pasifika people in their community ‘what do you think?’ and ‘how do I put this into a Pasifika context?’ is just wonderfully encouraging. They have shown that it’s do-able.”

Three-pronged approach

Rae’s team works within three delivery models that the Ministry applies to the PTAP. The first model comprises a series of four day-long workshops that take place over two terms. Rae co-facilitates these workshops with regional facilitators. These regional specialists conduct in-school visits, where they observe TA practice and provide feedback. Rae says that for many, this co-constructed conversation is the first time that a lot of them have been asked to talk about their use of language, and they respond well to the encouragement.

“That’s one of the really important factors, that the teacher aides get the opportunity for feedback. It really means a lot to them that someone values them enough to come in, observe their practice, and engage in a co-constructed learning conversation.”

The second delivery model is a follow-up workshop within the same cluster. This involves checking on the sustainability of new practices, and introducing new material for the schools to trial. The third piece of the puzzle is a more intensive approach, where the initial four workshops are condensed into a two-day programme. This option is used in areas outside the main centres which have growing Pasifika communities, e.g. Pukekohe, Gisborne, Blenheim and Oamaru.

Making a difference

Rochelle Atherton is a Year One and Two teacher of Samoan heritage who works at Christchurch’s Waltham Primary school. She served as co-ordinating teacher at her school and reports that the PTAP programme did wonders for her understanding of the issues around first languages. Rochelle also found the support of Helen Ah Siu, Regional Facilitator, to be invaluable.

“The programme was absolutely amazing. The big thing I took from the workshops was the emphasis on valuing Pacific cultures in the classroom. The first of the workshops in particular was really valuable in that it was quite specific in terms of strategies, but really easy to follow.”

Rochelle says that the workshops, and the strategies she took from them, shattered a number of her assumptions. Where she had previously thought that the bilingual ESOL children in her class understood that she, and the school, valued their culture, she came to understand that this maybe wasn’t the case.

“When I made the conscious decision to actually ask of the students things like ‘how do I say that in your language’ or ‘what do you do in your culture in this scenario’, I found that they would just shrug as a default response because they had never been asked. But after a while, the kids were bringing words and stories to school from home. It’s great that we can involve parents in this way, who I think had previously assumed that an English-medium school was just that and that alone.

“I think that there is no longer the impression, among the kids and parents, that school is not the place for their heritage.”