In order to be able to demonstrate an awareness of Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Responsiveness it is necessary to unpack what these terms mean and how they could be relevant to my research project

According to UNESCO local and indigenous knowledge refers to the understandings, skills and philosophies developed by societies with long histories of interaction with their natural surroundings. For rural and indigenous peoples, local knowledge informs decision-making about fundamental aspects of day-to-day life.

This knowledge is integral to a cultural complex that also encompasses language, systems of classification, resource use practices, social interactions, ritual and spirituality.

These unique ways of knowing are important facets of the world’s cultural diversity, and provide a foundation for locally-appropriate sustainable development.

The Indigenous Corporate Training Inc. in their blog “What Does Indigenous Knowledge Mean? A Compilation of Attributes.” April 06, 2018, broke this down further, some of which are below:

Adaptive. It is based on historical experiences but adapts to social, economic, environmental, spiritual and political changes. Adaptation is the key to survival.

Holistic.  Indigenous knowledge incorporates all aspects of life - spirituality, history, cultural practices, social interactions, language, healing.

Intergenerational. The collective memory is passed, within a community, from one generation to the next orally through language, stories, songs, ceremonies, legends, and proverbs.

Irreplaceable.  An aspect of Indigenous knowledge that is sometimes overlooked by scientists, and others, is the critical connection between Indigenous knowledge and language. Indigenous languages are in decline and as languages die, so goes the Indigenous knowledge that is part of that language and the collective memory of the speakers of that language.

Responsible. Indigenous peoples generally believe they are responsible for the well-being of the natural environment around them.

Spiritual. Indigenous knowledge is rooted in a social context that sees the world in terms of social and spiritual relations among all life forms. All parts of the natural world are infused with spirit. 

In terms of Cultural Responsiveness, a recent article in relation to the Australian rugby team taking a knee during the national anthem to highlight the Black Lives Matter movement at an upcoming game highlights the unconscious bias still prevalent today. 

Nick Farr-Jones a past player and commentator said the majority of Australians would agree "all lives matter" and does not believe the country has a problem with racism. 

The feedback has been scathing and summed up by an  anonymous player who stated  

"He's dreaming. That's a stupid comment. How would he know? He wouldn't know, he's not Aboriginal. I'm not fussed on the one knee thing but to say we haven't got an issue in Australia is ridiculous."

This probably sums up my thoughts about Cultural Responsiveness in New Zealand. We are a country colonised by refugees escaping poverty or oppression initially from  the UK. The issues of land ownership was one of the first cracks in the Treaty agreement and one still not resolved to all Iwi’s satisfaction today.

This tied in with Māori urbanisation, native schools, non-recognition of te reo and tikanga Māori had almost lead to the forced assimilation of Māori into  ‘white’ life.”

The link to the article below https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/28/google-disney-maori-new-zealand 

highlights some of these changes but there is still a long way to go. To be culturally responsive you have to have meaningful relationship with Māori where you accept and respect your similarities and differences. As teacher  we are fortunate to be able to do this but a large number of New Zealanders have little or no exposure to te reo and tikanga Māori and have no desire to do so. Despite the best efforts being made we will always fall back on our own cultural bias when confronted with something new or challenging. 

For upcoming generations a greater cultural diversity in their schools, sports fields, social groups and ultimately in their bedrooms will have some effect long-term in the creation of a true multi-cultural society. Our hope for the future is more attention through assimilation to the Deep Culture rather than the Surface Culture in the Cultural Iceberg from our class notes. This is a very powerful example of our current position.

Anne Milne (2017) argues that cultural identity is not a thing that needs to be celebrated on certain occasions such as cultural weeks, rather teachers and schools should embrace student cultural identity at every opportunity throughout curriculum and learning activities, school policies and events... schools have a role in sustaining culture instead of negating it. 

This I agree with and is why we have her daughter Dr Keri Milne as one of our educational experts in integrating aspects of Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Responsiveness into our gifted curriculum.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/28/google-disney-maori-new-zealand

https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/what-does-indigenous-knowledge-mean

CORE Education. (2017, 17 October). Dr Ann Milne, Colouring in the white spaces: Reclaiming cultural identity in whitestream schools.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cTvi5qxqp4&feature=em-subs_digest

https://medium.com/@parkersimon/the-architecture-of-meaning-aesop-6dab269000dc

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/rugby-union/just-don-t-do-it-guys-farr-jones-s-warning-for-wallabies-20201022-p567gt.html