
Resistance
Posted on 01 November, 2023
https://poutamapounamu.org.nz/news/2023/resistance
Enacting our Agency
The last week of the school holidays saw over ninety kaiako who were immersed in the Blended Learning process come together online to connect, learn and share experiences. Exploring the kaupapa of resistance, they considered what actions they might take to resist practices within education culture and structures that contribute to inequity of outcomes.
"Some refer to colonialism as in the past and having finished, but for many it is very much felt and lived today."
- Kaiwhakaako
"When you have many people with the same problem, it’s not just a personal problem it’s a structural problem."
- Kaiwhakaako
The online format allowed Kaiwhakaako, who are currently engaging locally with small groups of colleagues, to collaborate both regionally and nationally, literally from Kaitaia to the Bluff.
The invitation to all Kaiwhakaako was to weave together their thinking with that of others – be it a paired activity, or a small group or the whole cohort. The opportunity to share concepts through waiata, video, visual art, photography and poetry alongside the critical theory provided a myriad of gateways through which every participant could find an entrance.
It is through these analytical, engaging and often challenging shared explorations of resistance - and what it is we are resisting – that the transformative power of Wānanga 2 comes into its own.
"Evidence that this kaupapa makes a positive impact for everybody is what we must continually lead with."
- Kaiwhakaako
"Resistance requires me to be vulnerable and to lead by example. This affirms the space that we create as Kaiwhakaako as one that is challenging but open to learning."
- Kaiwhakaako
The wānanga provides ample space for each Kaiwhakaako to explore transformative praxis and the links between what ‘we’ as an education system are built upon and what ‘we’ must deconstruct.
"We are only strong when we work together and have each other’s best interests at heart."
- Kaiwhakaako
Agency requires personal decisions to change and then draw in other people.
"Start to go, ‘huh, I can do that.’ It’s infectious. Agency is infectious."
- Kaiwhakaako
From Activating Critical Theories we understand that:
‘Conscientisation can make us aware but if we do nothing with that awareness, nothing changes. Resistance is about no longer accepting or turning a blind eye to acts of social injustice but doing something about them.
... the things that I need to do differently?'
Themes of shared strength, greater understanding, deeper questions and reinvigoration that come through in the shared reflections at the stage of the wānanga clearly point to the value placed on these sessions by all attendees, as both Kaiwhakaako and facilitators deepen one another’s thinking through ako.
"I'm leaving here with the challenge of being resistant in all my interactions and focusing on how I can develop a culture of resistance in my kura."
- Kaiwhakaako
"I’m leaving here with a renewed sense of the like-minded and strong hearted community motivated for equitable change."
- Kaiwhakaako
"I'm leaving here with that fire re-ignited...new perspectives, new resources, and so much more."
- Kaiwhakaako