From left: Dr Amy Scott, senior lecturer Jen Smith and Dr Kay-Lee Jones
听
Since 2021, a research team that includes Education Senior Lecturer听Dr Amy Scott听from the听UC Child Well-being Institute,听has been working on turning five Tuahiwi-based stories into children鈥檚 picture books with illustrations by a wh膩nau local M膩ori artists: Christine Harvey, T艒mairangi Taiepa and Akeake Taiepa.
The team met with Tuahiwi wh膩nau, including local kaum膩tua (elder), to collect over 20 hours of k艒rero (conversation). Their stories share experiences of kapa haka, mahinga kai (food gathering), mahi 墨nanga (whitebaiting), history of the Kaiapoi P膩, and intergenerational experiences of Tuahiwi Marae.听
Dr Scott鈥檚 work focuses on ways to facilitate literary success for all tamariki.
鈥淚 love literacy and reading because of the opportunities it gives children to open them up to the world. We鈥檝e looked at how we can use our traditional Western science view of literacy acquisition and weave it together with m膩tauranga M膩ori (M膩ori knowledge),鈥 she says.
鈥淲e wanted to capture this m膩tauranga and put it in a way that鈥檚 accessible for young children. It鈥檚 also a springboard for further conversations,鈥 Dr Scott says.
Using story themes taken from the k艒rero (conversation), Ng膩i Tahu M膩ori language expert听Lynne Harata Te Aika听has written the stories and created both a te reo M膩ori and a bilingual English/te reo M膩ori version.
The pukapuka (books) will be gifted to both the school and the Tuahiwi community to use in classrooms and in wh膩nau homes.
Dr Scott explains Ng膩i T奴膩huriri retains the 鈥渄ata sovereignty鈥, and the content of the books is their knowledge.
The books are part of a broader research project funded by the Teacher-led Research Innovation Fund. The project is led by听UC senior lecturer Jen Smith听(Ng膩ti Wh膩tua, Ng膩puhi, Te Roroa) and involves听听(Ng膩ti Porou, Te Aitanga a M膩haki, Te Wh膩nau a Kai), Dr Amy Scott, Ng膩i T奴膩huriri kaitiaki Liz Kerer奴, Tuahiwi School and Tuahiwi Marae.
鈥淚n collaboration with Ng膩i T奴膩huriri, we will research the impact of these stories on te reo M膩ori vocabulary learning of 5 鈥 8-year-olds at Tuahiwi School. We鈥檒l also gain insights from teachers and wh膩nau on the impact of having access to place-based stories in their homes and classrooms. Tuahiwi will decide what happens with the books and stories after that.鈥澨
The project is already showing the value of having stories immortalised and working in collaboration,
鈥淲e鈥檙e creating a blueprint for other marae and iwi 鈥 how they might go through the process of capturing their own stories as children鈥檚 books. There are lots of p奴r膩kau (stories) sitting in people鈥檚 minds.听 We are suggesting a way to be able to bring them to life on the page,鈥 Dr Scott says.
鈥淭hroughout our work with Tuahiwi, tamariki (children) have been at the core of everything we do. It will be interesting to see the results of research about how these books support the children鈥檚 grasp of te reo M膩ori. It also has a wider impact on the community, by listening to the kaum膩tua (elder) and bringing people together to hear and keep these stories alive,鈥 she says.
