He Taonga truly treasured by NZTC Associate Teacher
Alicia Savage says He Taonga is like her Bible.
The New Zealand Tertiary College (NZTC) Associate Teacher works at Andy’s Educare in Auckland which was recently gifted the Māori learning resource Te Reo Māori: He taonga mō ā tātou mokopuna (He Taonga) by the College.
“It’s a great tool for teachers like me with basic te reo to put simple sentences together in the context of early childhood education.”
She wishes she had the resource years ago as she feels passionate about reviving te reo Māori.
“My grandmother’s generation were the last in our family to speak te reo fluently so for me, there is a personal responsibility to revive our language and teach te reo.
“He Taonga gives me hope that for all of our teachers and students, no matter where they are along their bicultural journey, we can be confident in our practice by implementing this amazing taonga.”
NZTC independently funded the resource to provide practical support to early childhood educators teaching te reo Māori. Over 5000 copies will be gifted to the early childhood sector in 2016.
Savage has been an Associate Teacher (AT) with the College for five years and her main motivation behind wanting to be a mentor to NZTC students was giving back.
After experiencing great mentors when she began working in the sector, she now feels a responsibility to pass on her expertise and knowledge.
“It’s a proud moment when students make discoveries, those light bulb moments. You see them make connections between theory and practice and they go, ‘oh I get it now’.”
Learning however is not a one way street, and Savage enjoys having critical conversations about the latest literature or different teaching philosophies with students.
Articles printed from the professional development section of the NZTC AT website help inform her for those discussions.
She treasures a folder filled with articles that she has printed from the website and loans it out to colleagues or student teachers when they are struggling with a concept or need advice on subjects such as honesty and leadership.
Savage is considering studying towards a Master’s qualification at NZTC as she contemplates the next step within her vocation of early childhood education.