Effective use of library by Pasifika- slanza

Encouraging effective use of the school library by Pasifika students SLANZA Conference 2011 Rob Finlay & Gail Cochrane Talofa lava Malo e lelei Kia orana Fakaalofa lahi atu Ni sa bula Malo ni Namaste Kia ora Welcome

In groups… What do these look like?
A. A library effectively-used by Pasifika students
B. A library not effectively- used by Pasifika students
Think of:
Activities - what is not happening?
- what is happening?
Attitudes to:
Being in the library/ library staff
Resources
Reading and learning

Reflection on our discussion
What makes a difference, in your experience or observation?
In what ways do Pasifika students respond like or unlike others?
Why?
Do Pasifika students require a different approach from other students?
If so what needs to be different?

A library effectively used by Pasifika students is one that is…

Pasifika advice, inspiration and support
Schools services website
Online community on Schools website Please join
Adviser Pasifika: [email_address] : (09) 365 8814
Local networking where there are several schools with high Pasifika rolls- common interest
Your local Pasifika staff, parents, churches, community and public library (Pasifika librarians)

Outline
Knowing your students
Knowing the education goals and issues for Pasifika students
Print and digital resources
Strategies that will engage Pasifika students and their families with the library, and with literacy and learning
The Library environment

1. Knowing your students
Know your students as individuals
Meet members of their families and communities
Involve Pasifika staff
Learn about the cultures, language and histories:
Tagata Pasifika
Cultural events
Literature
Magazines

Heritage strands
“ Oceania”
A sea of islands
Samoa Tokelau Cook Is Tonga Niue Fiji Tuvalu Other
Colonial experience
Colonising powers- variable/ Missionaries/ Traders/ Languages/ Settlers/ Travel/
Migration
Island born -- NZ born
2/3/4 generations/ intermarriage
New Zealand social, economic, educational experience

Melanesia Micronesia Polynesia Britain France Germany USA European Chinese Indian afakasi Traders Beachcombers Labourers Missionaries Settlers Sailors Administrators Soldiers Slavers Lapita High islands Atolls vaka/va’a Kanaks Islanders PI Influenza “Black Saturday” Dawn raids Pacific War Polynesian Panthers Treaty of Friendship Remittences Sione’s Wedding Fresh off the boat Churches, gangs and role models palagi Tagata Maori vanua moana Moby Dick Tusitala- RLS Noble savage Sons for the return home Tupaea Vikings of the sunrise Girl in the moon circle Niu Sila Australia

Varying strengths of cultural identity
Fluent language and “island” culture
(Island born, strong church/ family identity)
Pasifika culture
Identity and identification as Pasifika
Assimilation
(New Zealand born, Mixed-parentage, Isolation)

2. Knowing the education goals and issues for Pasifika students
“ Pasifika children often underachieve in literacy and exhibit disengagement and alienation at school. National and international reports on literacy performance continue to reveal low levels of achievement in reading among Pasifika students, to the extent that raising the levels of achievement in this area has become a focus for targeted funding in MOE initiatives .”
(Motivating Pasifika students in literacy learning)
What approaches can we take to this issue?
What is ‘Deficit thinking’?

Compass for Pasifika success and the Pasifika Education Plan
Compulsory sector goals
Ensure improved progress in literacy and numeracy
Increasing responsiveness to Pasifika learners and families
Increase effective engagement between Pasifika parents, families and teachers and schools focussed on learning
Where do school libraries contribute to these goals?
How do school libraries contribute?

How much attention is given to Pasifika students at your school?
Consider
Number/ proportion of Pasifika students
Number/ proportion of Pasifika staff
Access from Pasifika families and other adults
Policy
Special occasions
Library

3. Print and digital resources
For students
In Pacific languages
About Pacific heritage in the Islands
About the Pasifika experience in New Zealand
Other resources that Pasifika students will identify with
For Pasifika- resources that appeal
Engaging with the world

Two further questions
How can we bring Pacific Islands/ Pasifika worlds and works into the classroom?
for Pasifika students
for non-Pasifika students
How can we bring mainstream worlds and works to our Pasifika learners in a relevant and meaningful way?
P NP

About Pacific heritage: a question of approach
Siteine and Samu: three perspectives used in Social Science units
Oceanic - holistic, “draws attention to ancient Pacific people’s ways of seeing their world and to their actions in the present”
Small island - looks at individual “island states in terms of the geographic and economic features of the island state”
Tourist - has the effect of putting students with Pacific backgrounds “on show”, and “can serve to perpetuate the stereotypes, misrepresent cultural realities, and undermine a sense of belonging and identity.”

How people are represented is important
Patricia Grace (Pihama p 239):
“ If books do not… reinforce values, actions, customs, culture and identity, then they are dangerous… If there are not books that tell us about ourselves but only tell us about others, then they are saying ‘you do not exist’ and that is dangerous… However, if there are books that are about you and they are untrue, that is very dangerous… If there are books about you but they are negative and insensitive so that they are saying ‘you are not good’, that is dangerous.”

Print resources
Discuss:
The challenge: What are the issues?
The providers: Where do you go for resources?
The resources: What do you look for in resources for Pasifika students?
The alternatives: Where do you go when there aren’t print resources?

Pasifika languages
Which languages? and why?
Samoan Tongan Cook Is Maori Niuean Tokelauan
Hindi Fijian Tuvaluan Kiribati Tok Pisin
Bilingual
Resources available
Collect and preserve Tupu and Folauga material (MOE)
Sources:
Ethnic Word: www.ethnicword.co.nz
The Book Hut: http://www.thebookhut.co.nz/
Wheelers: http://www.wheelers.co.nz/spb/category/
Native Council: http://www.nativecouncil.co.nz/

Easy language materials for junior students- single language

Bilingual resources
Support literacy in both languages
Bilingual approach helps students with basic literacy
Bilingual resources, eg Bibles in Samoan/English, etc
Bilingual pages
Parallel translations in separate books, eg Tupu
Samoan Niuean

Easy language materials for junior students- bilingual Series in English and either Tongan, Samoan or Maori / Kahukura, Ahurewa New, from Native Council for PEC Also Tongan, more to come

Reference For children, by Betty Dunford, Bess Press, $204.30 Wheelers price

These are available , but many Pacific language dictionaries are out of print or in limited supply Digitisation may be a solution, eg Maori: http://www.lexilogos.com/english/maori_dictionary.htm

Myths and legends – bilingual/ English Tongan-English myths series Samoan-English TKI: Pasifika - Digital Legends English

Tagata tangata series: Oceanic perspectives Pearson/ Longman/ Secondary Note: these are textbooks, but we need the useful information. Useful case studies Pasifika: Study of Island Communities in the Southwest Pacific

Small island perspectives Not currently available Souvenirs of the South Pacific- out of stock and out of print

Tourist perspectives : Travel brochures Travel guides

History South Pacific History in Suite 101

Exploring the Pacific Pacific Voyaging Society http:// pvs.kcc.hawaii.edu / Vaka moana exhibitions http:// www.aucklandmuseum.com/vakamoana/default.asp Pacific vaka voyage : request a Google Alert for this current voyage. See also: http://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2011/04/20112012-pacific-vaka-voyage/ Tue 26/04/2011 out of print

Science Tuvalu, rising sea levels

About Pasifika experience in New Zealand The sad story of an island-born boy, Fa’amoana John Luafutu- from Macmillan Brown

Short stories and collections Not currently available

Picture books Tongan Samoan Bilingual Also by Catherine Hannken: Sel a fina , Fiapule Sole! books by Fata and Paula Letoa- OP

Picture books International Children's Digital Library New Zealand Picture Book Collection ; Living Heritage

Pacific writing - general

Pasifika poetry
Selina Tusitala Marsh and Pasifika poetry http://www.nzepc.auckland.ac.nz/pasifika/index.asp
Voices of the Pacific: a poetry resource, Diana O’Meara- includes Pasifika poets and writing about Pacific themes
-South Auckland Poets Collective

Pasifika drama
Sensitive use required
http:// www.blackfriarscompany.blogspot.com /

Pasifika fiction – primary and intermediate Very little Joy Cowley Eve Sutton

Pasifika fiction – secondary/ adult level Usually written for adults, may appeal to serious seniors

Pasifika fiction – by non-Pasifika writers

Art and Music

Cooking and food Me’a Kai won New Zealand Best Book of the Year in the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards , Dec 2010, and Gourmand World Cookbook Awards June 2011

Using other resources that reflect analogous experience

Discussion: From your observation, what resources appeal to Pasifika students? What are the features in these resource s that appeal? What strategies have you used successfully to draw Pasifika students to ‘mainstream worlds and works’?

Elements that are likely to appeal
Humour
Sport
Health
Injustice, oppression, succeeding against the odds
Biographies: famous men and women
Heroes
Poetry
Horror
War books
Adventure books
Graphic novels but response - varies between schools
Shakespeare
Bible stories
Maori myths and legends
Magazines
Romances
Usually no difference from anyone else Needs to be cool ‘ High interest, not just because it has Pasifika language or setting’

Digital resources- a survey

NZETC- N Z Electronic Text Centre http://www.nzetc.org/
Contemporary Maori and Pacific Islands
Historic Maori and Pacific Islands

Visual resources
Matapihi : http:// www.matapihi.org.nz /
Timeframes : http://find.natlib.govt.nz/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?vid=TF&fromLogin=true
PictureAustralia : http:// www.pictureaustralia.org /
Material culture: Virtual Museum of the Pacific : http:// epoc.cs.uow.edu.au/vmp /#

General search
Digital New Zealand: http:// www.digitalnz.org / .

Pacific Island cultures
Siapo.com: http://www.siapo.com
Living Heritage: http:// www.livingheritage.org.nz /
National Library Website high interest topics: http:// schools.natlib.govt.nz /high-interest-topics

History
NZ History online: http:// www.nzhistory.net.nz
PapersPast: http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast
Suite101.com online magazine
http://www.suite101.com/oceanic-history- historic and recent
http://www.suite101.com/polynesian-indigenous-people
Topics from Oceania: units for junior secondary history
http://www.aaaps.edu.au/?q+node/135

Resources for parents
To attract them to the Library
Pasifika newspapers, magazines and news websites
Taro Pages website (Auckland)
To (also) help them with parenting
SKIP (Strategies for Kids/ Information for Parents), Ministry of Social Development (Samoan, Tongan and Hindi )
Feed the mind resources in five Pacific languages and English
Borrowing rights for pre-school siblings

4. Strategies that will engage Pasifika students and their families with the Library, with literacy and learning

Principles for Pasifika student learning
Common cultural and identity characteristics
Each individual/ family/ community is different
Schools are different
Multicultural schools
Mainly Pasifika schools
Smaller Pasifika numbers
Providing for diversity
Providing for Pasifika “as Pasifika”
Providing for excellence

Providing for diversity
Most Pasifika students are in multicultural schools
Preferred learning style varies
communal and cooperative
individual
Know your students

Providing “for Pasifika as Pasifika”
Colouring in the white spaces, Ann Milne, APPA, 2009
“ white spaces” = schools sharing in the “background set of rules”, the risk of hegemony
Ka Hikitia
Research indicates that Pasifika students do better when taught under Te Kotahitanga principles
"Pasifika students at (Te Kotahitanga) schools had a 15.4 increase (in NCEA) over the same period compared to a 6.1 general increase for Pasifika"
Timperley, H., Wilson, A., Barrar, H., Fung, I., & Auckland, U. o. (2007 ) p.261
Kotahitanga- an overview

Providing for excellence- Teachers (and librarians) can improve outcomes for Pasifika learners when they :
Know the learner
Use home language(s), knowledge and experiences of Pasifika students… in the classroom
Ensure that students’ prior knowledge and experiences are activated and used to build a bridge between what they already know and new knowledge
Provide a range of culturally relevant texts, topics, contexts and perspectives
Draft Pasifika principles- Team Solutions Talanoa Akoako, 2008

Teachers and librarians can improve outcomes for Pasifika learners when they: (2)
Provide deliberate and explicit, transparent instruction about language as well as learning content
Provide high challenge with appropriate level of support
Provide multiple learning opportunities with a focus on learners using academic language
Make productive links with family and community
Draft Pasifika principles- Team Solutions Talanoa Akoako, 2008

Strategies for Literacy
Home-school partnerships
Reading to
Reading choice – Free and Voluntary Reading- and responses
Seeing adults and seniors read
Encouraging reading at school
Peer reading
Books at home
Letting students borrow books- scaffolding borrowing process
Reading together- Jeanne Biddulph
Summer reading

4. The Library environment
S ocial
O pportunity for involvement
C ulture and language
I nvolvement with the wider community
A esthetic and accoustic
L imits

S ocial
Library as fono - meeting place
A place becomes home when you can relax there
Homework centre
Special occasions for Pasifika hosted in the Library
Parent involvement
How do you create an atmosphere that draws Pasifika students?

O pportunity for involvement
As Student Librarians
Responsibility for Pasifika collection, displays
Pasifika teacher involvement with the Library team, student librarians
Targeted activities

C ulture and language
Knowing the students and their cultures
Resources in Pasifika languages, about Pasifika themes
Appropriate use of language in labelling
Sensitivity, eg pronunciation
Visibility

I nvolvement with the wider community
Pasifika teachers
Pasifika public librarians
Links with Pasifika community leaders
Pasifika parents
Pasifika events advertised (see Pasifika Online Community)

A esthetic and acoustic
Appearance- what does a Pasifika home look like?
Architectural features
Layout and design
Art and displays
Labelling
Sound- voices and music
Robertson Rd Mangere Koru Mangere Viscount, Mangere

L imits
Being at home includes a sense of appropriateness- boundaries
Being responsible as well as comfortable

In your small groups
What steps could you take to encourage Pasifika students to respond positively to the school library? (attitudes)
What other people/groups within/outside the school could you draw on to help make a difference?
What learning activities would you facilitate both in and beyond the school library that will enhance Pasifika student literacy and learning?
Draw up one priority action for each of Term 3 and 4, and another 2 for 2012

Koe kia
Tofa soifua Nofo a Aere ra Ni sa moce Olo la ni ‘ Bye Haere Ra

National Administration Guidelines (NAGs)
NAG1(c) on the basis of good quality assessment information, identify students and groups of students :
who are not achieving;
who are at risk of not achieving;
who have special needs (including gifted and talented students); and
aspects of the curriculum which require particular attention ;
NAG2A (c) report in the board’s annual report on:
the numbers and proportions of students at, above, below or well below the standards, including by Māori, Pasifika and by gender (where this does not breach an individual’s privacy); and
how students are progressing against the standards as well as how they are achieving.

The National Education Goals (NEGs)
NEG 1
The highest standards of achievement, through programmes which enable all students to realise their full potential as individuals, and to develop the values needed to become full members of New Zealand's society.
NEG 2
Equality of educational opportunity for all New Zealanders , by identifying and removing barriers to achievement.
NEG 10
Respect for the diverse ethnic and cultural heritage of New Zealand people, with acknowledgment of the unique place of Māori, and New Zealand's role in the Pacific and as a member of the international community of nations.

3. Strategies to encourage engagement with re sources
Literacy
Information literacy
Discussion

21 st century literacies and learning
Inquiry approach- questions
The advantages of an inquiry approach
Topics and themes

4. Interactive session:
An example- Sorry Samoa (Level 1 NCEA/ Level 5)
Working for your school
Locate resources for a unit you/ your school have planned

Sorry Samoa The background to Helen Clark’s apology, June 2002 Using Digital Resources to put Pacific Islands Culture and Heritage into the curriculum

Interactive session
Take a unit of work envisaged for your school:
Suggestions:
Picture books/ Poetry/
Myths and legends
A Social Studies theme in the Pacific Islands or immigration
A historical event, eg Nuclear testing, War in the Pacific
Locate resources- print and digital- to support the unit
Explore- think about access issues on school computers and how they could be used to develop interest.

Information for educators
Team Solutions Pasifika advisers: http://www.education.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/home/about/pasifika-at-the-faculty/pasifika-staff

Providing for excellence
Quality teaching and school structures are vital: a good teacher (or librarian) is a good teacher (or librarian) for Pasifika students as long as there is:
Empathy, understanding, good relationships and involvement
Understanding of the cultures
High expectations and firm boundaries
Positive reinforcement and support
Appropriate learning environments conducive to learning
Encouragement and support for students to understand learning processes and use effective learning tools in order to become independent learners

NZETC- N Z Electronic Text Centre http://www.nzetc.org/
Arts and Crafts of the Cook Islands
Collected songs and legends from the southern Cook Islands
Old Samoa by John B. Stair
The Material Culture of the Cook Islands ( Aitutaki ) by Te Rangi Hiroa
The Fijians: A Study of the Decay of Custom by Basil Thomson
Polynesian Researches by Ellis, William
An Introduction to Polynesian Anthropology by Te Rangi Hiroa
Vikings of the Sunrise by Te Rangi Hiroa (Sir Peter Henry Buck)
An Account of Samoan History up to 1918 by Te'o Tuvale

Engagement with Publisher and Supplier
Mary Hooker, South Pacific Books, now part of Wheelers Books
Evotia Tamua, Little Island Press, at Wheelers Books
Rachael Crowhen, The Book Hut
Our questions
Answers
Discussion
Follow up

Pasifika Students’ Resource Needs, Interests and Attitudes
Focus- on Pasifika students’ learning
Are their learning needs different from those of others? If so, what are they?
Do they have interests and attitudes that are unique and distinct? If so, what are they?
What principles do we need to take into account when we provide for their learning– and other- needs?

Effective use of library by Pasifika- slanza

by robfinlay on Sep 04, 2011

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Effective use of library by Pasifika- slanza — Presentation Transcript