Bursts and Bubbles

Over the past few years here at Somerville, I’ve found myself becoming intrigued about cultural capabilities and how we, as teachers, can support one another to grow in this area. When I first started, I never imagined the impact this journey would have not just on my own teaching, but on the confidence and connection across the school. I was not confident in my own ability to implement anything school wide but reflecting on it now I have found how I doubted myself and it was successful.

Last year, myself with the learning languages team worked to make language weeks more meaningful, providing teachers with resources that helped them explore and celebrate different cultures. With the support of one of our amazing speech and language therapists, we created multilingual visuals for every classroom; in English, Te Reo Māori, and New Zealand Sign Language which were rolled out this year.. These visuals might seem small, but in my eyes they had the ability to make a huge difference. They give both teachers and learners an easy way to communicate and connect even if they aren’t confident yet in Te Reo or sign language.

All of this got me thinking about a bigger question: How can we strengthen practices among our staff to build confidence in developing our cultural capabilities?

Because what I’ve noticed is many teachers want to celebrate cultural diversity but the confidence is missing. And for some of our overseas-trained teachers, Te Reo Māori and New Zealand Sign Language are completely new. These are such important parts of who we are, and I want everyone to feel confident bringing them into their classrooms.

To get a sense of where we were starting, I sent out a survey. I asked our teachers how confident they felt using Te Reo Māori in the classroom. The results were really interesting, no one said they were very confident. Most teachers sat around a 6-7, and a few were at the lower end; a 1 or 2 feeling unsure where to begin.

When I asked what they needed support with, most teachers said adapting resources for diverse learners and building culturally inclusive classrooms. That made total sense. Here at Somerville, we have such a wide range of abilities and needs, so supporting cultural diversity and supporting learning diversity really go hand in hand.

From this, I identified three main barriers:

A lack of confidence and knowledge in Te Reo Māori and NZSL. Communication challenges, especially in special education where every learner is different. And a shortage of resources, time, and support materials.

From this I came up with three hunches:

1. If I could support overseas-trained teachers to learn more Te Reo, their confidence would grow.

2. If we could collaborate more in our cultural practices, our learners would engage more.

And 3. If I created clear, ready-to-use plans and resources, teachers would feel more confident using them.

Around this time, I read a book that truly shifted my thinking. “Teaching to the North-East by Russell Bishop.” He talks about moving away from “deficit thinking” , the idea that a student’s language or culture is a barrier and instead, seeing those things as strengths. His concept of relational pedagogy really resonated with me, that strong, caring relationships are not just “nice to have,” they’re the foundation of good teaching. It made me think: our classrooms should feel like whānau, like extended families, where everyone’s voice matters. So I took these ideas and built an intervention, something gradual and sustainable, not just a one-off.

We expanded our Language Week resources, but this time we didn’t stop there. We ensured the multilingual visuals were across the school. We created a school karakia and waiata in collaboration with Ngāti Paoa. We reformed our Kapa Haka group, open to every learner who wanted to join and we ensured our shared drive was full of accessible, easy-to-use resources for teachers.

Being honest, when this was first rolled out, engagement wasn’t quite what I hoped for. Teachers seemed interested, but time was tight, classrooms were busy and there was a lot competing for attention. So instead of pushing harder, I stepped back, and simplified things. With support I made the resources more flexible, things teachers could pick up and use instantly, without extra planning. And this seemed to make a difference. Slowly, engagement grew.

By the end of the year, we saw growth. Teachers’ confidence in using Te Reo Māori and NZSL had risen from around 3 to 7 out of 10. Confidence in culturally responsive teaching also increased from 5 to around 7. At the start of the year, most classes included cultural content once or twice a term. By Term 4 it was reported that nearly every class was weaving it into their daily routines. Simple things such as greetings, waiatas, karakia became regular parts of our school day.

One of the reflections said that “At the start of the year, I focused on learning about each learner’s background. Now, I’m actively celebrating culture every day, it’s become part of who we are as a class.”

That comment really summed up the change for me. This may not yet be the whole school but we are working on moving in the right direction. When collecting data at the end of the year to see progress it was expressed that a highlight of the year was our Cultural Festival, the energy, the pride, the smiles. It was such a celebration of who we are as a school.

But even more exciting was knowing that culture isn’t just something we celebrate once a year anymore, it's something we are striving to live every day.

Looking ahead, we still remain focused on growing confidence in Te Reo Māori and NZSL, embedding them more deeply across our curriculum, and enhancing our partnerships with whānau. This year has shown that change is gradual, driven by consistent effort, collaboration, and reflection. And most of all together, we are creating a Somerville where language, culture, and identity are celebrated every day.

Adapting on the Go: What Monitoring Has Taught Me

When I first set out to implement this project, I had a clear plan in mind. But, as with most things in education, the reality in the classroom quickly reminded me that flexibility is key.

During the monitoring stage, I started to notice that the overall participation and engagement wasn’t quite where I hoped it would be. Teachers were interested, but time was tight. Classes were already packed with other priorities, and my initiative was competing for attention.

Rather than pushing harder, I decided to step back and rethink my approach. I began tweaking the resources so they could be more easily integrated into everyday lessons or during language weeks. I simplified some activities with help from others who sent amazing resources to me, created shorter versions for quick use, and adapted materials to suit different learners making sure that everyone, regardless of ability or learning style, could take part meaningfully, even if this was just through song.

These small but intentional changes made a big difference in my opinion. We saw more engagement and the intervention began to feel like a natural part of classroom rather than an extra task for some.

Monitoring has shown me that success isn’t always about sticking rigidly to the original plan, it’s about being responsive, adaptable, and willing to meet people where they are and sometimes adding more is just too much.

Interventions: Part 2

Introducing multilingual visuals, cultural practices, and inclusive resources is only the first step in the implementation their impact is just as important. In our school, we do this through a combination of classroom observations, participation tracking, and teacher feedback. Observations from team leaders help us see how students engage with visuals, Te Reo Māori, and New Zealand Sign Language, while tracking participation shows who is involved and who might need a little extra support and if they are valuable to learning.

Teacher feedback plays a key role too. Our staff are encouraged share what strategies are working well and highlight any challenges they notice, giving us a clear picture of what’s effective in real classroom settings. This will be more present and the end of the year when another survey is sent out. 

To keep everything fresh and meaningful, I have tried to review our resources and routines, ensuring materials remain accessible and engaging for learners. Reflective meetings and brief reports help us celebrate successes, address any gaps, and plan next steps. This ongoing process ensures that our focus on cultural capabilities isn’t just a one-off initiative or tokenistic, it's a sustainable, evolving part of school life. 

We will see how this goes and I will make adjustments if needed as the year progresses.

Interventions: Part 1

From the information gathered and my existing knowledge, I decided to make the intervention slow and gradual throughout the whole year to best support both teachers and learners. We already had resources and activities in place to support teachers during various language weeks, and these were expanded each year. While this created a sense of confidence during those weeks, it did not provide enough support throughout the rest of the year. So what could we do about this.....

Firstly, myself along with Speech and langauge therapists supplied teachers and classes with multilingual visuals that included English, Te Reo Māori, and New Zealand Sign Language, using the same symbols as our coreboards. This provided a clear and consistent starting point for teachers and learners. It helped create a cohesive environment where, even if you were not confident in Te Reo or sign language, you could refer to the visuals as guidance. This was particularly valuable for new teachers at Sommerville.

Secondly, we re-established a school Kapa Haka group for learners to join. There were no specific requirements to participate, and we have seen how much the learners enjoy it. It has also provided teachers with exposure to different cultures and encouraged collaboration between classes. This year marks the first combined special school cultural festival, in which the kapa haka group will perform. This supports cultural capabilites along with collaboration. In line with this, the learning languages team, which I led this year, created a school karakia. We collaborated with Ngāti Paoa to ensure an accurate translation in Te Reo Māori that reflected our school. The karakia was shared with teachers alongside a waiata, this was put to music so that the whole school could begin learning it together.

Lastly, we hold a whole school cultural festival each year. While this is not a new initiative, it remains an important way of celebrating all cultures in our school and fostering an inclusive environment.

All resources provided to staff have been stored in the shared drive for easy access and ongoing support. These resources will continue to grow as new materials are developed. Having a central bank of resources is particularly helpful for our teachers, allowing them to revisit materials whenever they need additional support.

Causal Chain

 

My causal chain focus on the thought process behind creating my inquiry focus and what my interventions are going to be.  

What is the literature saying. ….

During my research I focused on the book “Teaching to the North East” by Russell Bishop. This book was mesmerising. It completely changed my viewpoint on education and made me have so many questions. Why is it that there are still toxic environments in education where students face marginalisation every day? Even though we are getting better there is still a huge gap in education. 

In Teaching to the North-East, Russell Bishop challenges educators to move away from deficit thinking that views the languages, cultural perspectives, and prior knowledge of marginalised students as barriers to learning. Instead, he argues these should be celebrated and utilised as powerful assets in the classroom. Central to his approach is relational pedagogy, which emphasises that strong, caring relationships between teachers and students are not optional extras, but the very foundation of effective teaching. Bishop describes the “north-east quadrant” as the optimal space where teachers achieve both high relational engagement and high quality interactive pedagogy, resulting in meaningful and fair learning experiences for all. He encourages teachers to create classrooms that operate like extended families, where power is shared, students’ voices are legitimised, and learning is co-constructed around their lived experiences. Importantly, Bishop highlights the need for teachers to continually monitor the impact of their relationships and teaching practices, making responsive adjustments to ensure every student thrives (Bishop, R. (2019). Teaching to the North- East. NZCER Press).  

Without this we face segregation, students who do not want to come to school and whanau are disengaged. “All students have a cultural fund of knowledge” (2022, The Education Hub) in classrooms this is what should be used and celebrated. In a classroom there is no room for cultural assumptions. 

With this all in mind I have thought deeply about what intervention would be useful to our school and how to support not only teachers in the classroom but creating a sense of belonging for cultures at Sommerville.

Barriers we face

In New Zealand special schools, there are several barriers to building strong cultural capabilities. One main challenge is a lack of cultural understanding among staff. Some teachers may not be confident in using Māori language (te reo Māori) or following Māori customs (tikanga), which are important in New Zealand's education system. Without training and support, it can be hard for staff to include cultural practices in everyday learning.

Another barrier is communication. Students in special schools often have diverse needs, and it can be difficult to match teaching methods with both their learning needs and cultural background. Some students come from Māori or Pacific Island families, and their cultural values may be different from what schools usually focus on.

Lastly, resources can be a problem. We do not have enough staff, time, or cultural materials to fully support every student's identity.

To improve, we need more training, support, and strong partnerships with local communities. This will help create a learning environment where all cultures are welcomed and respected, this is trying to happen at Sommerville but it is a big job. 

Looking at these barriers I have come up with 3 hypotheses/ hunches;

They are, if I can support oversea trained teachers to gain more knowledge in te reo then they will be more confident in using it in their classes. If we are collaborative in our cultural practices it will create more engagement with our learners and if I create plans for teachers it will increase confidence for teachers to teach te reo and NZSL. We are wanting to create an inclusive and cohesive cultural school and this can only be done if all adults are on the same page, this is why my hunches are so. 

Next I am going to be looking into what the research says and how through this I can create an intervention for our school. 

 

Where am I headed this year?

Throughout my few years at Somerville I have become interested in cultural capabilities and how to better support teachers around this. Last year I became the curriculum leader in learning languages and our team supported the school during language weeks to support classes with resources for everyone to learn about that culture. With the support of one of the speech and language therapist I have made bi-lingual visuals for every class to support our school and the learners, focusing on english (with coreboard visuals), te reo and NZSL. 

 Because of all of this the question I have chosen is: How can we strengthen practices among our staff to build confidence in developing our cultural capabilities? I chose this inquiry because I have a theory that many teachers are not confident in teaching and celebrating cultural diversity in classes. We have a few overseas trained teachers so they do not yet know te reo and NZSL and as these are important in New Zealand we want everyone to be confident in teaching basics in our school. I think it is important to provide teachers with resources to support their own learning and their students learning. 

 First off I am collecting data on how confident our teachers are at the start of the school year and where we think our next steps are for supporting culturally capable teachers in our school. 

 Watch this space.

A little about me

Hi, my name is Aimee and I work with the transition learners at Sommerville School, aged 16-21 years old. We are a diverse group who work collaboratively and are culturally responsive while working to meet the needs of our learners. We focus on life after school and to become as independent as possible before leaving Sommerville. We aim to find learners'interests and get involved in the community.

Teaching as Inquiry 2025

“Recognising and spreading sophisticated pedagogical practice across our community so that students learn in better and more powerful ways...”

The Manaiakalani Community of Learning is working together on this task using the expertise existing in of our community of learning.

In 2025 for my inquiry I have selected the following CoL achievement challenge 

#5. Improve the achievement of students with additional needs in the learning areas of English/key competency using language symbols and texts

The teaching as inquiry framework I will be using in 2025 has been specifically co-constructed for Manaiakalani schools using our familiar Learn Create Share structure.
The elements in this framework share close similarities with other models New Zealand teachers use.

I will be labelling my posts as I update my inquiry throughout the year to make the content easy to access.

Labels:

LEvidence, LScan, LTrend, LHypothesise, LResearch, LReflect,

 CPlan, CTry, CInnovate, CImplement, CReflect,

SPublish, SCoteach, SModel, SGuide, SFback, SReflect

Label Key:

LEvidence	Learn - Gather Evidence	CPlan	Create - Make a plan	SPublish	Share - Publish
LScan	Learn - Scan	CTry	Create - Try new things	SCoteach	Share - Co-teach
LTrend	Learn - Identify Trends	CInnovate	Create - Innovate	SModel	Share - Model
LHypothesise	Learn - Hypothesise	CImplement	Create - Implement	SGuide	Share - Guide
LResearch	Learn - Research	CReflect	Create - Reflect	SFback	Share - Feedback
LReflect	Learn - Reflect			SReflect	Share - Reflect