"The most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen"
On Monday 27th January, I had the pleasure to be part of a school wide PD on Cultural Responsiveness. Here the facilitators Whaea Jo and Whaea Chris shared their stories. The activity that followed was for us to pair up and share with our partner, our name, fun fact, where we call home.
I shared about my German heritage, I am named after Albert Smidt who arrived in Samoa with his family. His Son Bismark married into my Fathers family and there my German heritage began. I also shared my Mothers surname actually changed to Wilson as my Great Great Uncles tried to join the army but their name "Leota" was too difficult and too "Non" European.
These stories and all the others shared by everyone else gave us all an insight to each other, gaining connections through similar stories. For example, the story of my Great Great Uncles was similar to others who had their names changed.
This highlighted a great way for us as educators to share connections with the tamariki we teach. The activity was not forced and and we were not pressured to share more than we wanted. It was a perfect way to model this type of activity with our tamariki.
I am strong believer in finding connections with our tamariki, this is an activity I will put into my practice. Making our tamariki, especially our Maori and Pasifika learners whom these connections are essential.
If I look back to my schooling, those teachers who made the effort to know me, find a common ground and make connections, are the very reason I wanted to be a teacher. I felt heard, appreciated and important. So I relate my last point to the saying at the beginning of this post, to listen is powerful, to listen is essential, listening is what I will do more of.
