Diana's Teaching Portfolio

Kia ora, Hola, Hello, Pialli,

Ko Chiapa te awa,  ko Sumidero te maunga,  nō Mexico ahau,  ki te taha o tōku mama ko Ngati Nahua te iwi,  ki te taha o tōku papa ko Ngati P’urhépecha te iwi,  ko Diana Albarrán González tōku ingoa.

In Aotearoa, Māori people introduce themselves saying their pepeha, this is mine.

My name is Diana Albarrán González, a Native Latin American from Mexico. This online portfolio documents my journey into secondary teaching training in Aotearoa New Zealand. The stories and reflections on this site are evidence of my development as a teacher in Technology combining the Standards of the Teaching Profession, Tātaiako, New Zealand Curriculum Key Competencies, my cultural background and my previous experiences as a design lecturer and researcher. 

"Muchos dice que rescatan la cultura, pero la cultura nos rescata a nosotros" El Coyote, danzante Mexica.

"Many claim they rescue culture, but culture rescue us" 

During our teaching practice week inside with our cohort, we could learn from each other at the same time we develop and practice our teaching skills. I particularly liked learning the content and teaching styles from the other teams. One of the other teams was teaching technology like my team, and the last team taught digital technology. 

The technology team formed by Jay, Lee and Fran focused on teaching whakairo (Māori carving). I very much enjoyed the first session visiting the Wharenui from the school. After observation and a brief explanation of the parts of the facade, we had to deduct from our observations the different locations of the pattern we were drawing and carving in the following sessions, raperape. This approach where the student infer or construct the knowledge by observations and experience make a significant impact compared to just reading the information from a text. We could learn how to draw the pattern, the meaning and uses behind it and carved our own piece, something I loved trying.

From a decolonising perspective, this approach differs significantly from Western approaches to design education and it focuses mostly on the visual without proper knowledge of the origin and meaning on the patterns. This commonly ends up being used as “inspiration” without proper recognition of the origin, and consequently, in cultural misappropriation of Indigenous design where patterns are decontextualised and misused. We can find examples of cultural misappropriation from Māori culture, and from Indigenous cultures in Mexico.

During our digital technology classes we could learn about digital citizenship and different aspects conforming it. My assumption on digital technology is that we would spend most of the time in front of the computer but it was a nice surprise to actually start the sessions away from it. It was a powerful experience to initiate the topic by being outside in the garden and reflecting on the importance to disconnect from the digital world and being connected to nature. Our project for the subject consisted in designing a poster explaining one or more aspects of digital citizenship on Canva, a free online design platform. I chose to do two posters, one about media balance and wellbeing, and digital footprint.

Learning and practicing with each other was a little nerve wracking at the beginning considering our peers have previous experience in the topic, while students would have a different approach and pace to it. However, I learn many different things from the experience and it was great to connect with people from a similar subject, some even almost unknown to me until that point.

Connection to Standards

During week 6 of our summer training, we had to do some hours of teaching training encompassing content development and delivery. Our technology group was divided into 3 different teams, each team had to conduct 4 lessons during the week. My team was formed by Losa who has an architecture degree, and Rubi with a visual communication degree and who will also work at Tāmaki college.

Our team focused on the Design process, particularly the FIDS model from Design for Change considering it a good entry point to design for Year 9. 

Design Challenge:

To design a natural space in your school to relax and connect with te taiao (the environment). This also required the connection to Te Titiriti o Waitangi through Partnership, Protection, Participation. 

Learning Outcomes:

To understand what is design and the design process.

To get familiar with the FIDS design process (Feel, Imagine, Do, Share).

To apply the different stages of the design process.

To work on a design challenge.

To develop a design project addressing a brief.

I found we had a good synergy working as a team, we all contributed and planned together since the beginning despite being the first time. Our initial meeting planning the complete structure helped us to create the foundation for the unit and divide the work where each of us took responsibility for one lesson in particular and co-created the last session. I was in charge of the introduction and the first step of the model, here is the presentation.

We divided our sessions approaching each step for each lesson and developed the complete unit plan for our Course Design assessment. However, we decided to reduce the weeks from 10 weeks to 6 weeks in the final proposal, to be more aligned with a typical term structure in a school.

After each session, we received feedback from our instructors to be integrated in our next lesson. I found this approach very useful since we could actively reflect and improve our practice during the week. This practice is aligned to the Teaching as Inquiry approach to be developed during our year of training and as qualified teachers.

The day of our last session I had to bring my daughter to the course, so I decided to integrate her to the activity as a “client” where everyone would present their project and justify how they were addressing the brief. It was very entertaining to the see the final proposal of each of our peers as well as their presentations.

We received good feedback in terms of the variety of exercises proposed that integrated outdoor activities. The multi sensorial exercises to connect with nature seemed to be powerful to experience a “relax” feeling, an important part of the design challenge. Another good feedback was about the use of quizzes in Kahoot! to test the learning at the end of the sessions. We also realised that having an external guest to evaluate their final projects was a successful strategy since they have to make sure they would cover the important aspects of their proposals and connect to the initial brief. 

Connection to Standards

During the wellness week (week 5), we had the opportunity to stay at Makaurau Marae to learn from tangata whenua and experience Noho Marae. Makaurau Marae is located in Ihumātao, a place of historical significance in Auckland.

“Makaurau marae is located in Ihumaatao, Mangere. Hapuu are Ngaati Te Ahiwaru and Ngati Mahuta of Te Wai-o-hua iwi, which affiliate with the Waikato-Tainui confederation. Makaurau marae stands in close proximity to the Manukau Harbour, the historic Otuataua Stonefields and 5 minutes from Auckland Airport. We are a marae rich in culture and history.”

Ihumātao not only is important as a historical place but it is also connected to local Māori wellbeing (hauora) as described by SOUL Save Our Unique Landscape initiative launched to protect this territory.

“The Ihumātao landscape (of which the land in question, Special Housing Area 62, is a part) is recorded on the United Nations International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) at risk register. This rare cultural heritage landscape (including SHA 62) matters because its stories, relationships, built heritage, ecological values and archaeological sites are critical to our understanding of the histories and futures of our city and country. For mana whenua (local Māori), this place embodies sources of identity and wellbeing as well as family, community and tribal relationships.”

Mana whenua and SOUL members have been an example of tino rangatiratanga, resistance and social justice. This land is an example of the historical oppression suffered from Māori as a consequence of colonisation where Te Titiriti o Waitangi has not been respected and honoured.

“In 2014 Auckland City, using the Special Housing Areas Act, designated 32 hectares adjacent to the Ōtuataua Stonefields Historic Reserve as a special housing area. This land, known as Puketāpapa, was confiscated ‘by proclamation’ under the New Zealand Settlements Act in 1863 as part of the colonial invasion of the Waikato that drove mana whenua of South Auckland from their lands ahead of the settler armies. These Crown actions breached the partnership agreement forged in the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi [...] The land is now owned by Fletcher Residential Limited, which intends to build a low-density subdivision with 480 high-price dwellings on this heritage landscape.”

The experience at Makaurau Marae intended to provide a unique learning experience directly with tangata whenua aligned with Standard 1: Te Tiriti o Waitangi partnership and Standard 4: Learning-focused culture. We could hear directly from Pania Newton, one of SOUL founders about purakau from Hape, the land and their experience with the Protect Ihumātao initiative, their whenua.

I had the opportunity to tautoko Protect Ihumātao on different occasions. The most recent being sharing korero in an Organise Aotearoa event on decolonisation algonside Dr Margaret Mutu and Pania Newton where I shared about my PhD research, something I will always be honoured for (and probably won’t recover from the imposter syndrome). 

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A post shared by Diana Albarrán González (@buenvivircentric)

Pania Newton took us to a hikoi in the whenua, shared stories and enabled us to connect with the land. Seeing and feeling the sunset from the maunga was a powerful and peaceful experience, a true taonga.

After the hikoi, we sat next to the ahi that has been burning since the beginning of Ihumātao action. During the session, we shared individual and group reflections on the day and our experience in Ako Mātātupu’s program and a gift to the fire, a symbolic offer to the kaupapa. Just a few meters away from the place we were gathering, it was a pleasant surprise to find a Jacaranda tree in bloom, a common flower in Mexico. I offered a Jacaranda puti as a symbol of connection to my land and my host land of Aotearoa. 

Just a few days after our Noho marae, the government announced the end of the land dispute where all the parties are reaching a resolution where the land will return to tangata whenua.

Connection to Standards

The summer intensive course required three weeks of in-school experience. My house team, Manaia, was assigned to Kia Aroha College. I have heard about this school for their approach to decolonise and re-indigenise education in Aotearoa and raise warrior scholars.

“Kia Aroha College is focused on developing “Warrior-Scholars” —which we define as young people, secure in their own identity, competent and confident in all aspects of their cultural world, critical agents for justice, equity and social change, with all the academic qualifications and cultural knowledge they need to go out and change the world. ”

In Aotearoa New Zealand, the majority of schools are public following a mainstream approach but Kia Aroha College is a Designated Special Character school, something I haven’t heard before. The Ministry of Education defines Designated Special Character schools as “a state school that has a particular character which sets it apart from ordinary state schools and kura kaupapa Māori. The only students who may enrol at a designated character school are those whose parents accept the particular character of the school." However, the definition does not provide a clear view of how they operate or the differences with mainstream schools, our experience in Kia Aroha College gave us a glimpse on this. 

The school is divided into “villages” based on cultural background: Māori (Tupuranga), Samoan (Lumana’i) and Tongan (Fonoamalu). Within each village, students are grouped into juniors and seniors until year 12. In year 13, students from the different villages take lessons together at the library.

It was interesting to notice that students who are not Māori, Samoan or Tongan end up in the Tongan village. We asked the principal the reason why this happens, she says there is no particular reason but it has organically emerged. During some conversations with students from different countries and/or cultural backgrounds in Fonuamalu, it was mentioned they feel encouraged to connect with their own cultures and languages, something they appreciated and valued.

Team Teaching

I was fortunate to team teach with Matua Numia, an experienced Māori communicator, kapa haka performer from Tūhoe (honestly, I don't even know which words to use to describe him but I could say I saw how he embodies “being” Tūhoe, so awesome to witness), and with Sam who recently finished a master in English. My teaching experience mostly has been done individually, so this was a great opportunity to collaborate and develop other skills. We were assigned to Senior Tupuranga where we had to observe and team teach during our stay.

Cultural Identity, Tuakiritanga

We decided to focus our lessons on Cultural Identity where each one of us would concentrate on different aspects from the topic. Starting from the individual by Sam, to the Māori community by Matua Numia and finishing with global connections by me. Using a Marae as analogy, we tried to explain the different levels from the individual to the connection with the stars and the cosmos. My lesson proposal can be found here.

This approach aligned to Kia Aroha School lenses as a tripod where red is their culture or everything the child was born with, blue is curriculum or academic things and green is global or everything outside the classroom.

The final presentation unified the results of our individual lessons through installation and waiata performance. 

Connection to Standards

As part of our summer intensive teaching course in our host school, it was required to create and develop a lesson for our tauira. Considering my cultural background, I wanted to create a lesson to connect Indigenous knowledge from Mexico and Aotearoa from a decolonising design perspective like my PhD research. During my PhD journey, I learned from my supervisor Dr Jani Wilson and her research in mahi toi that this term aligns better to my views on art, design and craft, different from the Western perspective where these are classified and assigned hierarchies. Therefore, approaching mahi toi practice seemed an appropriate and hands-on activity to be developed during class.

As part of our team teaching approaching Cultural Identity, I design a lesson for students to make an Indigenous Mexican mahi toi (aka artesanía). The following description and reflection were part of my submitted assignment.

Making a Sikuli, Ojos de Dios, God’s Eye

Learning Intention:

To understand and reflect on the importance of mahi toi (design, arts and crafts) for Indigenous people. 

To connect Māori worldview with Indigenous Mexican worldview (Mesoamerica). 

Success Criteria: 

To build a God’s eye (Ojo de Dios, Si’kuli) from Huichol (Wixarika), Indigenous people from Mexico, and each student to connect it with Māori identity or value attaching a symbol/pattern or word in a mobile element at the bottom of the piece.

Reflection

Displaying mahi toi from Mexico (design, arts, crafts, textiles) around the room helped to raise the interest of the students towards the topic. It also helped to explore and understand what the students’ previous knowledge on the topic was. Also, the diversity of books like world atlas, archaeological, stories and comic books about Mexico was an easy introduction and an aid to settle the students on arrival or during the exercise. This different medium aligns to Ako from Te Kotahitanga (Bishop & Berryman, 2009) by providing different teaching strategies. It also provides a sensorial experience appealing students that are visual and kinesthetic, to mention some.

Connection to Te Ao Māori was directly shown in the work of some students. For example, one student described her work using the colour of the Tino Rangatiratanga flag. This aligns to Ako and the respect and understanding on Māori culture and beliefs (Bishop & Berryman, 2009).

Symbolism through colours scheme, and the connection of mahi toi with cultural identity and wellbeing is visible in the description of colours in relation to emotions. The New Zealand curriculum mentions the importance of wellbeing in students for effective learning and to support lifelong learning (Ministry of Education, 2007).

At the beginning, some sessions had a slow start requiring more encouragement and direct/personal demonstrations from my part to keep students engaged. Once the students understood and started the making process, they became engaged in the activity and kept working individually or alongside their peers.

The last day of the session there were more students than scheduled. One student came back again after even though he took the same session on the first day, and two students who were not enrolled, perhaps because they missed the first days or because they belong to other classes, joined and they even created their own God’s eye, Si’kuli or Ojo de Dios.

Also, in the last session, some students asked me to teach them dances we do in Mexico. So, we had an improvised dance session of Latin rhythms like cumbia and bachata. I think this last session was the most fun for all of us. They asked to take some pictures at the end of the class. These images became an important taonga of my experience. This experience link to the importance of developing strong connections with students through manaakitanga and whanaungatanga (Ministry of Education, 2011).

The installation in the presentation day showcased the results of the sessions, displaying los Ojos de Dios made by the students during the three days. The change of location for the installation brought uncertainty and lack of preparation from my side by not knowing the space. It is important to know the space in advance to plan accordingly.

Connection to Standards

The Standards for the Teaching Profession (STP) are established by the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand to know and develop high quality practices for teachers in their contexts.

The elaboration section of each standard in these post were elaborated by my Kaihāpai Nyra Marshall.

Standard 1: Te Tiriti o Waitangi partnership

Demonstrate commitment to tangata whenuatanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi partnership in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Elaboration of the standard:

Understand and recognise the unique status of tangata whenua in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Understand and acknowledge the histories, heritages, languages, and cultures of partners to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Practice and develop the use of te reo and tikanga Māori.

Standard 2: Professional learning

Use inquiry, collaborative problem-solving and professional learning to improve professional capability to impact on the learning and achievement of all learners.

Elaboration of the standard:

Inquire into and reflect on the effectiveness of practice in an ongoing way, using evidence from a range of sources.

Critically examine how my own assumptions and beliefs, including cultural beliefs, impact on practice and the achievement of learners with different abilities and needs, backgrounds, genders, identities, languages and cultures.

Engage in professional learning and adaptively apply this learning in practice.

Be informed by research and innovations related to: content disciplines; pedagogy; teaching for diverse learners including learners with disabilities and learning support needs; and wider education matters.

Seek and respond to feedback from learners, colleagues and other education professionals, and engage in collaborative problem-solving and learning-focused collegial discussions.

Standard 3: Professional relationships

Establish and maintain professional relationships and behaviours focused on the learning and well-being of each learner.

Elaboration of the standard:

Engage in reciprocal, collaborative, learning-focused relationships with: learners, family, and whānau, teaching colleagues, support staff, and other professionals agencies, groups, and individuals in the community.

Communicate effectively with others.

Actively contribute, and work collegially, in the pursuit of improving my own and organisational practice, showing leadership, particularly in areas of responsibility.

Communicate clear and accurate assessment for learning and achievement information.

Standard 4: Learning-focused culture

Develop a culture which is focused on learning, and is characterised by respect, inclusion, empathy, collaboration, and safety.

Elaboration of the standard:

Develop learning-focused relationships with learners, enabling them to be active participants in the process of learning, sharing ownership and responsibility for learning.

Foster trust, respect, and cooperation with and among learners so that they experience an environment in which it is safe to take risks.

Demonstrate high expectations for the learning outcomes of all learners, including for those learners with disabilities or learning support needs.

Manage the learning setting to ensure access to learning for all and to maximise learners’ physical, social, cultural and emotional safety.

Create an environment where learners can be confident in their identities, languages, cultures, and abilities.

Develop an environment where the diversity and uniqueness of all learners is accepted and valued.

Meet relevant regulatory, statutory, and professional requirements.

Standard 5: Design for learning

Design learning based on curriculum and pedagogical knowledge, assessment information and an understanding of each learner’s strengths, interests, needs, identity, language and cultures.

Elaboration of the standard:

Select teaching approaches, resources, and learning and assessment activities based on a thorough knowledge of curriculum content, pedagogy, progressions in learning and the learners.

Gather, analyse, and use appropriate assessment information, identifying progress and needs of learners to design clear next steps in learning and to identify additional supports or adaptations that may be required.

Design and plan culturally responsive, evidence-based approaches which reflect the local community and Te Tiriti o Waitangi partnership in New Zealand.

Harness the rich capital that learners bring by providing culturally responsive and engaging contexts for learners.

Design learning that is informed by national policies and priorities.

Standard 6: Teaching

Teach and respond to learners in a knowledgeable and adaptive way to progress their learning at an appropriate depth and pace.

Elaboration of the standard:

Teach in ways that ensure all learners are making sufficient progress, monitor the extent and pace of learning, focusing on equity and excellence for all.

Specifically support the educational aspirations for Māori learners, taking shared responsibility for these learners to achieve educational success as Māori.

Use an increasing repertoire of teaching strategies, approaches, learning activities, technologies, and assessment for learning strategies and modify these in response to the needs of individuals and groups of learners.

Provide opportunities and support for learners to engage with, practise, and apply learning to different contexts and make connections with prior learning.

Teach in ways that enable learners to learn from one another, to collaborate, to self-regulate, and to develop agency over their learning.

Ensure learners receive ongoing feedback and assessment information and support them to use this information to guide further learning.