Maori , Music and Me

My Maori roots whakapapa to Ngati Kahungunu on the East coast. Although I spent many summers with family in Hastings,most of my childhood was spent in South Auckland with little connection or understanding of my identity as a Maori. However, my most poignant musical memories have been moments on the Marae, where the waiata, tauparapara and karanga affected me somewhere deep in my being.

My music background is in Jazz performance and later on I did a post grad diploma in primary teaching. I did a short attempt as a classroom teacher but not long after having my first child, I landed a job as a Music specialist at Edendale School in Auckland.

Although I studied the saxophone at University, it has become more on an ornament in recent times. However, through learning more about who i am and what my values are, I have realised the type of music I am interested in sharing is the type that is inclusive, accessible and heart based. Relying less on intellect and more on connection, beauty and simplicity.

The first couple of terms I was dependent on music curriculum books, teaching pre made lesson plans without much deviation from the set plan.

To try to make my work more interesting, I started to google other ideas on teaching music. I stumbled upon a few videos of teachers running lessons using something by the name of ‘Orff Schulwerk’. Intrigued and impressed, this led me down a rabbit hole of many different videos and sites demonstrating and/or explaining the philosophy , pedagogy and implementation of the Orff Approach.

Within weeks I was hooked and by the end of the term, I enrolled in the week long, Level one workshop run in Dunedin by ONZA ( Orff NZ).

For me, this experience demonstrated that music is much more than a subject. It has a fundamental role in eliciting unity, beauty, meaning, identity, joy, creativity and connections and is beneficial for all students. One Orff principle that particularly struck me was acknowledging cultural context; using the stories and songs of the land and its people.

The last Orff course i attended provided an opportunity for participants to fully engage with music education in our bi-cultural context by using a Maori legend as a thematic basis for the course. Inclusions were Mihi whakatau, karakia and a Kapahaka component.

The whole tone of this course was different from previous ones. As a Maori women, despite having little knowledge of tikanga and reo, I felt alot safer in this environment to be and share who i was, particularly emotionally and spiritually.

This experience got me thinking more about my identity as a Maori, and the value of ‘Te ao maori’in education.

At the time, I was teaching at a high decile school in Auckland where only 3% of the students identified as Maori. I realised that the little experience I had with MAori culture was far greater than most of the teachers at the school so by default, became one of the Maori experts in the school.

Whilst I felt I was fumbling through,I made an effort to pass on my knowledge and understanding of Te reo and Tikanga through my job as a music teacher. Whakatauki, Waiata and correct pronunciation was threaded into my lessons. As my own understanding of the importance of Maori perspectives, language and Tikanga grew, so did my passion to form a School Kapahaka group. This was met with such enthusiasm and interest that there were over 45 students of mainly european and asian background fully embracing waiata, Haka and tikanga with dedication, respect and pride.

These are my grandparents, Taanga and Elva Tomoana. Through attending a Te Ao maori course i was deeply moved by the concept of whakapapa. That we are represent all the ancestors who come before us going right back to our connections to Hawaiki. In this unsettled world, it is comforting to know that my ancestors are cheering me on

In 2017, my family moved out of Auckland to Paeroa.

One of my first jobs to get was at Paeroa Central School with an 100% maori roll. I remember being the powhiri and having my hairs stand on end just like memories of being back on my marae. Most of these students had roots in Hauraki. The kuia and the kaumatua were whanau to the students, and the students exhibited a sense of mana in knowing where they are from through reciting their ancestry and waiata. It was deeply moving.

Working in a community with a large maori population ,my educational journey has expanded to what teaching through a ‘maori lens’ looks like. I have been challenged by my pre conceived çolonial ideas’of what success means and what is the best practise for áll’ and far more open to adapting my approach and content to fit the students i serve. This perspective marries naturally with the Orff approach. Carl Orff described his approach as an idea, a “wildflower”. If a flower is handled with care, it can blossom while still retaining its own identity, which is the essence of a wildflower.

Through working as a holistic music educator, I have grown in conviction that music builds community, confidence and wellbeing

However, I have been shocked by the lack of opportunities and resources students in low decile schools have compared to the higher decile schools I taught at in Auckland.

I teach at 5 schools in Paeroa, all between decile 1 and 4. Before teaching at their schools, there was no consistent music program for the students other than a couple of schools offering itinerant music lessons which the majority of students could not afford.

My favourite school, Paeroa Central has its own music room with a class set of ukuleles and barred percussion. Each student gets an hour a week.

I believe that every student regardless of social standing deserves to have access to quality music education and instruments.

In two years since living here, I have been able to secure over 26k in funding for musical instruments and have secured work teaching general classroom music all students. Over time, I hope the profile, experiences and opportunities of music becomes a fabric of our community, empowering, uplifting and promoting career pathways our young people.

Working at most of the schools in PAeroa has afforded me the unique opportunity to bring our community together through music. Next month a lunchtime concert has been organised where four local schools will come together to sing collectively and shareindividual items.

In addition to work in schools, I have started monthly community singing event called Vocal Nosh, Vocal Nosh is a community event where people gather to sing and eat together for the sheer pleasure of it, for community, for connection, for the joy of making music rather than observing others doing it. This has been running for over a year now with a number of people attending regularly.

The final song we sing at Vocal nosh is E tu Kahikatea, a waiata about connectedness and the strength it brings.

I have also started adult ukulele classes which have been a success, with many students now in my social ukulele class that works on material to perform in public.

Overall, I feel that my journey as a music teacher started as a job but has expanded to embrace my identity, value systems and passions of service. It is definitely a vocation that i am proud to be a part of.