Mihi Whakatau
Another term rolls around and excitedly another contingent of new children begin their kindergarten experience alongside us with their whānau. It's another opportunity for us to warmly welcome new faces into kindergarten with our much loved mihi whakatau ritual.
Another term rolls around and excitedly another contingent of new children begin their kindergarten experience alongside us with their whānau. It's another opportunity for us to warmly welcome new faces into kindergarten with our much loved mihi whakatau ritual.
Mihi whakatau is traditionally used for welcoming, introductions, openings and general purpose which take place off the marae. The mihi whakatau is a process which protects Māori cultural practices while promoting an environment of inclusiveness (Roimata Macfarlane, Pou Whakarewa NKA, 2019).
We love mihi whakatau for the meaningful and heartfelt beginning between people. Uniquely 'kiwi', a heritage to be proud of!
Links to philosophy
Our philosophy states our intentions that "Whakawhanaungatanga sits at the heart of all that we do. We endeavour to foster relationships that are authentic and meaningful to enable us to generate an inclusive atmosphere where diversity is embraced, uniqueness celebrated and where children and whānau feel safe, secure, welcome and accepted. We wish to affirm children’s sense of identity, culture, and self-worth" (Bream Bay Kindergarten, 2019)
We value our mihi whakatau process as an opportunity to achieve this; to get to know each other, to share stories about ourselves and create a sense of belonging and connection to each other. Our mihi whakatau ritual offers a valuable first step for reciprocal relationships to grow and shared vision to flourish as we journey together through the early years of a child's education. It really is a beautiful beginning that children are excited to be a part of.
Manaakitanga
Manaakitanga is a key feature throughtout our mihi whakatau ritual. This begins with tamariki as they show care towards each other by helping friends into their costumes for the big event.
According to the Māori dictionary, manaakitanga means hospitality, kindness, generosity, support - the process of showing respect, generosity and care for others.
Mihi whakatau offers opportunities for tamariki to practice manaakitanga in a
multitude of ways.
"You can say come play with me, that's friendly"
"Show them where the toys are"
"Show them where to eat kai"
The value of rituals
We were reminded of the positive impact that rituals can have when a grandfather shared his feelings of this experience in a newspaper article. If you are interested in reading this the link is below, it's a great read. A personal thank you to Jonny for taking the time to include us in his writing!
Developing confidence
It was interesting for us as teachers to reflect on Jonny's words describing a little boy that made a beeline for him, taking his hand and leading him into the kindergarten and how natural this all was. When you have the privilege of working with children, you never really know what's going to happen, and a lot of work and learning goes into moments like this!
The great thing about a ritual is that tamariki get to participate over and over again and those children who were once shy find courage to have a go in their own time and at their own pace. A ritual is marvelous for developing children's confidence and because Mihi Whakatau is so intrinsic to what we do here, tamariki have plenty of opportunity to be involved in authentic and meaningful ways.
For most of our tamariki, our mihi whakatau ritual offers first time experiences. For example, they have opportunities to be a leader, to interact with a stranger, participate in public speaking and singing, and engage in a cultural experience that may be familiar or perhaps new to them. Bear in mind these are 2, 3 and 4 year old children so you can appreciate the learning involved for these young people and how much courage it might take to participate.
It was interesting for us as teachers to reflect on Jonny's words describing a little boy that made a beeline for him, taking his hand and leading him into the kindergarten and how natural this all was. When you have the privilege of working with children, you never really know what's going to happen, and a lot of work and learning goes into moments like this!
The great thing about a ritual is that tamariki get to participate over and over again and those children who were once shy find courage to have a go in their own time and at their own pace. A ritual is marvelous for developing children's confidence and because Mihi Whakatau is so intrinsic to what we do here, tamariki have plenty of opportunity to be involved in authentic and meaningful ways.
Tūwhitia te hopo,
mairangatia te angitū!
Feel the fear and do it
anyway!
Tamariki stand up to introduce themselves, it's a big moment and we value their courageous hearts!
Building children's confidence to participate becomes a priority for us and we love those moments when children step up and be brave!
Interviewing children
At our kindergarten teachers are always looking for ways to understand the learning process for children. Interviewing children is one way we gain a deeper understanding of where children are in the learning process. Teachers are able to see if what we are teaching children is being learnt by children...in other words, are they picking up what we're putting down!
This next question offered valuable insight...
Why do we do mihi whakatau?
"So we get to know them and we get to tell them our names" said Frankie. "They feel happy cause we're inviting them into kindy."
"Cause we can have some more people here, so they can be at kindy" said Kahu.
"Because everyone comes and we get some new friends" said Jai.
"I do mihi cause I love it!"
"Because it feels so good. We like it. I just like all the songs. The children feel happy cause they like it" said Torben.
"We welcome them and we sing music to them and they feel good" said Ruby.
"We sing a song" said Jack.
"We say our name cause they don't know. We have to show them around, show them where where the kai is. We can say, can you be my friend?" said Ruby.
"We sing a song to the parents and the kids so they can come into kindergarten or they're not allowed in because we have to tell them our name and they have to tell us their name"
"Because new friends are coming" said Zoey.
"So the new people know we're in a different language. We say our names to them so people know us" said Amelie.
"I like it, I like it so much!" said Torben.
"I like it, I like it so much!" said Torben.
Hongi me te hariru
A hongi is a traditional Māori greeting, in Aotearoa New Zealand. It is done by pressing one's nose and at times forehead (at the same time) to another person at an encounter. The hongi brings together the forehead and the nose, it is spiritual and physical, and the handshake with it is a sign of peace (Roimata Macfarlane, 2013).
In the hongi, the hā (or breath of life) is exchanged. Te aro o te hā – the essence of breath.
For some children, meeting new people can be a bit scary however time and again during the finishing stages of mihi whakatau as we come together for hongi me te hariru, we find children become more relaxed and open to new people.
This is where we see beginning connections with each other forged, it's an incredible moment and often very moving...we're breaking down barriers and
making new connections!
making new connections!
Waiata
Singing waiata is an important aspect of the welcoming process and a highlight for many. There's something very special that happens when people raise their voices together in harmony, it's a feeling that catches the heart every time.
Roimata Macfarlane explains, waiata are an important part of Māori culture. The words and expressions preserve the wisdom and knowledge of ancestors. Waiata are often performed at the end of whaikōrero (speeches) to support what has been said. They can also be sung to remove tapu (restrictions) or to engage, entertain, calm, or comfort the listener (2013).
One of the waiata we sing is Haere mai rā. The kupu and meaning are below...
Haere mai rā
| |
Haere mai rā
Haere mai rā
Tēnā rā koutou katoa
E te iwi nui tonu rā
Tēnā rā koutou katoa
Piki mai rā
Kake mai rā
Hōmai te wai ora e
E te iwi nui tōnu rā
Piki mai, kake mai rā
|
Welcome
Welcome
Greetings to you all
Our very important people
We greet you all
Come up
Come forward
Sustain us with the water of life
Our very important people
Come up, come forward
|
I had hoped to include a video of tamariki singing however have had technical difficulties uploading this...aroha mai, however here is a link to another waiata we enjoy singing...
Thanks for visiting
Ngā mihi nui
Ngā mihi nui
Tania
