Kia Mau (Māori medium multimedia bilingual resource re Māori Battalion)
This project involved the development of a multimedia resource focussing on 2 waiata and 2 haka associated with the Māori Battalion. The resource is designed for senior wharekura (secondary) students and teachers of Tikanga ā-Iwi (Social Studies), at levels 6-8 of the marau (curriculum).
The resource was a finalist in the TUANZ awards.
There are 3 components in the resource:
i) teachers’ notes (in Māori and English);
ii) a DVD of video clips that cross-reference to content in the teachers’ notes; and
iii) a website http://kiamau.tki.org.nz.
I drew up the concept for the project (as a result of doing a gap analysis). I then wrote a comprehensive proposal to the Ministry (on behalf of CWA, to whom I was contracted at the time). Once the project was accepted, I wrote:
- a very detailed resource plan for the Ministry
- the project plan
- a draft unit plan for teachers (as a model for the writer of the teachers’ notes)
- several of the student tasks/activities
- promotion articles for the Education Gazette and Ministry of Education intranet
- the main content for milestone reports to the Ministry
- the design brief
- the schools’ trialling plan
- abstracts for the DVD clips and images.
I also:
- researched possible lines of inquiry (as themes), which resulted in the research questions
- built up an annotated data base of potential interviewees
- facilitated cross government consultation eg Te Puni Kokiri, Ministry of Education, and Ministry of Culture and Heritage
- organised, and facilitated, an advisory group
- wrote and disseminated comprehensive minutes from each advisory group hui
- sourced, and managed, the writer of the resource and the Māori translator
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contract managed the:
- resource writer
- Māori translator
- History specialist
- Social Studies expert
- interviewer
- assisted the resource writer with additional content
- proof read and edited the English content
- designed the assessment schedule for teachers
- worked closely with the web developers eg providing feedback on the wireframes
- liaised with the film director and producer
- provided input into the branding of the resource eg the ‘kia mau’ stance common to warriors and kapa haka exponents, linked to the chevron pattern in Māori (kaokao)
- liaised with the Māori translator
- edited the film scripts
- facilitated the QA process (re suitability of content and quality of te reo Māori)
- liaised with the print and web design team
- recruited, and managed, models for the photo shoot
- organised the trialling of the resource in Māori medium kura (schools)
- edited the final content (English and Māori) prior to printing
- made formal presentations to TUANZ, Te Puni Kokiri and the Ministry of Education
- Relationship management eg cross-government officials, resource writer, advisory group, Māori translator, QA specialists, trialling schools, web developers, designers, film team, photo shoot models, schools, subject matter experts
- Research and documentary analysis (in scoping phase)
- Writing, proofreading and editing eg content and milestone reports to the Ministry
- Information management
- Competence in Māori language and tikanga
- Hui facilitation
- Presentation to a range of audiences
- Knowledge of curriculum and NCEA standards
- Contract management.
Such was the success of the resource that, after only three months of it being in Māori medium schools, there was a request from the Ministry of Education to create an online adjunct for English medium teachers of Social Studies. This can be found online at http://eng.kiamau.tki.org.nz/
The Kia Mau resource:
- enables Māori students to gain a better understanding of the Māori world, the wider world, and their place in both;
- helps Māori students to develop a sense of their own identity;
- provides a platform for Māori students to explore waiata /haka from their own iwi;
- highlights Māori values, imbued in the waiata/haka;
- demonstrates cross-curricular integration;
- provides teachers with an ‘easy to use’, flexible and well thought-out resource that is aligned to the curriculum and NCEA standards.