Sunday 31 March 2013

Non-Digital Technology.

Children at my centre enjoy dressing up in different cultural costumes and dancing in it. An example of this is children dressing up in the Māori costume and start dancing using the poi.



Another example is the children dressing up in Hawaiian costumes (the hula skirt and the Hawaiian flower necklace) and dancing doing the hula.


 Technology can be defined as a tool for helping children solve problems and be influenced by the culture or the society that we live in (Smorti, 1999). Therefore dressing up in cultural costumes and dancing can be categorized as a non digital technology. We live in a society that has a diverse range of culture. As a result, in my centre we have a range of different costumes for the children to dress up in. Dressing up in costumes from other cultures develops children’s understanding about different cultures and the different types of music and dance that relates to the specific cultures.

I have observed children as they play dress ups. When they put hula skirts on, they will do the hula and when they wear the Māori costumes, children usually use the poi or do the haka. This was a new learning for me, as I didn't know children so young would know the different dances associated with the different cultures.


I personally believe that because we live in New Zealand, children should be given a vast amount of opportunities to experience different aspects of the Māori culture.  Such as; clothes, music, dance and language. Including Māori values in our practice develops children’s understanding about the Māori culture and encourages them to respect different cultures of our society (Ministry of Education, 1996).

Getting dressed up in the Māori costume and dancing with the poi is acknowledging the Treaty of Waitangi and Te Whāriki. The Treaty of Waitangi highlights that the land and other treasures such as Māori customs and values should be protected (Manukau Institute of Technology, 2010). By integrating Māori aspects in our centre through costumes and using poi we are protecting the Māori culture by keeping it alive.

The video below demonstrates one of the traditional poi actions. Children might not be able to do exactly this but as long as they are given the opportunity to experience it, we are respecting and abiding by the Treaty of Waitangi & Te Whāriki.

Traditional Poi Actions.

Apart from the Māori culture, we also have Hawaiian, Asian and Indian costumes for children because we acknowledge and welcome families from different cultures at our centre.

By observing children getting dressed up and having fun, I have learnt that apart from learning about diversity and other cultures children also learn other things. According to the New Zealand Curriculum, dressing up, dancing and music helps children learn to strengthen their social interactions and enhance their literacy skills (Ministry of Education, n.d.). This learning occurs as children begin to listen and respond, sing, dance and play instruments (Ministry of Education, n.d.). 



Seeing children get dressed up and dance in cultural costumes reminds me of my childhood years, when I was in kindergarten as I had done the same things. I remember as a class we danced for the parents, doing the traditional Fijian dance (meke) wearing hula skirts and tops. Therefore seeing children dressing up in different cultural costumes and dancing and having fun always makes me feel happy and joyful. This opportunity teaches children about diversity and the different cultures that are present in our society. It is also a part of Te Whāriki that children be able to experience stories and symbols as well as gain positive awareness of the different cultures (Ministry of Education, 1996).


References:

Manukau Institute of Technology. School of Education. (2010, Semester Two, b). Comparing he Maori text of the Treaty and the English version or draft [Handout]. Manukau City, New Zealand: Author. 

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He Whāriki mātauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.

Ministry of Education. (n.d.). The New Zealand curriculum online: The Arts. Retrieved from http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-documents/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum/Learning-areas/The-arts

Smori, S. (1999) Technology in Early Childhood. Early Education, 19, 5-10.






6 comments:

  1. Hi Komal, this is really interesting how you display children wearing a particular costume and dancing to the same moves of their culture. This experience is really common in my centre as well. In my centre children love wearing the costumes and acting out the roles of the costume. More importantly it assists in building children’s self esteem and confidence as you pointed out. I also like the way that you linked how children dress up in Maori Culture costumes and do the poi dance as you made links to the Treaty of Waitaingi (Orange, 2004). I believe that this is a true statement and more importantly it is relevant in most centres (Ministry of Educaiton, 1996). I also like the way that your centre has a diverse cultural blend of costumes where children could try them on and do actions to certain cultures. Moreover, it enables children to build relationships with one another.

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  2. This is such a cute, effective way for children to engage in. Not only do the children get a chance to experience their own cultural background but they get to explore others and dance too. It’s good to see the children interested in traditional Maori wear and that it’s supported in your centre “New Zealand is the home of Maori language and culture: curriculum in early childhood settings should promote te reo and nga tikanga Maori, making them visible and affirming their value for children from all cultural backgrounds” (Ministry of Education, 1996). I feel this statement defines your reflection. I like how you’ve discussed cultural diversity, and how dress ups link to the Treaty of Waitangi and Te Whariki. I also like your point about keeping the land and Maori customs such as language and traditional wear protected as stated in article four (Manukau Institute of Technology, 2010). Over all you did a great job in extending their interests for dress ups culturally and efficiently.

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  3. I like how you define cultural costumes and dancing as a non digital technology by using the definition of technology. I also like how your centre provides children with diverse culture costumes. As promoting equality of opportunities of using diverse culture costumes, it will enable children to feel positively about the diverse culture and it also avoid the limitations of stereotyping and to value diversity within children (Beaver, Brewster, Green, Neaum, Sheppard, Tallack, & Walker 2008). Te Whaariki also point out that children should be encouraged to understand and respect the different cultures which make up our society (Ministry of Education, 1996).

    In your reflection, your had point out that children should experience different aspects of the Māori culture. I agree with you, because it support children to recognizes and value the unique position of Māori in New Zealand. I also like the way you link dress up to the Treaty of Waitangi. According to Te Whaariki, Te, Tiriti o Waitangi should be recognized by the curriculum, because it reflects the multicultural nature of New Zealand society (Ministry of Education, 1996).

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  4. Your blog is very colourful and interesting to read and brought back memories on how we spent time with parents from different culture making costume for children at my centre. I like how your centre respect other culture especially the maori culture tangata whenua.My centre is Multiculture and children loved and enjoyed the dressing up corner.Children have fun when they put on costume from other culture and learn new movement.Te Whariki stated that children's cultural values,customs and traditions from home should nutured and preserved to enable children to particiate successfully in the early childhood setting and their community(Ministry of Education,1996.p.64). In my centre I made some poi with the children and we learned the poi song with the action and we feel proud and honoured to respect the maori culture as a whole.What you did in your centre is a fantastic role model for other centre to empower and encourage children to feel comfortable using diverse costume and culture. Children feel positively in building relationship with each other and also avoid the limitations of stereotype(Walker 2008).

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