Year 5 and 6 tamariki in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland have achieved extraordinary gains in writing after a taniwha art project inspired them to write their own Māori myths. The children, aged nine to 11, have now had their stories and illustrations published.
The writing project was inspired by a collaborative art project about a taniwha.
Tamariki of the senior bicultural class at Manurewa West Primary School are a close-knit bunch having been grouped together since Year 1. It was only natural that when they were studying textiles, they would choose to work collaboratively rather than individually.
The result, a mixed-media mural of a taniwha, is a riot of colour and textiles and a skillful blend of traditional patterns and innovative ideas.
“It’s an amazing piece of art and the children really connected with it; they wanted to start writing stories about it,” says kaiako Stacey Madden, who is the school’s cultural advisor.
“One student, Kairyn, wrote the first story about how the taniwha got its colours, and I wanted to drive that, to push that interest so I turned it into a writing unit. We started looking at local myths and legends and they all wrote their own stories about creatures that lived in the moana.”
At this point, Stacey called on David Riley, a writer also known as the ‘Reading Warrior’. David grew up in South Auckland, has 25 years’ experience teaching English and drama, and is passionate about getting young people reading.
David likes to inspire ākonga with inspirational stories from Aotearoa and the Pacific and works with students to create published books.
“He would come in every Thursday and sit with the children, helping them to write and edit their stories, and to prompt fresh ideas. The children built a beautiful relationship with David; every time he walked in, they’d say, ‘Yay, David’s here!’”
Students aged nine to 11 worked with writer David Riley and Kurawaka Animation Studios to publish their book, He Moana Kirikā.
“David rang me to ask if I thought the children would like to animate their work and I thought that would be awesome. I extended the opportunity beyond the bicultural unit to the whole senior school because I wanted other students to have a chance to be published too,” says Stacey.
“We had a competition to illustrate a myth and from there we chose two students from each class to take to Kurawaka Animation Studios in West Auckland for a day.
“The students’ artwork was so amazing. They didn’t even need to do sketches because they were just so talented, they were straight into it.
“It was a real push because they had to share computers and they’d never experienced any sort of technology like that, having to layer the art, but they picked it up very quickly. What they completed was outstanding and we’re all so proud of them.”
Kurawaka Studios supplied the art files to David who bundled them together with the children’s stories and pepeha, ready for publication. The result? A beautiful paperback book of original stories in both Māori and English, He Moana Kirikā.
Tamariki at Manurewa West Primary School collaborated to write and illustrate a collection of stories.
Stacey says her class has shown amazing results in their writing because of the publishing project.
“It shows when they’re truly passionate about something, they will give it their all. Seeing what they could achieve changed their mindset to the growth mindset.
“We talk a lot about the learning pit and how you’ve got to struggle to succeed, and they really did push through. They had to think hard and work hard to achieve the result of getting their work published in a book. They didn’t want to stop writing when literacy time finished, they wanted to keep going even through play time.”
Tamariki presented their mahi to whānau at their official book launch in December with two students reading their stories for the audience.
Kaiako Stacey Madden uses children’s interests to drive their learning.
“Whānau were absolutely amazed and so, so proud of their children. One of the parents whose child has additional needs was in tears to see that he had written a story, it was a beautiful moment,” says Stacey.
“They were very proud to hear their children read, too. I don’t think they realised that it was going to be a professionally published book; that blew them away.”
The book project has made waves around the school with students outside the unit asking when they can “do a book with David”.
“We do a lot of project-based learning which really works well for our tamariki, they love hands-on projects, and it helps to inspire ideas,” says Stacey.
“I make a lot of time to get to know my students and base my work around what they’re interested in so that they are passionate and want to learn. When the interest is strong enough, it’ll carry them through any struggles to complete the task.”
BY Education Gazette editors
Education Gazette | Tukutuku Kōrero, reporter@edgazette.govt.nz
Posted: 9:28 am, 2 February 2023
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