Rarotonga - What did I learn?

If I were to use 5 words to describe the MIT Rarotonga Trip, it would look like this.

- Rewarding

- Rich

- Humbling

- Beautiful

- Cultural.

Visiting the schools on the island, I liked seeing where my learners could have been learning (the ones that came from the islands). Speaking to the teachers, they don’t get much P.D so they were appreciative of us coming in to speak to them. I enjoyed hearing feedback and answering questions where I could. Obviously being a school in the Pacific Islands, they teach the actual language. This is what I meant by rich. They were rich in cultural experiences. They would make sure that in everything they did, culture was incorporated in it. This is to make sure that the children treasure and keep their culture alive. It was amazing seeing how the teachers were able to give their learners so many experiences through this style. It could possibly be why I saw that the learners had great relationships with their teachers.

It can be a bit hard trying to do that in New Zealand. Being that we are a multicultural society, and there are so many different cultures in the class, it is hard to bring in something from their culture. It almost makes you wonder if celebrating their culture in the respected cultural week is enough, or if there is more that we can do. That's one thing I am looking to improve in my classroom.