![]() ![]() ![]() Like native Hawaiians, the Māori are of Polynesian descent with an entire language of their own called te reo Māori.Īnd “haere mai”-meaning “welcome” or “come gather around together”-is just one of the many phrases and words that New Zealand students are taught in te reo Māori from the moment they begin school. Much like Australia has an entire indigenous population commonly known as the Aboriginal peoples, New Zealand also has its own indigenous population called the Māori. The language is called te reo Māori (roughly pronounced like “Mao” as in Chairman Mao, then “ree” with a slight roll of the “r”). But would you guess it was said in a classroom of an English-speaking country to a room of almost entirely English-native speaking white students? Maybe not. You may hazard a guess that this is a phrase in another language, and you would be correct. They had known this phrase for most of their young academic lives. Now, it was a central part of my ability to teach, as made evident by my class of elementary-aged students instantly stopping their activity and coming to sit in front of me, ready for my next instructions. A few months before, if anyone had shouted this phrase at me, I would have blinked a couple of times and looked around the room in confusion. “Haere mai!” I called to my students when I needed them to gather around to listen to me. ![]()
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