Using te reo Māori as the language of classroom instruction
Many teachers of te reo Māori in mainstream schools, particularly teachers of young learners, are unsure whether to use te reo Māori or English as the language of classroom instruction. In general, the most common reasons teachers give for opting to teach in English are that they consider their own level of te reo Māori inadequate for the task or they are afraid that the students will not understand, which would result in unsuccessful lessons if they attempted to use te reo Māori much of the time.
In fact, classroom language, if kept to an appropriate minimum vocabulary, consists of a relatively restricted repertoire. A teacher who uses this repertoire sensitively can show their students that they can understand and respond to te reo Māori without necessarily having a high level of proficiency in this language. A teacher can achieve much by using simple expressions like Āe (Yes); Kāo (No); Kia pēnei (Like this); Kaua e pēnā (Not like that); Kei te pai (Good); Tino pai (Very good); Ka pai tō mahi (Good work); Kua mutu? (Finished?); Kia kaha (Try hard). Teachers should also use lots of gestures, facial expressions, and voice modulation to convey meaning.
Teachers who do decide to use te reo Māori as the medium of classroom instruction, particularly those who are highly competent in the language themselves, should modify the complexity of their classroom language to ensure that it does not exceed what learners can cope with. This means that teachers need to develop a practical repertoire of techniques for introducing and explaining new language and for checking that their students have understood.