When the Va is right, Talanoa takes flight

 

 

If Talanoa is superficially "referred to as a conversation, a talk, an exchange of ideas or thinking, whether formal or informal" (Vaioleti, ____, pg 23.) how is it that the impact is much more weighted than a simple conversation? 

I had the privilege to sit in and be part of a low decile school, located in South Auckland. This was a place I was proud to have grown up in, one that I thought I had known so much about. It was a surprise to me, that nestled between two well-known places of my youth, that a school had been located without my knowledge. The first drive there only made it sink in; I didn't grow up in South Auckland, I simply lived in the area.  

I was tasked to create a Va that would establish Talanoa. I decided it was best to sit back, observe the Va that was already in place, before I selected which students I would engage with. 

There were two students that caught my eye; one was male and only attended class to pick up his friends and leave or disrupt the class entirely, the second was female and our only interactions were a few side glances and challenging eyebrow gestures from her part. Two others were eager to join us and my son had come along that day. We had a good number and I separated them from their peers - which I later learned was a support system to barricade themselves from their teachers.

I had written 10 questions, half were easy and factual, the others required some analysing and deciding on their beliefs. These were going to be picked out of a box at random. 

The second student kept her demeanor very much the same, and only offered nods or a quick, silent shake of the head. Student one had been very vocal when it came to his own ideas and what he deemed to be important. The two other students were just as vocal and happy to offer their own thoughts on the topic. The more thought-provoking topics surrounded features on what made a good teacher and why. It was awesome to watch them collaborate and work together. This was obviously something that was important to them - and sadly, something that lacked in their environment. 

There was one question that we lingered on, and one where the answer shocked me. "If you were the Principal for one day, what would you do and why?" One of the other students spoke up first, "I'd fire all of the teachers." This was the first time I had seen them collaborate. Another spoke up, "except for Mr. ____" their science teacher who they had voiced was their favourite. This opened up the conversation to others they thought weren't that bad. They settled on changing their answer to "We'd fire a lot of teachers, but keep some."

By the end of it, I had saved a question for last - one that wasn't found in the box. "What do you think, makes a good teacher? Why?" 

Again, they had honed in on a quality that they didn't even realise they had possessed. I watched as they worked together, to bring back the information they had accumulated throughout the talanoa, their thoughts, their reasoning, and there was a resounding attribute they all agreed with, "respect". In many words, what they expected from their teacher was to be heard and understood, in which I agreed but that it had to work both ways. 

In that "simple conversation", I was able to understand their needs, what was important to them, the family backgrounds they came from and what they brought into the class, the support that they needed and wanted. It was an experience that helped me shape and re-instill what is important in my own conceptual framework. 

Throughout the rest of my time at the school, I watched as their work improved. Student one had completed first in the class and showed passion in his work. Student 2 wanted to show me her love for rugby on the field and they wanted me to be a part of their world. It was illuminating to see that with only a session of creating a safe space, one where all voices were heard and reasons were expressed, that it made an impact in their learning. They wanted to prove not only to me, but to show themselves that they were worth more than what their environment was providing them. 

Critical evaluation