I started high school, and he was the Māori teacher at my high school, Ngā Tapuwae College (before it became a kura - school of Māori immersion), with his late wife as a school councillor.
They were big proponents of te reo Māori (the Māori language), and I remember taking his class to learn Māori words, especially the Lord's Prayer. He also played the guitar, and I remember he had one finger missing but still played waiata (Māori songs) with gusto and had the rest of us singing along.
He was a formidable teacher and one that you didn't want to mess around with. He was a no-nonsense guy, but then when I got to know him better, I learned that he had a good sense of humour with a real heart for his people and te ao (worldviews) Māori.
There was a big restructuring of the school back in the 90s. It became one of the first campuses nationwide, with the school's name changed to Southern Cross Campus, encompassing the next-door Māngere Intermediate school that I had earlier attended. A primary school was moved onto the campus from down the road, and the rest was history.
The Māori bilingual classes then applied to become a kura and were next door to the campus and kept the name Ngā Tapuwae, where it became one of the most sought-after schools of Māori immersion that scored high marks for their students. Mr & Mrs Stirling's daughter, who was a couple of years older than me, became the principal.
After leaving high school, I went to Uni for several years and completed my first Master's degree, then returned to train as a high school teacher. I later met Mr Stirling both as experienced educators (he more than me), and we both worked on Ministry of Education contracts.
I distinctly remember him driving me to visit another colleague, and he showed me a shortcut to the city from where we both lived in South Auckland. Often when I drive down that road, I remember him showing me the road and the good relations that we had. Him as an experienced tangata whenua educator, and me as a fledgling diaspora Samoan educator at the time.
I had a lot of respect for Mr Stirling, as it was from him, his wife and colleague that I heard the Māori language spoken at school, as it wasn't commonly heard in the circles that I had growing up. It's a different story now, as I work and study within Māori tertiary education circles, but he would have been one of the first pioneers and just a year younger than my late dad.
It was so sad to hear today about his passing, as I had attended his wife's tangi (Māori funeral arrangements) many years ago at the kura where there were a lot of educators, students, and families who paid their respects at the time. They also left a special legacy in their vocal advocacy for te reo and te ao Māori, now with a kura onsite where Māori can succeed in an environment that espouses their cultural understandings.
He reminds me of my dad; they were men of integrity who loved and served their communities. They were proponents of culture and language and believed in the integrity of tikanga/kawa or tū/aganu'u or protocols/traditions that needed to be passed on to the next generations. Interestingly, both had daughters who have continued in their legacies and trusting that this will continue with next generations...
No comments:
Post a Comment