20/04/2023
Shared from another source-
"Talking Down to Children-
Way back in 1995 we visited Dr. Rangimarie Rose Pere at her home down in the Ureweras to make a video about parenting from her experience growing up as a designated 'wisdom holder' in traditional Māori culture. One of the things that really stuck with me was about questioning kids.
Rose was eight before she entered a state school with the state's curriculum and state trained teachers. She couldn't get over that "The teachers asked us QUESTIONS, questions they already knew the answers to". She had never experienced that before. She went on to say that 'The Old People did ask us questions, the ones they didn't know the answers to'. She said the Elders considered children closer to the Source and they hadn't been mucked up by cultural ideas yet, so they were more likely to come up with profound answers.
We do have the same acknowledgment in our Pakeha culture: "Out of the mouths of Babes". Many of us who are parents will have experienced this with our own children. So let's stop questioning our kids if we already know the answer, that's playing Master Mind. It's a test, and nothing to do with easy conversation."
Talking Down to Children
Way back in 1995 we visited Dr. Rangimarie Rose Pere at her home down in the Ureweras to make a video about parenting from her experience growing up as a designated 'wisdom holder' in traditional Māori culture. One of the things that really stuck with me was about questioning kids.
Rose was eight before she entered a state school with the state's curriculum and state trained teachers. She couldn't get over that "The teachers asked us QUESTIONS, questions they already knew the answers to". She had never experienced that before. She went on to say that 'The Old People did ask us questions, the ones they didn't know the answers to'. She said the Elders considered children closer to the Source and they hadn't been mucked up by cultural ideas yet, so they were more likely to come up with profound answers.
We do have the same acknowledgment in our Pakeha culture: "Out of the mouths of Babes". Many of us who are parents will have experienced this with our own children. So let's stop questioning our kids if we already know the answer, that's playing Master Mind. It's a test, and nothing to do with easy conversation.
