Letters: We shouldn't undervalue the work of historians
Dr Marianne Schultz, Eden Terrace.
Religion's role in politics
I was interested to read two items in the Herald (Aug 18), one a report on David Seymour's criticism of church groups for promoting an education programme about Te Tiriti and the issue of Māori wards in local body governance, and the other an opinion piece by historian James Belich about the importance of understanding history.
It seems Seymour has no understanding of history as he seems unaware of Rev Martin Luther King and Bishop Demond Tutu and their example of churches being involved in politics, and fighting racial discrimination in particular.
Grant Watson, Murrays Bay.
Not role of churches
The quickest way to undermine both democracy and religion is to mix the two. That's possibly why David Seymour spoke out about over 100 churches organising political workshops on Māori wards (Aug 18).
When churches run political workshops, they stop being houses of faith and start being campaign offices. Using the pulpit to push politics isn't education, it's manipulation.
When religion and politics mix, both are corrupted. Democracy suffers because one side claims God is on their team, shutting down honest debate. Religion suffers because it gets dragged into the dirt of partisan fights, losing its moral authority.
The Māori wards issue should be decided on democratic principles, representation, fairness, and community needs.
If churches want to run politics, let them stand for election and pay taxes like every other political organisation. But they cannot do both.
By speaking out, Seymour isn't being anti-religion, he's protecting it. He's defending the sacred role of churches and the integrity of our democracy. Both are stronger when they stay in their lanes.
James Gregory, Parnell.
Smartest in what room?
David Seymour is reputed to consider himself the 'smartest person in the room'. Now it is reported that he had highly paid officials use their valuable time to compile a report for him on why requiring cyclists to wear protective headgear is a good idea.
Which begs the question, where is this room and who are the other people in it?
If it's the legislative chamber, then God help us all.
John O'Neill, Dargaville.
A state inside Gaza Strip
New Zealand is under great pressure to recognise the state of Palestine.
Some of the reasons are understandable but the stance taken by the Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa goes way too far.
Why doesn't our Government be innovative? Only recognise a state of Palestine in the geographical area of Gaza, maybe even then make it conditional on Hamas relinquishing control.
We should not recognise Palestine in terms of the West Bank, parts of Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. Those areas were annexed by Israel after wars.
Gaza today is Israel's overreaction to terrorism.
Bill Capamagian, Tauranga.
What about the hostages?
There have been many issues raised about recognising Palestine as a nation, but many reasons why we should defer this for a time. The obvious one is, why has Hamas not released the Israeli hostages, and when is it going to do this?
Bruce Woodley, Birkenhead.
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Otago Daily Times
an hour ago
- Otago Daily Times
Dance off: Luxon joined on stage by opposition leader
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1News
4 hours ago
- 1News
Te reo in schoolbooks: 'Govt has it the wrong way round'
Te Reo experts say the Government has got its approach back to front in removing Māori words from school texts. It was revealed last week that Education Minister Erica Stanford decided to cut Māori words, except for characters' names, from any new books in the Ready to Read Phonics Plus series. The concern was that Māori words were confusing for young readers learning English. However, two experts in te reo Māori and bilingualism told TVNZ's Marae programme nothing could be further from the truth. Watch the full discussion on TVNZ+. Dr Vincent Ieni Olsen-Reeder, research fellow at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington, said: 'It's because the reverse of what the ministry says is actually true. ADVERTISEMENT 'The more we expose our tamariki while their brains are well-geared to learning communication while they're still young, they are learning about patterns and phonetics and grammar in a really comprehensive way that doesn't require a lot of external teaching applied to it.' Olsen-Reeder's doctoral research looked at the effectiveness of bilingualism in revitalisation efforts, and the ways bilingualism could remove anxieties around te reo Māori use among its speakers. He said students in Māori-medium education like kura kaupapa Māori are examples of how kids can excel in literacy across both languages. He believes the Government has missed the mark and that not only does it look as if te reo is being taken away from 'the eyes and the minds' of tamariki, particularly Māori tamariki, but it only contributes to New Zealand's lower English proficiency. 'All these things taking the language away from how we speak every day, just doesn't make sense,' he said. Localised, homegrown structured literacy programme Instead, he said there would have been a 'real opportunity' for Aotearoa to create a localised structured literacy programme that's informed by the way New Zealanders actually read, write and speak, which he says has never been done. ADVERTISEMENT 'It's always been informed by overseas,' he said, 'and there was a real chance here to investigate how structured literacy programme from Aotearoa could have been built in a way that really make sense to how New Zealanders read and write and speak, and all those things.' (Source: 1News) He said resources could have been better utilised towards this goal and consideration of Pacific languages taken into account. The role teachers play Colleague Dr Awanui Te Huia, associate professor at Te Herenga Waka, is currently looking into the intergenerational use of te reo, exploring the findings from the country's largest longitudinal study of child health and wellbeing, Growing Up in New Zealand. She said as a 'position of authority' in the lives of tamariki, teachers play a big role in how children may value their language. 'When their teacher provides them with themselves, examples of themselves, examples of their language, the way that they're perhaps interacting with their ao hurihuri (ever-changing world) – outside of these confined kura environments… [for tamariki] it reinforces the fact that these institutions see our language as valuable. They see our whānau as valuable and the ways that we are culturally, as te iwi Māori, and all of our diversity.' ADVERTISEMENT She said it was important that it's compulsory in mainstream institutions because tamariki Māori tend to be in English medium schools. Teaching teachers te reo Consequently, this also requires quality teacher education, she said. 'If we go back to Te Ahu o Te Reo and all of the improvements we were saying in terms of teacher attitudes and the significant positive changes that that was having in our classrooms in terms of identity, and we've seen the research from that, that was totally clear.' Te Ahu o Te Reo was first piloted in 2019, offering free lessons to teachers to better integrate te reo Māori in the classroom. It was expanded in 2020 to help 10,000 more teachers learn te reo. The budget for the programme was cut in 2024 despite a glowing independent review commissioned by the ministry. Resourcing public libraries ADVERTISEMENT Te Huia said resourcing public places, like libraries, properly would help. 'Getting some form of integration of our whānau back into these public spaces so they can see themselves in libraries and participate in our language outside of the kāinga, as well as outside of the kura. 'So, seeing it all around our communities has a direct impact on how relevant, how cool, and how useful te reo Māori is - those were some of the three findings from some of our research.' For the full discussion, watch Marae on TVNZ+. Glossary tamariki - children ao hurihuri - ever-changing world ADVERTISEMENT kāinga - home(s)
Newsroom
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Who's afraid of Aotearoa
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