Exciting news!
Last week our client, the Ministry of Education Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga, was a winner of a SunPix Pacific Peoples Award for Pacific Service Excellence.
Sponsored by the Ministry of Pacific Peoples, the award was granted to the Ministry of Education for the dual-language literacy resources we developed on their behalf.
We’re so thrilled to see this work recognised, and we want to congratulate everyone involved, especially the New Zealand Ministry of Education Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga for its vision and commitment to Pacific education!
Why the Pasifika dual language resources were developed
Evidence shows that some Pasifika children make less-than-expected progress in reading and writing English in their first years of school. But evidence also shows that drawing on all of a child’s cultural capital (especially that related to literacy and language), can support literacy learning.
The Pasifika dual language resources were created to do just this – the resources to support the early language and literacy learning of Pasifika new entrant students in English-medium classrooms by presenting texts in both English and the languages of the Pacific.
These languages are Samoan, Tongan, Niuean, Tokelauan, and Cook Islands Maori. Each book ‘flips’ to show the Pacific language on one side and English on the other.
Dual-language parent and teacher support material accompanies these resources, including professional development videos. Many of the dual language books are available as PDFs and all of the books are available as listen-along MP3 audio files.
To say this was a very demanding project is an understatement!
Pulling the resources together
The project began with a proof-of-concept trial with some Samoan-English books before the other four Pacific languages were added, none of which could have been done without the input of a great team, both in and out of Lift Education E Tū.
Alongside Lift Ed’s lead experts Alex Collins, Don Long, and Peggy Nesbitt were Bolster Design’s Liz Tui Morris and Jodi Wicksteed, and audio producer Jason Latta.
Editors and language consultants included a member of the Samoan Language Commission, the Niue Language Commissioner, a former Minister of Education in Tonga, the Cook Islands High Commissioner, and a former Director of Education in Tokelau. These consultants and editors added to the wonderful translations that already existed in the series of books in which some of the titles originally appeared.
It is such a challenge creating a translation that reads as if the story was actually composed in the language you are reading the book in. A series like this honours our bi- and multi-lingual writers, translators, and editors.
Our thanks go to Dr Rae Si‛ilata from the University of Auckland, who was the chairperson of the advisory group that helped us select titles and craft the guidance for teachers on how they can help children transfer reading skills back and forth between their languages. Rae also led the trialling in a group of Auckland schools and put together the professional development videos with Dr Patisepa Tuafuti.
Last, but certainly not least, we thank the writers and illustrators of these books – it was so great to see you all acknowledged for your creative excellence during the awards!
You can see the Pasifika Dual Language resources here.
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