Niho Taniwha - Melanie Riwai-Couch
Published by Huia Publishers: Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand, 2022 (2021). Niho Taniwha is a book written for teachers, looking at Māori learning and how teachers can support (particularly) Māori students to greater success academically. The author brings a lot of her own understanding (she is Māori herself, and has had her children go through the schooling system), as well as quoting a number of studies to support her claims - including numerous studies that she herself has taken part in (she has a teaching background and a doctorate). It is a very interesting book and is also one that my Head of Department at Nayland has used quite a bit, so elements of it are quite familiar to me. There are aspects of the book that might be controversial to some people, because of particular buzz-words or phrases which can, admittedly at times, be used to attack certain cultures or understandings. In particular, phrases like 'white privilege' or 'historical trauma' may cause some ...