Graduating Teacher Standards:

3b. have knowledge of tikanga and te reo Māori to work effectively within the bicultural contexts of Aotearoa New Zealand.

4e. use te reo Māori me ngā tikanga-a-iwi appropriately in their practice.

6e. demonstrate respect for te reo Māori me ngā tikanga-a-iwi in their practice.

The interactive Hero’s Journey tool is a tool that students can use to create their own hero’s journey. The tool maps the journey in ten steps:

1. The naming and description of the hero

2. Unusual birth

3. Call to adventure

4. Supernatural helper

5. Talisman or special weapon

6. Crossing the threshold

7. Trials

8. Achievement of goal

9. Reconciliation

10. Return home

At each step, students fill in the details of their own detailed Hero’s journey. This tool addresses Graduating Teacher Standards 3b, 4e and 6e because as a teacher I can encourage Maori students to create a hero’s journey that may relate to Maori myths and legends, or may follow their own lives, or someone similar. Using this tool Maori students can be proud of their heritage by adapting the story to incorporate things from their on culture, such as a Taiaha as the special weapon, or they set the story in pre-Pakeha New Zealand and give the hero a Maori name. Likewise, this tool can be used to demonstrate cultural awareness because, like Maori students, I can encourage all students – Asian, Pasifika, Pakeha, European, African etc. – to adapt their hero’s journey so it incorporates elements of their own culture.