Wairua and the relationship it has with learning te reo ... - Clear Net

Te Tāhuhu o te Whare nei:
Most students experience a growth in their spiritual awareness starting
from the time they begin learning the reo within Te Ataarangi, the first
stage for students learning in an immersion situation was described by the
kaiako as the ‘Confusion stage’ when people find out things about
themselves, they go through a whole lot of discovery, they can be really
tearful in the first six months (Rangihau 2004:4A,075-102).
Your emotions can “run haggard” at times, “a lot of different emotions
come out”, “emotions…that you never thought…you…possessed”, “you
just want to tangi a lot” (Edwards 2004:1A,212). When “they get
up…and talk…all of a sudden” they “just burst out crying” “it’s good,
tears always mean growth”, it “is the fruit of the wairua” (Rangihau
2004:2A:321).
It’s as if students can’t influence what is happening to them, they have got
to get through this stage by opening up to their feelings and emotions
allowing the wairua to begin to work for them. Rather than control the
process, students get ahead further by relaxing and letting the learning
experience take care of itself initially, so that integration can occur.
“Some of them don’t actually handle it and leave…if you loose control
of situations it’s really frustrating,…it’s really scary for people…
circumstances like the rumaki thing…unsettle people so that
they…get…out of their comfort zones.…Learners…that have a cultural
base…sort of sink into it…but…not hearing the reo, not being familiar
with the cultural context of the reo, then they find it really hard…a lot of
Pākehā learners feel alienated…because it’s not familiar to them…
they loose control of the situation…The ones that learn faster are the
ones that can let go faster…each student has…different letting go
times…some won’t let go for a whole year…some will do it in the first
week and some will do it in the first six months,…when they do open
up…it takes away blocks” (Rangihau 2004:4A,102-183).
The comments above describe student reactions to the discomfort of
immersion as experienced within the Te Ataarangi learning environment.
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