Ō Tatou Tikanga | Storytelling and Values
We will commission and publish digital-first historical stories on a variety of stories with relevance to the Aotearoa New Zealand Histories curriculum, the Commission of Episcopal Leadership, and to the wider membership of our parishes across the province.
These histories will draw on the rich archival materials of the Anglican Church in New Zealand, including written texts, recordings, and preserved and living items of material culture, and will produce archival content through documentary interviews for some projects. This unique collection of materials will add depth to the historical record.
Through the stories we publish, we will bring this archival material into conversation with other primary and secondary historical documents, and oral histories, placing it in relevant contexts.
We will explore a variety of methods of presenting these resources, from more traditional essays and narratives, to exploring what is possible with the use of emerging technologies such as Virtual Reality projections.
Some of these stories will be very local, at the parish level, and others will be international, telling stories which involve movement of people or other organisms over long distances.
Published material will be expressed in a way which is mindful of the variety of ages and education levels of the audiences which we will serve, without simplifying complex situations, past or present.
The website will be freely available online for consultation by kaiako and kura, ākonga and whānau, parishioners and church leaders, and anyone who is interested in exploring these stories.
We believe that ‘neutrality’ and cultural universality are not possible. In a spirit of openness, and presented in welcome, we therefore state that our mahi is grounded in mātauranga Māori, and our tūrangawaewae is at Hoani Tapu/St John’s Theological College, in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. People of all tikanga are welcomed to whakarongo, titiro and whakaaro with the content on this website.
Our mahi is propelled by aroha, rongo, and hari as an ethical framework.
Each of these concepts is complex, and cannot be distilled into a single-word translation. Aroha is usually translated as ‘love’, but has a dimension of knowledge, a learned behaviour or way of being, as well as reflecting compassion, empathy, charity, or concern. Rongo, or ‘peace’, is also the practice of the knowledge inherent in ‘aroha’. It is an active concept. Hari, typically translated as ‘joy’, connects with the other two concepts; it is a kind of love resting in peace, a celebration which finds joy in an active love and peace.
This framework does not preclude us telling stories which involve historical wrongdoing or injustice, and which have left a legacy of mamae (trauma) and degraded mana and tapu for some communities. By telling these stories with aroha, we hope to provide opportunities for rongo, reconciliation.
The ethics which guide the website content are also intertwined with the aspirations of the communities whose stories we will tell. We seek to respectfully engage with stakeholders’ knowledge and stories, approaching both people and historical stories with aroha, rongo, and hari.
The written word is not inherently privileged above other forms of historical sources in our work.
The arguments and content presented in our histories must be grounded in documentary evidence, which includes oral testimony as well as written sources. We take seriously the responsibility to represent the past as accurately as possible. Kaiako will be able to use our materials with high levels of trust in the rigour of the scholarship (which does not, of course, preclude disagreement and debate in the classroom, whare, community).