Hiranga- to compete or not to compete...that is the question [insert strive for excellence where it says compete]

 Today I met with our Whakapono group. It's a group of 8 or 9 Year 7/8 students that one of us, SLT, will meet with on a weekly basis for some kind of mentoring, and the social and emotional growth (we hope).

Each week we'll use the value of the week, i.e. the value from WHAKAPONO school values to explore various topics of interest or current issues- for these learners, our school, or what's going on in the world around us at the moment. The approach is one of Talanoa or Wananga- these learners had a basic understanding of those concepts, and I simply put it, that it's about talking...allowing ourselves to talk about issues without trying to be right, but just being open to what comes out of those conversations. 

Today we considered Hiranga- Striving for Excellence. The group was presented with the issue that the board has to consider, i.e. one group of parents are saying sports for primary aged kids should just be about participation, and one are saying sports needs to be about giving our kids opportunities for competition. The key points that came out of our talanoa included:

• Agreement that for younger kids the focus should be on participation- getting them involved, seeing what they liked, not worrying about winning so much, having fun and with their friends;
• But as kids get older, they need to push themselves, keep learning, work out that even when you try your best you may not win that time

Some interesting points and questions came up during our talanoa:

• Is competition a bad thing? If not, then when can it become unhealthy?
• What does competing or striving for excellence do for us/ people?
• What would happen if we removed competition altogether from sports? 
• When is it appropriate not to compete?

While our time was brief (20 mins) I still enjoyed engaging in the talanoa (even if some were still warming up to the idea that we're going to be talking with Mrs J or Mr Rungan or another SLT member about these things). Preparing for this session, made me think about the function of challenges or adding that element of 'striving for excellence' , i.e. when we continuously look to improve, it actually helps sustain the current practice, and build upon this/ take it further. I guess not striving leads to (or can be a result of perhaps?) complacency. Complacency- being in a comfortable place...so comfortable that there's a danger of never finding out what else is out there and how much more amazing that could be.

Today I also was reminded from our talanoa that if we don't push ourselves:

• We might not grow, learn, or get stronger;
• We deny ourselves of the opportunity to engage with others, have fun and learn alongside them;
• We might just become stagnant, and worse still stuck in that comfortable place
• We're supposed to continually strive to make this world and ourselves a better place, a better people.

I think this is a word for me too- both personally and professionally. Tama tū, Tama ora- keep being active in my learning, and it will give life to myself and the mahi I'm called to do. Don't settle, but remember to keep things in check too- don't strive to the point where you forget why you are playing that game in the first place (to have fun, do life with good people, learn and grow as a person etc).

Thanks to Sara, Tauilo, Johmandah, Iyannah, Asenati, Siautu, and Shanti for helping me to think about my thinking! I hope that I/ we (SLT) can return the favour as we continue these sessions.