Personally, as a pakeha with nearly 200 years of whakapapa here in Aotearoa NZ (since 1823), I feel an affinity for Te Ao Māori, having wanted to speak Te Reo as a child. As kaiako of nga mokopuna I believe I have responsibility to encourage and facilitate an understanding of and love for Te Reo in their hearts and minds. As kaiako, I have a responsibility to practice my teaching with the principles and tenets if Te Tiriti O Waitangi - part of this is to nurture the language. Our ECE curriculum is bicultural, and thus there is professional expectation to support this for all our mokopuna.