Sitting on tables and teacher modelling
             An invitation to reflect on meanings
             This is an attempt to share with you some of the issues involved in the prohibition against sitting on tables and how it might be viewed by educators. Under the umbrella of 'tapu' and 'noa' (or restrictions and freedom therefrom), there are three distinct concepts involved from pre-colonisation Mäori world view and these are ideas about 'tables', ideas about 'bodies' and ideas about 'kai'.
             Note that the central meaning of 'tapu' is restriction. Often it is translated as 'sacred' and that is a valid translation in concept and I invite you to reflect on the meaning of sacred in your own understanding and make the links with the idea of restriction.
             What is a table? First thread of restriction.
             Pre colonisation Mäori did not have an item of furniture or technology that equates to the Colonisers' concept of a 'table'. In the first days of meeting each other, Päkehä looked for a platform with 'legs' to describe the closest equivalent of their concept of 'table' – and found outdoor rods or poles upon which a platform might be laid at different times. This accident of linguistic 'linking' had the Mäori name 'tüähu' and if you look in the Williams Mäori dictionary, you will see that it is translated as 'altar' and was used for the express purpose of divination. So from the very beginning, this was not a place to sit freely.
             What about the body? Second thread of restriction.
             The 'tapu' of the human body is a very simple concept to grasp at once. Every culture has enormous respect for the human body and has its own hierarchy of restriction, and every individual within that culture will have her/his own personal practices. Under what circumstances and with whom will you sha...