Performing with Play

Performing with Play

From Fund for Teachers - The Podcast by Carrie Caton

December 9, 2025 · 35 min · Season 6 · Episode 3

About this episode

Amanda Hinrichs discusses her fifth graders' experience writing and performing a haka, inspired by her observations in New Zealand.

As the fall semester speeds into winter break, Amanda Hinrichs’ fifth graders at Hebron Avenue School in Glastonbury, CT, are pretty worked up. They’re stamping their feet and making bold hand gestures with eyes bulging and tongues out. And Amanda is loving every second. Her music students are writing and performing their own “haka,” a Maori tradition that Amanda observed all across New Zealand on her Fund for Teachers grant this summer. Amanda is a 25-year veteran teacher of music but recent...

People in this episode

Host: Carrie Caton

Guest: Amanda Hinrichs

Topics covered

  • music education
  • cultural traditions
  • student performance
  • teaching methods
  • creative expression

Keywords

  • haka
  • music education
  • teaching
  • New Zealand
  • student performance
  • cultural traditions

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Hebron Avenue School, Fund for Teachers

Places: Glastonbury, CT, New Zealand

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