Where were you when the shining cuckoo called?
October 28th, 2007
We begun discussing this topic last week. This post is for you to express your own interpretation of this Maori proverb.
I hea koe i te tangihanga o te Pipiwharauoa?
Where were you when the shining cuckoo called?
Just like any philosophical discussion, you will need to explain your reasoning behind your response and you must also refer to, discuss or challenge another poster’s point of view. Do you agree? Why? Do you disagree? Why? Ask questions and explore this proverb. This is linking to our understanding of roles and responsibilities and teamwork.
Go Room 29!!
Term 4 | Comments (42)42 Responses to “Where were you when the shining cuckoo called?”
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Hi guys,
I think this means about team work and working together because when you see the poster there is a boy who is playing a video game and the other people are working so it could mean like where were when we you needed you most to help us work.
So it is like when we needed help you were not there to help us at all.
By Gray
Hi Room 29,
Just for future responses here – please don’t refer to the poster in class. There is no poster here, so refer to the proverb only and its meaning to you. Comment on an additional persons response.
Thanks!
Andrew
hi
I think it means where were you when we needed help. Also it’s like our body, because if the heart say to the rest of the body i’m too tired and then the body would brak down itself, because the rest of the body
dosen’t get any oxygen!!
Hi,
Erin – I agree with you that it means where were you when we needed help?
I also think it means, why didn’t you fill your role? I think that the shining cuckoo is nothing to do with what it means.
It also means why did you stop us from completing something? It is saying that everyone is needed and if one person is gone the whole thing goes bad. It is like a house, where if one wall isn’t there the whole roof will fall down.
From Louisa
I think the meaning of where were you when the shining cuckoo called? Is, where were you when we needed your help? Like if one link breaks in a chain the whole thing will fall apart.
I agree with Gray because if just one person does not fill in their role and responsibilty the whole team will fall apart.
Oliver B.
Hi guys
I think it means that everyone needs to work together and that it’s telling the person that he/she wasn’t helping.
Like mot short famous statements it explains alot and is very powerful.
-Jennifer
I think it means that you have to work together and if you don’t your not a whole team.
Its like a puzzle, if one peice is gone it won’t be a full puzzle, it won’t be a full picture.
-Eden-
I think that this saying means that Where were you when we needed you’re help.
It’s like when you are writting a story and you miss out a word it dosen’t make any sence.
-Ella!!!
Hi,
I think it another way of saying it may be ‘where were you when we were working?’
Because the person asking the question could of been working all day for their family and may not of been able to complete the task properly, because you weren’t there to help. Also two people can do more than one.
It could also mean ‘where were you when work was needed to be done/ why didn’t you complete your roles/ where were you when we needed help?’
I think this because the shining cuckoo could be your family asking you to help them by participating in working with them. It is like a fire, you need more than one piece of wood to make it burn.
I agree with Louisa’s saying, ‘why didn’t you help us complete something/ where were you when things went wrong?’
I agree with these, because the proverb could mean why were you slowing us down?, for the reason that the person who they are asking could be doing something wrong and ruining things by not helping/participating. For example:
Why weren’t you working as part of the team?
It is like a pen, without all the ink it will not be able to finish the story.
It is also like a mirror, you need every bit of glass to work together otherwise it will break.
Yours sincerely,
Hannah
Hi,
I have another simile:
It is like a pattern, is one sequence is missed the rest of the pattern will go wrong.
From Hannah,
P.S Good Luck to everyone else
Jock here,
I think that it means why werent you there when we needed you most and why didnt you come when we called you because we were doing all the work.
Thanks for reading
I agree with Ella about where were when we needed you,but I think that it also means that why werent you there when we were calling you. E.G why were you watching t.v when we were doing all the work.
BIANCA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I belive that the Maori proverb:
“Where were you when the shining cuckoo called?” means
“You broke the chain when you shoud be there to help us”
Because the proverb asks “Where were you when” this happened, it suggests that “you” were expected to be there and weren’t.
Hamish
i think that the meaning “where were you when the shinning coukoo called” means that why wern’t you there when we were all working hard because we would of finished our job and been sucessful if you were there.
Gabbie.B
hi guys
i think that the meaning of the moari proverb “where were you when the shining cuckoo called” means like what most of you said, where were you when we were doing a job and needed help. i also think it could be something to do with the shining cuckoo and maybe in history a shining cuckoo called to get help.
Hi Hamish and Gabbie,
1. I agree with Hamish saying,”the proverb asks ‘Where were you when’ this happened, it suggests that ‘you’ were expected to be there and weren’t.
I agree to this because it could be any ‘where were you’ but it all comes down to you weren’t there, when you were meant to be. I think it links to money, you need every cent to buy what you want, and if one cent gets lost, you can’t afford the item properly.
2. Gabbie I also agree to you, and I think what you meant, was: “We could have done the job better if you were there to help?”.
Or it may of meant: “Why didn’t you do your own role and make it easier for us?”
My ways of saying it are just to make it shorter.
Yours sincerely,
Hannah
Hi,
Frankie, I like how you put that maybe in the past the shining cuckoo called for help, but maybe it didn’t call for help, but it sounded like it. For example:
Maybe the birds song sounded like wailing, or crying for help.
Also it may not of sounded like it was calling for help, but it may of sometimes appeared at places where people needed help.
Yours sincerely,
Hannah
“Where were you when the shining cuckoo called” to me means that where were you when we were all doing/working at our jobs. And where were you when we were all having a soccer tournament.
“Where were you when the shining cuckoo called” to me means Where were you when we where working/calling for help.
Hi,
I have more similes:
It is like building, you need all the nails to stay in place so the object doesn’t collapse.
It is like a puddle, it needs lots of raindrops to work together to make it complete.
It is like a picture, it needs every colour paint to complete it.
It is like a tree, it needs every root to stay alive, otherwise it will die.
It is like a flower, it needs the sun and the rain to give it food, without that it will die.
It is like electricity, it needs every wire to work, otherwise it will lose connection.
Yours sincerely,
Hannah
Hello,
It doesn’t always have to mean why were you not here because it could mean why did you stop half way or why did you work slowly.
Since it says shining cockoo, it could mean you missed out on seeing us complete something.
It could also mean where were you when we called.
Another thing that it could mean could be why did you give you when we were still trying.
From Louisa
Hi Guys,
I think that this saying means “teamwork and co-operation” because on the poster in our classroom, there is a picture of some people working and then down in the corner there is a picture of a boy playing on his Gameboy.This means that there is no co-operation between them.
It’s like in the marae, if there no Tiko Tiko it’s not really a marae because there is no head which means that there is no brain to make the body function.
-Ella!!!!!
Hi Ella,
I agree with you that there is no connection between the people that are working and the person that is playing on his gameboy.
I also agree that every part of the marae is needed to make a marae. It is a bit like if you have no legs then you can’t walk. Everything, no matter how small it is makes a difference. It might just be using a different background colour in a painting.
That boy is not being part of his family. He hasn’t done his role.
It also could me why did you make us fall apart. When you are in a team you don’t realise how important your role is.
Louisa
I think the saying ‘where were you when the shinning cuckoo called?’ means “where were you when we were in need of help?” It’s also like Mum’s washing line – when one part of the line snaps the whole thing falls apart.I agree with Hannah about the mirror because without one piece of the mirror you won’t get a full reflection.
From Olivia
Great work to Hannah and Louisa for continuing to think about this proverb. Well done for coming more than once, and especially for building upon other peoples ideas. This is how the best learning for you will occur.
Sammy and Jacob, please tell us more about why you think this. You have an idea of what it means but have failed to explain your reasoning.
For all posters, one of the most important things in our learning is to take the time to think about someone elses ideas. If you have not done this – please do so. It takes some extra thinking but will be very beneficial to you and your understandings of the topic and it was also part of the instructions in my main post.
I found Frankie’s interpretation interesting, as he thought that maybe the shining cuckoo calls for help from others when it needs to. He refered to history also. Remember that this proverb most likely dates back to early times in New Zealand and the shining cuckoo may have done just this; or possibly it was a very rare sight. The cuckoo is a real bird, maybe some of you would like to find out if it is actually rare or special. I definetly did not know that there was such a bird as the Pipiwharauoa (shining cuckoo) in our country.
It seems that there are some reoccuring ideas here about teamwork, work, help, and neglecting responsibilties. We will re-visit this proverb in our next session of philosophy.
Keep up your amazing work!
Hi guys,
I agree with Ella. It is all about coporation. I also agree with Olivia. The saying means “Where were you when we needed help?” Because in the piture the boy is being lazy and all his family are working in the garden.
I also think it is linked to team work and the other saying. “With my food basket and your food basket the geasts will be fed becuse when we talked about those things in class we were all coming up with the same idea about both sayings: teamwork.
From Tessa
hey you guys.
This is what I think it means.
We needed your help but you weren’t there, so were where you. Or it could just mean that your lazy (if someone says it to you).
erik
Hi guys Brittany here
I think this means when we needed help where were you or when the rest of us was having fun why didn’t you join us or where were you? If there was not a teacher in a class room the kids would not be able to learn and if there was no kids in the class the teacher would have no one to teach.
I have found a web site that gives good examples of the saying “Where were you when the shining cuckoo called?” look at the paragraph on Laziness.
Brittany
Ka pai Brittany!! Well done in locating some additional information – it is very great. I will take a quote from there so everyone can see it here…
Lazy people were said to be like the koekoeā (long-tailed cuckoo), which often left its eggs to be hatched in the nest of the tātaihore (whitehead). Similarly, there was the pointed question ‘I hea koe i te tangi o te pīpīwharauroa?’ (Where were you when the shining cuckoo sang?). When the bird’s call signalled the time for all to help with planting, some people stayed away – but they showed up to eat at harvest time.
Ministry for Culture and Heritage, 2005-2007.
I think this information linked well with Frankie’s idea and also gives us a clearer idea of history and what the Maori people used the proverb for.
Great work Brittany!
Hi guys,
Ithink that the shining cuckoo can be a call to come together to, for example where where you when we all came together? Where where you when we needed you? Where were you when someone needed help?
Oliver RD
Hi guys
I think that this saying means where were you when we where all working and you weren’t there to help us.
I also think it is a saying for come and help us please when we are working and if you aren’t there to help us e.g. go and get some food if you don’t help us get food you wont get any food also if you have a game boy you should still help when we a working.
Ruby .S.
I think this because maby the shining cuckoo is hard working and calls when someone is not working.
“Where were you when the shining cuckoo called” to me means that where were you when we were all doing/working at our jobs. And where were you when we were all having a soccer tournament.
I think all this because it’s like where were you when i called you to help us work. It sort of links to the No I in Teamwork saying aswell.
i think the shining cuckoo means where were you when we need your help i think this because when they called you were just playing and being lazy.
jackliu
Because the shining cuckoo isint allways a call for help and can be a call to come together. I think this beacause the shing cuckoo can also be a call to work together.
Oliver RD
i think that the Maori Proverb ‘where were you when the shinning cockoo called’ means where were you when we were all working hard.
i think it means this because the shinning cockoo could be a type of bird and when it calls it could mean it is time to work as a family in the garden or time to work.
I think that the shining couckoo is when people are looking for food and one person gone away and not thasnt come so and then they come back and hes comes and eat.I think this becouse the shining cucook is real and it mean alot.
I think that the maori proverb means when you get called by the shining cuckoo. You have to get food to feed the tribe, because in some stories they always talk about the shining cuckoo.
-Arahina
I think this means why didnt you turn up when the shining cuckoo called. For example, my family and I called for help, like the cuckoo but no one made a sound.
I think this becuase the cuckoo does not just stand there and wait. It calls out to remind others of the work that needs to be done.
hi this is kimberley and sarah we like this shining cuckoo we think it’s very shiny. We have never seen that kind of bird before and it is a great pic!!!
bye
from sarah and kimberley
Hi guys!
I think that Sophia is right! Because it’s like if your team is calling for you to help them that you shod help them work as a team.
Going back to philosophy last time Andrew talked about how in mori times the shining cook would call when it was time to harvest.
It is kind of like a roster calling at sunrise, but this is telling you a different time e.g the roster calls and you know to get up and the shining coko calls when it is time to harvest.
Maybe another type of bird is used in another culture to tell what time it is?
Maybe some people tell the time by birds flying away in the winter when to do something?
What do you think Andrew?
Tessa
Hi,
I think this links to teamwork, because he is the missing position and his role of that position isn’t being fulfilled.
I agree with Tessa, because lots of different birds could show people the time by what they do. There could be another bird that sings when daylight savings going to begin?
Yours sincerely,
Hannah