title: From Darkness to dawn? A Forum for Kāpō Māori

authors: Te Momo, Ivan Prentus

subjects: Kāpō Māori

abstract: This thesis researches Kāpō Māori (Māori who are blind or sight impaired) and their pursuit of Te Reo Māori.  Te Reo Māori is a very significant cultural marker for Kāpō Māori to identify themselves as Māori.  Kāpō Māori face many challenges, challenges that are unknown to the mainstream.  The thesis surveys the fortunes of Te Reo Māori as it struggles to survive and find acceptance in Aotearoa/New Zealand, outlines attitudes towards disabled persons, who suffer discrimination and marginalisation, and summarises the story of the Blind in Aotearoa/New Zealand, especially through the history of The Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind, to provide context for the challenges faced by Kāpō Māori. For Kāpō Māori, discrimination and marginalisation is increased because all Māori suffer the disabilities that are a result of colonisation. The thesis sets out a methodology for field research, and draws from interviews with research participants to present the experiences of Kāpō Māori. This thesis provides an insight into the issues Kāpō Māori encounter when trying to engage Kāpō Māori , and draws those issues forward from darkness, where they are unknown, into the world of light by providing Kāpō Māori with a forum for discussion of these issues.

text: From Darkness to dawn? A Forum for Kāpō Māori This thesis researches Kāpō Māori (Māori who are blind or sight impaired) and their pursuit of Te Reo Māori.  Te Reo Māori is a very significant cultural marker for Kāpō Māori to identify themselves as Māori.  Kāpō Māori face many challenges, challenges that are unknown to the mainstream.  The thesis surveys the fortunes of Te Reo Māori as it struggles to survive and find acceptance in Aotearoa/New Zealand, outlines attitudes towards disabled persons, who suffer discrimination and marginalisation, and summarises the story of the Blind in Aotearoa/New Zealand, especially through the history of The Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind, to provide context for the challenges faced by Kāpō Māori. For Kāpō Māori, discrimination and marginalisation is increased because all Māori suffer the disabilities that are a result of colonisation. The thesis sets out a methodology for field research, and draws from interviews with research participants to present the experiences of Kāpō Māori. This thesis provides an insight into the issues Kāpō Māori encounter when trying to engage Kāpō Māori , and draws those issues forward from darkness, where they are unknown, into the world of light by providing Kāpō Māori with a forum for discussion of these issues.

year: 2007

title: Iwi cultural identity: The praxis of tūpuna narrative

authors: Williams, Amelia Amy Tuihana

subjects: Māori

abstract: This research is a narrative-based study of tūpuna narrative practices. As a privileged medium tūpuna narratives construct the conditions of iwi praxis which leads to mana-motuhake: the political independence and self-determination of Māori. This study explores how the Ngāti Koi applied ‘tūpuna narratives’ to challenge the hegemonic identity imposed on them that effectively alienated and silenced them erasing their memories of who they were and are. It is an auto-ethnography of an iwi, a whānau, a family it is a story about the writer. While this may seem a personal objective, the result indicates a cultural problematic in that the search for identity involves a critical kaupapa Māori investigation for an iwi to make sense of the act of colonisation, the colonial institutions that named them and the revitalization of their iwi identity in a Treaty of Waitangi context.  

This study has found that ‘tūpuna narratives’ represent identity conceptions that have implications for traditional normative practices. In narrative study there are no prescribed means for unearthing and creating meanings, research methods take the form of co-construction, the emphasis is on doing what is necessary to capture the lived experiences of iwi in terms of their particular-and-unique circumstances. Over time dominant theories have tended to align narrative practices with journalism, storytelling, myth and legend, tale and fable diminishing its conceptual role as the ‘epistemological other’ of the social sciences. 

The findings of this research illustrate the significant limitations of these theories. Narrative research is considered both a research method ‘in itself’ and also the phenomenon under study. In this study, narrative is applied as a conceptual metaphor to create interpreted descriptions, to understand and link causal historical and personal events to colonial institutional decision-making. Placed within the conceptual constellation of Kaupapa Māori narrative methodology becomes a powerful tool for change: creating the conditions of iwi praxis which is the making, the transformation and revitalisation of iwi cultural identity. 

As I write Hauraki enters a Treaty of Waitangi ‘settled world’ the settlement formulae premised on the falsified stories begat by nineteenth-century institutional decision-makers. These stories have created a legacy of unease as open inter iwi hostilities are unleashed. Treaty settlements should result in rangimarie-peace, justice and praxis for iwi both internal to, and external of its polity and cultural borders. Clearly, they do not and the need for tūpuna narratives, free of colonial-institutional storying, remains.

text: Iwi cultural identity: The praxis of tūpuna narrative This research is a narrative-based study of tūpuna narrative practices. As a privileged medium tūpuna narratives construct the conditions of iwi praxis which leads to mana-motuhake: the political independence and self-determination of Māori. This study explores how the Ngāti Koi applied ‘tūpuna narratives’ to challenge the hegemonic identity imposed on them that effectively alienated and silenced them erasing their memories of who they were and are. It is an auto-ethnography of an iwi, a whānau, a family it is a story about the writer. While this may seem a personal objective, the result indicates a cultural problematic in that the search for identity involves a critical kaupapa Māori investigation for an iwi to make sense of the act of colonisation, the colonial institutions that named them and the revitalization of their iwi identity in a Treaty of Waitangi context.  

This study has found that ‘tūpuna narratives’ represent identity conceptions that have implications for traditional normative practices. In narrative study there are no prescribed means for unearthing and creating meanings, research methods take the form of co-construction, the emphasis is on doing what is necessary to capture the lived experiences of iwi in terms of their particular-and-unique circumstances. Over time dominant theories have tended to align narrative practices with journalism, storytelling, myth and legend, tale and fable diminishing its conceptual role as the ‘epistemological other’ of the social sciences. 

The findings of this research illustrate the significant limitations of these theories. Narrative research is considered both a research method ‘in itself’ and also the phenomenon under study. In this study, narrative is applied as a conceptual metaphor to create interpreted descriptions, to understand and link causal historical and personal events to colonial institutional decision-making. Placed within the conceptual constellation of Kaupapa Māori narrative methodology becomes a powerful tool for change: creating the conditions of iwi praxis which is the making, the transformation and revitalisation of iwi cultural identity. 

As I write Hauraki enters a Treaty of Waitangi ‘settled world’ the settlement formulae premised on the falsified stories begat by nineteenth-century institutional decision-makers. These stories have created a legacy of unease as open inter iwi hostilities are unleashed. Treaty settlements should result in rangimarie-peace, justice and praxis for iwi both internal to, and external of its polity and cultural borders. Clearly, they do not and the need for tūpuna narratives, free of colonial-institutional storying, remains.

year: 2020

title: Climate strike experiences: Youth voice informing secondary schooling in Aotearoa New Zealand

authors: Bright, Maria L.

subjects: Youth

abstract: Youth voices led the climate strikes of 2019 and motivated millions to take to the street and demand climate action. Aotearoa New Zealand is experiencing more frequent and devastating weather events such as flooding, cyclones, droughts and fires, evidence of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s assertion that if greenhouse gas emissions continue to go unchecked, the impacts on humans and ecosystems will be irreversible, pervasive, and severe. Furthermore, those least responsible for the causes of climate change are likely to be the most affected. This includes the youth of today. 
Despite the predicted scale of the impact climate change might have on future generations, academic literature relating to youth concerns and perceptions on climate change education has also been limited. While this research largely confirms what is already known about climate change education in secondary schools, it has focused on youth perspectives, and this is where the value lies by offering a theoretical contribution to pedagogical practise based on the voices of youth climate strike leaders. Education traditionally mirrors the cultural norms of society and secondary schools have not shown a willingness to engage with their youth about climate change education. 
This thesis is grounded in a Freirean theoretical position, the context of which, supports an education process that enables students to become agents of change and argues for greater implementation of holistic critical pedagogies in secondary schools. The 2019 climate strikes represented an uprising of youth, through this action the strike leaders’ experiences led to their realisation that climate instability necessitates an educational shift away from prioritising cultural reproduction to an education system that supports cultural transformation. With a critical theory lens, I explore the barriers and opportunities within secondary schools in regard to climate change education and ask what teachers can learn from the climate strikes experience. 
The purpose of this research was to consider youth voice and question what educators can learn from the climate strikes by exploring the experiences of climate strike leaders in Aotearoa New Zealand. Understanding the motivational factors behind youth climate action and gaining pedagogical insights into effective climate change education is critical to future curriculum content and classroom practices. Using an interpretivist paradigm with a critical theory lens, rich qualitative data were collected. In-depth, semi-structured interviews with 15 geographically and culturally diverse climate strike leaders and eight secondary school teachers were conducted via zoom. Interview data were triangulated by document analysis of online media articles relating to the climate strikes. Thematic analysis identified key emerging messages. 
The key findings identified in this research pertained to why and how questions. The why consisted of motivational factors that engaged youth to take climate action which included the soaring levels of climate anxiety among youth and how eco-anxiety is pivotal for demotivating or motivating climate action. With consideration of Boler’s (1999) conceptual framework, the Pedagogy of Discomfort, I propose a progressive model of emotional responses that frame the strike leaders’ emotional journey from apathy through anxiety to action. The conceptual framework aims to be transformational by inviting individuals to explore the root causes behind their anxiety and develop active strategies that encourage participants to reflect and identify, their perceptions and society’s expectations.
The how considered the value of youth voice for increasing engagement; how enhanced understanding of social justice and indigenous rights is more likely to engage youth towards political agency than learning about ecological collapse; and how enhanced political agency empowers youth to feel they can make a difference, which also reduced their anxiety. Importantly, embracing Orr’s (1992) critical pedagogical practice that balances academic (head), emotional, (heart), and practical (hands) learning is more likely to foster critical thought that engages a wider audience with climate change education that leads to climate action.
The strike leaders concluded that formal secondary school education plays an essential role for their future but is yet to fully realise the transformative potential it has. Youth are demanding climate action and argue that educators have a responsibility to support and contribute to bringing about the changes needed for the ecological and societal challenges youth face in a climate altered future.

text: Climate strike experiences: Youth voice informing secondary schooling in Aotearoa New Zealand Youth voices led the climate strikes of 2019 and motivated millions to take to the street and demand climate action. Aotearoa New Zealand is experiencing more frequent and devastating weather events such as flooding, cyclones, droughts and fires, evidence of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s assertion that if greenhouse gas emissions continue to go unchecked, the impacts on humans and ecosystems will be irreversible, pervasive, and severe. Furthermore, those least responsible for the causes of climate change are likely to be the most affected. This includes the youth of today. 
Despite the predicted scale of the impact climate change might have on future generations, academic literature relating to youth concerns and perceptions on climate change education has also been limited. While this research largely confirms what is already known about climate change education in secondary schools, it has focused on youth perspectives, and this is where the value lies by offering a theoretical contribution to pedagogical practise based on the voices of youth climate strike leaders. Education traditionally mirrors the cultural norms of society and secondary schools have not shown a willingness to engage with their youth about climate change education. 
This thesis is grounded in a Freirean theoretical position, the context of which, supports an education process that enables students to become agents of change and argues for greater implementation of holistic critical pedagogies in secondary schools. The 2019 climate strikes represented an uprising of youth, through this action the strike leaders’ experiences led to their realisation that climate instability necessitates an educational shift away from prioritising cultural reproduction to an education system that supports cultural transformation. With a critical theory lens, I explore the barriers and opportunities within secondary schools in regard to climate change education and ask what teachers can learn from the climate strikes experience. 
The purpose of this research was to consider youth voice and question what educators can learn from the climate strikes by exploring the experiences of climate strike leaders in Aotearoa New Zealand. Understanding the motivational factors behind youth climate action and gaining pedagogical insights into effective climate change education is critical to future curriculum content and classroom practices. Using an interpretivist paradigm with a critical theory lens, rich qualitative data were collected. In-depth, semi-structured interviews with 15 geographically and culturally diverse climate strike leaders and eight secondary school teachers were conducted via zoom. Interview data were triangulated by document analysis of online media articles relating to the climate strikes. Thematic analysis identified key emerging messages. 
The key findings identified in this research pertained to why and how questions. The why consisted of motivational factors that engaged youth to take climate action which included the soaring levels of climate anxiety among youth and how eco-anxiety is pivotal for demotivating or motivating climate action. With consideration of Boler’s (1999) conceptual framework, the Pedagogy of Discomfort, I propose a progressive model of emotional responses that frame the strike leaders’ emotional journey from apathy through anxiety to action. The conceptual framework aims to be transformational by inviting individuals to explore the root causes behind their anxiety and develop active strategies that encourage participants to reflect and identify, their perceptions and society’s expectations.
The how considered the value of youth voice for increasing engagement; how enhanced understanding of social justice and indigenous rights is more likely to engage youth towards political agency than learning about ecological collapse; and how enhanced political agency empowers youth to feel they can make a difference, which also reduced their anxiety. Importantly, embracing Orr’s (1992) critical pedagogical practice that balances academic (head), emotional, (heart), and practical (hands) learning is more likely to foster critical thought that engages a wider audience with climate change education that leads to climate action.
The strike leaders concluded that formal secondary school education plays an essential role for their future but is yet to fully realise the transformative potential it has. Youth are demanding climate action and argue that educators have a responsibility to support and contribute to bringing about the changes needed for the ecological and societal challenges youth face in a climate altered future.

year: 2022