title: Whakarongo mai!: Transformative teaching to support Māori identity and success in a mainstream school

authors: Gilgen, Renée

subjects: Māori and mainstream education

abstract: This thesis topic emerged following a year’s teaching experience in a mainstream classroom during 2009. My cultural assumptions of being a Māori teacher in a mainstream class were challenged predominantly by a group of Māori students in the classroom. The level of despondency I felt as a result of disruptive student behaviours forced me to reassess my own socio-cultural constructs which had influenced the formation of my identity as Māori and as a mainstream teacher. The purpose of this study was to understand and explore a transformational behavioural shift which occurred within a group of Māori students during 2009 and the level of support they felt they received as Māori within a mainstream classroom context. National and international literature demonstrates that transformative praxis is both reflective and active. Successful inclusive teaching requires a personal and professional commitment to firstly understand individual cultural constructs to then better understand how learners are perceived and positioned. Culturally responsive pedagogy ensures that all students’ cultural practices and values are acknowledged and included into classroom teaching and learning programmes. In a New Zealand mainstream context, the Treaty of Waitangi principles of ‘partnership’, ‘participation’ and ‘protection’ serve as a bi-cultural ‘power-sharing’ metaphor from which all mainstream teachers of Māori students can successfully encourage student voice and foster reciprocal teaching and learning relationships. My use of qualitative research methods and kaupapa Māori principles to guide the research process ensured that Māori cultural protocols and practices were honoured. My role as a Māori insider researcher meant that my relationship with the participants was already established. Our reflections as Māori students and a Māori teacher in a mainstream classroom context were based from shared teaching and learning experiences during 2009. Researcher reflexivity has ensured that the research integrity, validity and reliability have remained high. The research findings present the reflections of both the participants and researcher as Māori students and as a Māori teacher during 2009. Participants believed that teaching and learning programmes which incorporated te reo Māori served to honour their identity as Māori. However, their awareness of participating with tikanga Māori principles of whānaungatanga (relationships), manaakitanga (caring), ako (reciprocity) and aroha (respect) embedded within classroom activities that were exclusively in English, were not identified as being relevant to them as Māori. Similarly, the Treaty of Waitangi principles lacked transparency within my teaching pedagogy. Two key implications for teaching and learning in mainstream schools and classrooms were identified. Firstly, there is an urgency for mainstream school managers, leaders and teachers to develop an understanding of the Treaty of Waitangi and its significance for the 21st Century mainstream teacher and learner. A bi-cultural understanding of ourselves as treaty partners support Māori cultural values and practices within increasingly diverse mainstream school and classroom contexts. Māori students‟ success becomes the responsibility of all mainstream managers, leaders and teachers as treaty partners. Secondly, inclusive and culturally responsive pedagogy demonstrates that Māori and non-Māori mainstream teachers are capable of effectively engaging Māori students with learning while acknowledging and reaffirming their cultural identity and language as tangata whenua. Overall, my commitment for Māori students to be supported as Māori within mainstream school and classroom context has been enriched and strengthened as a result of this research study. The cultural and professional tensions I have experienced in mainstream contexts have challenged the socio-cultural constructs that I had accepted as being my cultural ‘norm.’

text: Whakarongo mai!: Transformative teaching to support Māori identity and success in a mainstream school This thesis topic emerged following a year’s teaching experience in a mainstream classroom during 2009. My cultural assumptions of being a Māori teacher in a mainstream class were challenged predominantly by a group of Māori students in the classroom. The level of despondency I felt as a result of disruptive student behaviours forced me to reassess my own socio-cultural constructs which had influenced the formation of my identity as Māori and as a mainstream teacher. The purpose of this study was to understand and explore a transformational behavioural shift which occurred within a group of Māori students during 2009 and the level of support they felt they received as Māori within a mainstream classroom context. National and international literature demonstrates that transformative praxis is both reflective and active. Successful inclusive teaching requires a personal and professional commitment to firstly understand individual cultural constructs to then better understand how learners are perceived and positioned. Culturally responsive pedagogy ensures that all students’ cultural practices and values are acknowledged and included into classroom teaching and learning programmes. In a New Zealand mainstream context, the Treaty of Waitangi principles of ‘partnership’, ‘participation’ and ‘protection’ serve as a bi-cultural ‘power-sharing’ metaphor from which all mainstream teachers of Māori students can successfully encourage student voice and foster reciprocal teaching and learning relationships. My use of qualitative research methods and kaupapa Māori principles to guide the research process ensured that Māori cultural protocols and practices were honoured. My role as a Māori insider researcher meant that my relationship with the participants was already established. Our reflections as Māori students and a Māori teacher in a mainstream classroom context were based from shared teaching and learning experiences during 2009. Researcher reflexivity has ensured that the research integrity, validity and reliability have remained high. The research findings present the reflections of both the participants and researcher as Māori students and as a Māori teacher during 2009. Participants believed that teaching and learning programmes which incorporated te reo Māori served to honour their identity as Māori. However, their awareness of participating with tikanga Māori principles of whānaungatanga (relationships), manaakitanga (caring), ako (reciprocity) and aroha (respect) embedded within classroom activities that were exclusively in English, were not identified as being relevant to them as Māori. Similarly, the Treaty of Waitangi principles lacked transparency within my teaching pedagogy. Two key implications for teaching and learning in mainstream schools and classrooms were identified. Firstly, there is an urgency for mainstream school managers, leaders and teachers to develop an understanding of the Treaty of Waitangi and its significance for the 21st Century mainstream teacher and learner. A bi-cultural understanding of ourselves as treaty partners support Māori cultural values and practices within increasingly diverse mainstream school and classroom contexts. Māori students‟ success becomes the responsibility of all mainstream managers, leaders and teachers as treaty partners. Secondly, inclusive and culturally responsive pedagogy demonstrates that Māori and non-Māori mainstream teachers are capable of effectively engaging Māori students with learning while acknowledging and reaffirming their cultural identity and language as tangata whenua. Overall, my commitment for Māori students to be supported as Māori within mainstream school and classroom context has been enriched and strengthened as a result of this research study. The cultural and professional tensions I have experienced in mainstream contexts have challenged the socio-cultural constructs that I had accepted as being my cultural ‘norm.’

year: 2010

title: Tikanga Tainui: Tikanga whare wānanga

authors: Roa, Tom

subjects: Tikanga Māori

abstract: This paper is a preliminary report on an ongoing research project begun in 1999. The project involves consultation with Waikato-Tainui, the tāngata whenua of the Waikato region, about the construction of guidelines for University of Waikato staff (both Māori and non-Māori) who are involved in gatherings that call for adherence to Tainui protocols. Here, the emphasis is on guidelines for the conduct of pōwhiri (formal welcomes) on the University Marae.

text: Tikanga Tainui: Tikanga whare wānanga This paper is a preliminary report on an ongoing research project begun in 1999. The project involves consultation with Waikato-Tainui, the tāngata whenua of the Waikato region, about the construction of guidelines for University of Waikato staff (both Māori and non-Māori) who are involved in gatherings that call for adherence to Tainui protocols. Here, the emphasis is on guidelines for the conduct of pōwhiri (formal welcomes) on the University Marae.

year: 2005-09

title: Designing, measuring and modelling a small-scale coil and stimulation circuit for transcranial magnetic stimulation

authors: Khokhar, Farah Adeebah

abstract: In Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) rapid electromagnetic (EM) fields are applied to the brain, via an external current-carrying coil. This technique has been tried for many neurological disorders such as stroke, Parkinson’s disease and major depression. The fundamental effects of TMS are poorly understood so there is a need to carry out invasive measurements on mice to gain deep understanding about the underlying principles of TMS. However, we require smaller coils than used for a human, equivalent to the size of the mouse brain. Based on established physics principles we designed and built a cylindrical coil consisting of 50 turns of 0.2 mm diameter copper wire around a 4 mm diameter soft ferrite core. We built a simple electronic circuit to discharge a capacitor through this coil. With an applied voltage of 45 V, we measured the magnetic flux density (B-field) with a Hall probe as 338 mT and induced electric field with a wire loop as 10 – 15 V/m. The temperature increased by 31°C after 1200 pulses at 5 Hz. We modelled the coil using MATLAB which gave similar B-field and E field results of around 500 mT and 8 V/m respectively. Although this coil performs better than previously constructed mouse coils, the EM fields are still considerably lower than those of typical human coil of 2 T and 250 V/m. This now allows us to stimulate mouse brains with higher B-fields and E-fields than in previous experiments.

text: Designing, measuring and modelling a small-scale coil and stimulation circuit for transcranial magnetic stimulation In Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) rapid electromagnetic (EM) fields are applied to the brain, via an external current-carrying coil. This technique has been tried for many neurological disorders such as stroke, Parkinson’s disease and major depression. The fundamental effects of TMS are poorly understood so there is a need to carry out invasive measurements on mice to gain deep understanding about the underlying principles of TMS. However, we require smaller coils than used for a human, equivalent to the size of the mouse brain. Based on established physics principles we designed and built a cylindrical coil consisting of 50 turns of 0.2 mm diameter copper wire around a 4 mm diameter soft ferrite core. We built a simple electronic circuit to discharge a capacitor through this coil. With an applied voltage of 45 V, we measured the magnetic flux density (B-field) with a Hall probe as 338 mT and induced electric field with a wire loop as 10 – 15 V/m. The temperature increased by 31°C after 1200 pulses at 5 Hz. We modelled the coil using MATLAB which gave similar B-field and E field results of around 500 mT and 8 V/m respectively. Although this coil performs better than previously constructed mouse coils, the EM fields are still considerably lower than those of typical human coil of 2 T and 250 V/m. This now allows us to stimulate mouse brains with higher B-fields and E-fields than in previous experiments.

year: 2018