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: Ngāti Whakaue Māngai Nui

authors: Hiini, Anaha Te Wheoro

subjects: Ngāti Whakaue Māngai Nui

abstract: Ko Ngāti Whakaue tētehi iwi ahurei o te waka o Te Arawa.  Ko tētehi taha ōna kei ngā tahataha o te kōroto moana o Te Rotorua-nui-a-Kahumatamomoe, i Waingaehe ki Waimihia.  Ko tētehi atu taha ōna kei te ūnga o te waka rongomaiwhiti o Te Arawa, arā ki Maketū.  
Kua whai mana a Ngāti Whakaue i ngā rautau e tū whakahīhī ai rātau hei iwi mana nui i ō rātau pūkenga me ō rātau pūmanawa kia mau tonu tō rātau Whakauetanga, tō rātau ahurea me ā rātau tikanga.   Ko tētehi pūkenga pēnei i te āheinga ki te whakairo i te kupu rōreka, ki te tuitui i te kōrero i whakaputaina ai te kōrero ‘Te Arawa Māngai Nui’.  He mea whakapuaki te kōrero rā e iwi kē ki te whakanui i ngā pūkōrero o ngā paepae o Te Arawa, ka mutu, koirā hoki tētehi pūkenga i hau ai te rongo o Ngāti Whakaue.  
Nā, ko te pūkenga e kōrerohia nei, ko te reo o Ngāti Whakaue.  Ko tōna oranga tonutanga te kaupapa matua o tēnei tuhinga e rangahaua ana i te putanga o te kōrero a tētehi o ngā koroua matatau o te iwi i te tau 1992, arā a Hamuera Mitchell, nāna tonu nei i whakapuaki ‘Ka mate te reo o Ngāti Whakaue ā te tekau tau’.  

Nō reira, he whakatewhatewhahanga tēnei tuhinga o te reo o Ngāti Whakaue o tua, o mohoa noa nei hoki kia mōhiotia ai te oranga, te matenga haeretanga rānei o te reo o te iwi, o ngā hapū, o te hapori, o te kāinga o nāianei, kia tau hoki mehemea āe rānei kua whai hua ngā rautaki reo o mua a Ngāti Whakaue ki te whakarauora i tōna ake reo, ā, ka aha te iwi e anga whakamua ai.  Ka mātaitia te āhua o te reo o Ngāti Whakaue kia mōhiotia mehemea i tika tā Hamera Mitchell i kī ai i te tau 1992, karekau rānei, mehemea rānei he wero kē nāna kia kaua e tukuna e te iwi o Ngāti Whakaue tō rātau reo kia mate.

Ko te tikanga rangahau Pākehā, ko te tikanga rangahau Māori, me ngā tikanga ako reo ka kaha mātaitia i tēnei tuhinga kia tika ai te kohinga o ngā raraunga o tēnei momo rangahau, ngā tikanga matatika a te wānanga, ngā tukanga tātari me te whakahōrapatanga atu i ngā whakataunga o te rangahau.  

Hei āpiti atu, ka kōrerohia ngā kaupapa mātauranga a Ngāti Whakaue, tae noa atu ki ngā tini kaupapa whakarauora reo a te iwi kua whakahaerehia mai i te tau 2005 ki ēnei rangi tonu nei mō te oranga o te reo o Ngāti Whakaue te take e anga tōtika atu ai ki te wetenga o te rautaki reo o mua a Ngāti Whakaue i whakahaerehia ai i ngā tau 2013 ki te tau 2017 i kitea ai ōna pikinga, ōna hekenga, ōna ngoikoretanga me ōna hua.  

Heoi anō, hei whaiwhai noa ake i te rautaki o mua nei, ko ngā mātātuhi kua mahue iho rā, ko te korenga o ngā arotakenga, ko te korenga o ngā pūrongo, ko te korenga o ētehi taunakitanga ā-tuhi nei, ko te korenga o tētehi aha kē atu rānei kia kitea he hua, he pikinga, he hekenga, he aha rānei.  Ahakoa tērā raru, nā te kitenga me te rongotanga o te pikinga haeretanga o te āhua o te reo, nā ngā kōrero ā-waha me ngā kauhau a ētehi mō ngā hua i puta ai i te rautaki reo o mua a Ngāti Whakaue i mana ai te whakahaumanutanga o te reo o ngā paepae o te iwi.

Nā te mea ko te reo Māori te remurere o te kaituhi nei, kua tekau mā waru tau ia e whai ana i te kaupapa i a ia e whakaako ana, i a ia e wānanga ana, i a ia hoki e whakapau kaha ana ki te whakaora anō i te reo Māori, kua whakaritea e ia tētehi rautaki reo hou e toru tekau tau te roa hei kōkiri mā te iwi e ora rawa atu anō ai te reo o Ngāti Whakaue, e whai hua anō ai hoki te whakapuakitanga o te kōrero rā ‘Te Arawa Māngai Nui’, hei tohu whakanui i ngā pūkenga kōrero o te iwi.

E ai ki te kōrero, ‘he tīmohea kua pakari’.  Nā roto i te āta rangahaua o te kaupapa nei i mōhio ai e ora tonu nei te reo o Ngāti Whakaue, heoi, kāore e pērā rawa te kaha o te oranga i te wā i a kui mā, i a koro mā.  Ahakoa te kōrero mō te matenga haeretanga o te reo o Ngāti Whakaue, nā ngā kaupapa whakaora reo a te iwi i ngā tau i piki anō ai te oranga o te reo, ka mutu, mā te whakahaerenga tonutanga o ngā wānanga nei e ora tonu anō ai te reo.

text: Ngāti Whakaue Māngai Nui Ko Ngāti Whakaue tētehi iwi ahurei o te waka o Te Arawa.  Ko tētehi taha ōna kei ngā tahataha o te kōroto moana o Te Rotorua-nui-a-Kahumatamomoe, i Waingaehe ki Waimihia.  Ko tētehi atu taha ōna kei te ūnga o te waka rongomaiwhiti o Te Arawa, arā ki Maketū.  
Kua whai mana a Ngāti Whakaue i ngā rautau e tū whakahīhī ai rātau hei iwi mana nui i ō rātau pūkenga me ō rātau pūmanawa kia mau tonu tō rātau Whakauetanga, tō rātau ahurea me ā rātau tikanga.   Ko tētehi pūkenga pēnei i te āheinga ki te whakairo i te kupu rōreka, ki te tuitui i te kōrero i whakaputaina ai te kōrero ‘Te Arawa Māngai Nui’.  He mea whakapuaki te kōrero rā e iwi kē ki te whakanui i ngā pūkōrero o ngā paepae o Te Arawa, ka mutu, koirā hoki tētehi pūkenga i hau ai te rongo o Ngāti Whakaue.  
Nā, ko te pūkenga e kōrerohia nei, ko te reo o Ngāti Whakaue.  Ko tōna oranga tonutanga te kaupapa matua o tēnei tuhinga e rangahaua ana i te putanga o te kōrero a tētehi o ngā koroua matatau o te iwi i te tau 1992, arā a Hamuera Mitchell, nāna tonu nei i whakapuaki ‘Ka mate te reo o Ngāti Whakaue ā te tekau tau’.  

Nō reira, he whakatewhatewhahanga tēnei tuhinga o te reo o Ngāti Whakaue o tua, o mohoa noa nei hoki kia mōhiotia ai te oranga, te matenga haeretanga rānei o te reo o te iwi, o ngā hapū, o te hapori, o te kāinga o nāianei, kia tau hoki mehemea āe rānei kua whai hua ngā rautaki reo o mua a Ngāti Whakaue ki te whakarauora i tōna ake reo, ā, ka aha te iwi e anga whakamua ai.  Ka mātaitia te āhua o te reo o Ngāti Whakaue kia mōhiotia mehemea i tika tā Hamera Mitchell i kī ai i te tau 1992, karekau rānei, mehemea rānei he wero kē nāna kia kaua e tukuna e te iwi o Ngāti Whakaue tō rātau reo kia mate.

Ko te tikanga rangahau Pākehā, ko te tikanga rangahau Māori, me ngā tikanga ako reo ka kaha mātaitia i tēnei tuhinga kia tika ai te kohinga o ngā raraunga o tēnei momo rangahau, ngā tikanga matatika a te wānanga, ngā tukanga tātari me te whakahōrapatanga atu i ngā whakataunga o te rangahau.  

Hei āpiti atu, ka kōrerohia ngā kaupapa mātauranga a Ngāti Whakaue, tae noa atu ki ngā tini kaupapa whakarauora reo a te iwi kua whakahaerehia mai i te tau 2005 ki ēnei rangi tonu nei mō te oranga o te reo o Ngāti Whakaue te take e anga tōtika atu ai ki te wetenga o te rautaki reo o mua a Ngāti Whakaue i whakahaerehia ai i ngā tau 2013 ki te tau 2017 i kitea ai ōna pikinga, ōna hekenga, ōna ngoikoretanga me ōna hua.  

Heoi anō, hei whaiwhai noa ake i te rautaki o mua nei, ko ngā mātātuhi kua mahue iho rā, ko te korenga o ngā arotakenga, ko te korenga o ngā pūrongo, ko te korenga o ētehi taunakitanga ā-tuhi nei, ko te korenga o tētehi aha kē atu rānei kia kitea he hua, he pikinga, he hekenga, he aha rānei.  Ahakoa tērā raru, nā te kitenga me te rongotanga o te pikinga haeretanga o te āhua o te reo, nā ngā kōrero ā-waha me ngā kauhau a ētehi mō ngā hua i puta ai i te rautaki reo o mua a Ngāti Whakaue i mana ai te whakahaumanutanga o te reo o ngā paepae o te iwi.

Nā te mea ko te reo Māori te remurere o te kaituhi nei, kua tekau mā waru tau ia e whai ana i te kaupapa i a ia e whakaako ana, i a ia e wānanga ana, i a ia hoki e whakapau kaha ana ki te whakaora anō i te reo Māori, kua whakaritea e ia tētehi rautaki reo hou e toru tekau tau te roa hei kōkiri mā te iwi e ora rawa atu anō ai te reo o Ngāti Whakaue, e whai hua anō ai hoki te whakapuakitanga o te kōrero rā ‘Te Arawa Māngai Nui’, hei tohu whakanui i ngā pūkenga kōrero o te iwi.

E ai ki te kōrero, ‘he tīmohea kua pakari’.  Nā roto i te āta rangahaua o te kaupapa nei i mōhio ai e ora tonu nei te reo o Ngāti Whakaue, heoi, kāore e pērā rawa te kaha o te oranga i te wā i a kui mā, i a koro mā.  Ahakoa te kōrero mō te matenga haeretanga o te reo o Ngāti Whakaue, nā ngā kaupapa whakaora reo a te iwi i ngā tau i piki anō ai te oranga o te reo, ka mutu, mā te whakahaerenga tonutanga o ngā wānanga nei e ora tonu anō ai te reo.

year: 2020

title: Health invaders in New Zealand primary schools

authors: Burrows, Lisette

subjects: health policy

abstract: Escalating concern over childhood obesity rates, children’s eating habits and their physical activity regimes has fuelled the development of multiple health policies and resources. Many of these are reaching into primary schools, contouring pedagogical opportunities and influencing how young people may come to understand themselves as healthy (or not). In this paper, we map the health policy/resource context in New Zealand emergent over the past two decades, examining the form and content of health messages circulating and their incursions into primary school environments. We also consider the potential effects for teachers and students of enduring health ‘invasions’ in the primary school space.

text: Health invaders in New Zealand primary schools Escalating concern over childhood obesity rates, children’s eating habits and their physical activity regimes has fuelled the development of multiple health policies and resources. Many of these are reaching into primary schools, contouring pedagogical opportunities and influencing how young people may come to understand themselves as healthy (or not). In this paper, we map the health policy/resource context in New Zealand emergent over the past two decades, examining the form and content of health messages circulating and their incursions into primary school environments. We also consider the potential effects for teachers and students of enduring health ‘invasions’ in the primary school space.

year: 2015