Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural responsiveness

The issue of Maori and Pasifika “achievement” continues to challenge New Zealand schools. In response, the Ministry of Education's  Maori Education Strategy, Ka Hikitia, (Ministry of Education, 2008) aims to:

“enable Maori students to enjoy education success as Maori.”

The Minister of Education made clear that realizing Māori potential

“is the core business of the whole education system. …All schools, all principals, all teachers, all communities must step up. Lessons learned from Ka Hikitia will be relevant to Pasifika students as well, allowing them to enjoy education success as who they are – without shedding their identity at the school gates" 

If the effectiveness of our education system is measured by who emerges at the end of schooling, then we are not succeeding for Maori and Pasifika learners. The reality is that as teachers, as school leaders, or as education policy makers and officials, we are all part of each learner’s educational journey. If a group of learners are failed by our education system we are all complicit in that systemic failure and we all need to take responsibility for changing it.

An important question posed by Mason Durie (2003, p.202) is 

“what is the benchmark against which Maori should gauge progress?” 

The comparison of Maori to non-Maori, presupposes that Maori are aiming to be as good as non-Maori however, that assumes non-Maori are the benchmark of success. Durie argues that it is misleading to assume that these types of comparisons provide useful information about Maori progress. There should be zero tolerance for education failure however, Maori learners 

“are trapped in lifestyles that are essentially incompatible with healthy growth and development and will struggle to participate in either Te Ao Maori or the wider global community” (p.203).

The stated purpose of Ka Hikitia is to “transform our education system for Maori” (p.2). In order to achieve this, mainstream teachers need to know what success “as Maori” actually looks like. The document is sadly lacking with vague statements like ‘identity and culture are essential ingredients of success,” and references to Maori ‘aspirations’ and ‘unique potential’ (Ministry of Education, 2008). Durie (2003, p.199) is more specific. He defines “As Maori” as a Maori learner should be able

“to have access to Te Ao Maori, the Maori world – access to language, culture, marae, ...tikanga (customs) and resources"  

He then adds:

"If after twelve or so years of formal education a Maori youth were totally unprepared to interact within Te Ao Maori, then, no matter what else had been learned, education would have been incomplete....Being Maori is a Maori reality. Education should be as much about that reality as it is about literacy and numeracy. In short, being able to live as Maori imposes some responsibilities upon the education system to contribute towards the realization of that goal (pp.199, 200)"

The acknowledgement of different world views however, does not remove academic success as an important goal, or that Maori and Pasifika learners should have some alternative achievement goals. Durie (2003, p.203) states that the three goals he proposes as relevant to Maori; enabling Maori to live as Maori, facilitating participation as citizens of the world, and contributing towards good health and a high standard of living, are

 “concurrent goals—a parcel of goals—all of which should be pursued together,” and he makes the point that “educational failure significantly reduces chances of success in any of the three areas.”

Culturally responsive teaching practice

An initiative showing positive results for Maori learners is Te Kotahitanga (Bishop, Berryman, Cavanagh & Teddy, 2007). Te Kotahitanga gathered student voice from a range of junior secondary Maori students. The result from this feedback, together with input from parents, principals and teachers, was the creation of the Effective Teaching Profile (p.140) which then formed the basis of a professional development of teachers. One of the major findings of Te Kotahitanga was that the major influence on Maori students’ educational achievement lies in the bias and approaches used by their teachers. In particular the research exposed deficit theorizing by teachers about Maori students which resulted in low teacher expectations of Māori students, and created self-fulfilling justification of failure.

Te Kotahitanga schools are beginning to show significant improvements in Maori student engagement with learning and achievement (Timperley, Wilson, Barrar & Fung, 2007, p.263). Te Kotahitanga places culture and culturally responsive pedagogy at the centre of classroom practice and creates relationships-based classrooms founded on a kaupapa Maori. Although the project is transforming practice in mainstream schools, the solution is grounded in Maori beliefs and values:

"The answers to Maori educational achievement and disparities do not lie in the mainstream, for given the experiences of the last 150 years, mainstream practices and theories have kept Maori in a subordinate position, while at the same time creating a discourse that pathologized and marginalized Maori peoples' lived experiences.(Bishop, Berryman, Cavanagh, & Teddy, 2009, p.741)"

In New Zealand The Treaty of Waitangi provided a platform for authentic engagement with Māori as Tangata Whenua. Anne Milne's work with Kia Aroha College’s “pedagogy of whanau“, tangibly defines the treaty in all aspects of school life. The question of ‘where’s the whanau in that?’ allows the school to keep focused on the central vision of affirming Maori student identity. 

I can see connections here to the learning I have been doing this year around relationships, where I have come to (re)discover how crucial manaakitanga and whanaungatanga are to me both professionally and personally. 

Certainly the ideas of shifting the locus of control away from the teacher, allowing greater equity of access to knowledge, and thus learning moving towards being student-centered and personalized, must allow space for relationships to be fostered and nurtured. How else might schools enable Maori learners’ success as Maori? Where’s the whanau in our mainstream schools at present?

In terms of how my school addresses cultural responsiveness in practice, one of the core values of the school is tae ana ki te hapori - an inclusive community. Meaning in principle the school community is accepting and welcoming, fostering right relationships and committed to the common good. As part of this, the school recognizes the traditional ownership and cultural heritage of Indigenous peoples of New Zealand, and welcomes them into its community, acknowledges the primary role of whanau in the growth and development of the child and provides opportunities for their participation in the life of the school. However, in planning and assessment, cultural context is not generally present.  At present, my school's assessment models are generally mono-cultural - based primarily on the United Kingdom's Cambridge International Examinations and not representative of the cultural diversity present in the school. As dual pathway school, National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) allows assessment to incorporate cultural aspects of the learner which in turn would validate the cultural identity of learners and could improve learning outcomes for Maori and Pasifika learners. However, this opportunity is not fully being taken advantage of at present. 

References

Bishop, R., Berryman, M., Cavanagh, T., & Teddy, L. (2007). Te Kōtahitanga Phase 3 Whānaungatanga: Establishing a Culturally Responsive Pedagogy of Relations in Mainstream Secondary School Classrooms. : New Zealand Ministry of Education Research Division.

Bishop, R., Berryman, M., Tiakiwai, S., & Richardson, C. (2003). Te Kotahitanga: The experiences of year 9 and 10 Maori students in mainstream classrooms. Report to the Ministry of Education.

Cowie, B., Otrel-Cass, K., Glynn, T., & Kara, H., et al.(2011). Culturally responsive pedagogy and assessment in primary science classrooms: Whakamana tamariki. Wellington: Teaching Learning Research Initiative.

Durie, M. (2003). Nga Kahui Pou: Launching Māori Futures. Wellington: Huia.

Findsen,B.(2012).Older adult learning in Aotearoa New Zealand: Structure, trends and issues. Presented at Adult Community Education (ACE) Conference.

Harrison, B. & Papa, R. (2005).The development of an indigenous knowledge program in a New Zealand Maori-Language immersion school. Anthropology and Education Quarterly; (36) 1,57-72.

Milne, A. (2009). Colouring in the white spaces: Cultural identity and learning in school. ASB/APPA Travelling Fellowship Trust.

Shaw, S.,White,W. & Deed,B.(2013) (Ed.) Health, wellbeing and environment in Aotearoa New Zealand.South Melbourne, Australia:Oxford University Press.

Timperley, H., Wilson, A., Barrar, H., & Fung, I. (2008). Teacher professional learning and development.