Te piko o te māhuri, tērā te tupu o te rākau: language and literacy in marae-based programmes

3. Methodology

The project employed qualitative case study methodology that was driven by the project goals, objectives and logical scope for the research.

3.1 Logical scope

The programmes and participants in the project are identified and delineated in the following table.

3.2 Access to participants on different marae

The students who participated in the research came from the following marae areas: Whangaparaoa, Torere, Opotiki, Waiohau and Ruatāhuna. In the Mātauranga Māori degree programme, the content was delivered in weekly cluster sessions that saw, for example, Whangaparaoa, Torere and Opotiki participants coming together at the one marae, and people from the surrounding area of Waiohau meeting at the marae in Waiohau. The cluster sessions rotated on a regular basis so that each member of the clusters experienced the different kawa at each marae and actually got to ‘live’ their whakapapa links. The sessions were delivered at night from approximately 6.30pm to 9.30pm in the wharenui and used the experiences and knowledge from several of the teachers who are part of the degree programme. The teaching medium is mainly te reo Māori and although the programme begins in the first part of year one in a bilingual mode, the students are expected to become more fluent in te reo so that by the second year everything is conducted in the Māori language: content delivery, student response and feedback, group work, and assignments.

The group at Ruatāhuna were part of a bridging course – Te Pouhono – which is seen as an ideal ‘feeder’ for the undergraduate degree programme, and this programme was delivered as a series of weekend wānanga at the marae. The main impetus for these programmes is that they bring whānau members together to learn about the tikanga, whakapapa and kawa of their marae. It is a programme that also provides one stepping stone to prepare students for the Mātauranga Māori degree programme.

In both settings, access to participants was through either the weekly cluster sessions or the periodic noho marae that are conducted to bring all cluster members, from all years, together at the one marae. The choice of marae is planned well in advance, and the idea is that throughout the year the students will get to experience the tikanga and kawa of different marae throughout the Mātaatua region. Students arrive at these noho marae delivery weekends on the Friday night, work throughout the day and evenings, quite often to midnight, and usually leave after the Sunday morning session. The intensity and commitment to these weekends is huge; students and teachers work together in their own separate year groups, come together for karakia, waiata and pepehā, will often participate together in a hikoi that relates to the particular rohe of the marae, and eat and sleep together. The wānanga that take place on the marae symbolise the extent and level to which this environment is used as a dynamic place of learning; every part of the marae is used to extend knowledge.

3.3 Case study programmes

Two programmes were accessed to provide information about the efficacy and validity of marae-based programmes to provide foundation learning opportunities for Māori learners. The original intention was to source participants from two Certificate Level 4 programmes to note the incidence of opportunities that would enhance students’ capacity and capabilities to transition into degree programmes. In the end, the choice of one degree programme highlights the need to be mindful of the entry level of first-year students and their abilities to engage in tertiary studies at the outset; quite often when these students enrol in the wānanga they have borderline level 4/5 capabilities in a range of literacy and language situations.

Case study 1: Participants in Bachelor of Mātauranga Māori degree programme

The participants (n=7) came from an area that stretches from Whangaparaoa in the extreme Eastern Bay of Plenty, through Torere, Opotiki, Whakatane and Waiohau. The ages ranged from late twenties to 70 years.

Case study 2: Participants in Te Pouhono programme

The participants (n=4) all came from the area around Ruatoki and Ruatāhuna. The ages ranged from late twenties to mid-forties.

3.4 Research design and methods

The case studieswere used to gather evidence of the impact of environmental factors on student learning, for example: the physical location of learning; the degree of integration with or separation from other learning; and involvement and support from whānau, hapū, iwi and wider community and connection to other social and development goals, including connection to health, welfare and justice services.

The case study methodology addressed the goals of the project (see Section Two), and was used to:

• trace the impact of the marae environmental factors on Māori learners’ capacity to participate in foundation learning
• contribute to the knowledge and understanding of the way a holistic approach to teaching and learning, manifested through marae-based programmes, could develop foundation learning and contribute to the retention and success in tertiary education overall
• track the influence of pedagogy on the kind of gain that Māori learners accessed from foundation learning in marae-based programmes compared to other learning environments.

3.5 Methods

The research sought to achieve the project objectives in the following ways:

1. Key informant interviews were used to gather evidence regarding direct learner gain from two different kinds of marae-based study programmes. The method was also employed to gather evidence about teaching and learning factors such as expectations and attitudes of teachers; teacher education, experience and subject knowledge; theoretical and pedagogical approaches; assessment practices; and learning environments and programme resources and demands.

On a broader scale, key informant interviews were used to:

• assess the level and extent of literacy, language and numeracy capabilities
• assess the gain achieved by Māori learners after undertaking foundation learning opportunities in their programmes.

Additionally, informal interviews were undertaken with selected community members to evaluate the nature and utility of marae-based education to provide foundation learning opportunities for Māori learners.

2. Group interviews were used to gather evidence that related to learner factors such as learner goals and aspirations; access to programmes; experiences of education and learning; and effects of gender, age and life experience on students’ level of engagement with marae-based programmes.

The group interviews were used to:

• extend the learner narratives about learning opportunities and education programmes and practices that work
• build evidence of the unique nature of marae-based education programmes that incorporate literacy, language and numeracy learning, to foster a holistic learning environment for Māori learners
• develop knowledge and understanding of the kinds of pedagogical models of teaching and learning that provide successful outcomes in foundation learning for Māori learners.

Group feedback was taped and rich note-taking was undertaken to capture the stories and examples of foundation learning opportunities experienced by the learners.

Research instrument

Questions were designed to elicit answers that would achieve the aims and goals of the project. Two research instruments were used an interview schedule (face-to-face), and interview schedule (focus group). Participants had the choice of responding in English or te reo Māori. The questions from those schedules are linked to the goals in the following table.

3.6 Limitations

The project set out to research the provision of foundation learning opportunities from other organisations within the community, but in the end this became too problematic given the limited scope of the research. The participant numbers are not large and although the interview instrument used was the same across each case study, the quality and quantity of information from each of the interviews were not consistent throughout. For example, in listening to the tapes and reading the transcriptions, there appear to be some discrepancies between the understanding that the participants have about the research, and the capacity of the researchers to make clear the intended outcomes of the research.

There is also an acknowledgement that while the research instrument had translations in both English and te reo, some of the questions appeared to be repetitive, and therefore became redundant, and some held some fairly sophisticated ideas that at best could only be answered with minimal engagement. The assumption that just because something is translated into te reo Māori it will be easier to understand is not necessarily the case. Four of the 11 participants chose to answer in English, with one of these choosing to answer from an English translation script of questions. In the end, because of time commitments, the research project used four separate translators from te reo Māori to English, and it is quite possible that this exercise has resulted in different perspectives coming through from each.