Overview

The project team developed a culturally-responsive framework to support schools examine their practices and strategically plan for improvement. They also developed a culturally-responsive pedagogy teacher observation tool to support teachers to self- and peer-evaluate their own practice within their classrooms. They built units of learning and age-appropriate story books to support all students in learning about their tangata whenua. This culminated in an official localised curriculum, He Tohu Aroha, which was gifted to the eight schools by the project teachers and iwi representatives at the end of 2018, ready to implement school-wide in each of the eight schools.

The confidence to get up in front of others to deliver a basic pepeha has grown, from children not wanting to even try, to now volunteering to do it each morning, or helping out others who are still less confident

Project teacher reflection

The journey was not an easy one. It was fraught with complications through inconsistent leadership and differing perspectives between the principals, the project teachers, and iwi representatives. However, this strengthened the ties between the schools and iwi to form a true partnership with a strong commitment to continue to build on culturally-responsive practice and the localised curriculum.

Inquiry Team

The project team included representatives from each of the eight schools:

• Vanessa Pitt — Milson School
• Peter Barnett — Parkland School
• Shona Oliver — Central Normal School
• Jaco Broodryk — Whakarongo School
• Teresa Edwards — St James’ Catholic School
• Wayne Jenkins — Ross  Intermediate School (project lead)
• David Jopson — Palmerston North Intermediate Normal School
• Matt Schmidt — Awahou School

The principal of each of these schools was actively involved in supporting the project and attending noho marae and professional development sessions.

The outside experts involved in the project were:

• Roly Fitzgerald from Rangitāne iwi, who initiated and drove much of the project and was critical to its success
• Anna Stephenson – teaching as inquiry and leadership facilitator.

The inquiry story

The project team included teachers and principals from eight Manawatū primary and intermediate schools (Ross Intermediate, Milson School, Parkland School, Central Normal School, Whakarongo School, St James’ Catholic School, Palmerston North Intermediate Normal School, Awahou School), who partnered with Rangitāne o Manawatu’s Education Team. The target students were the ākonga Māori in the classes of the teachers who were part of the project team.

What was the focus?

At the start of the project the achievement data for the ākonga Māori in the project schools were marginally above the average for all Māori students in New Zealand, but still lower than the average for all students. The project team aimed to build on their previous work to develop a culturally-responsive framework for an iwi-based education strategy and investigate how they could strengthen the partnership between local Rangitāne iwi and schools to improve outcomes for Māori students.

The iwi and schools’ aims in creating the curriculum and framework were to:

• Build Māori learners’ sense of cultural locatedness and ensure they can enjoy and achieve success as Māori;
• Identify and promote pedagogical practices that give meaningful expression to the language, culture and identity of ākonga Māori
• Create sustainable and educationally powerful connections between the schools, whānau, hapū and iwi.

What did the teachers try?

The project team ran for two years and in three stages: iwi–schools consultation, iwi content, and curriculum design and teaching as inquiry.

In the first stage, Rangitāne’s education team consulted the schools’ boards of trustees and whānau to gather their perspectives on a locally-based curriculum. Meantime, the project team surveyed their target students to determine whether they felt their teachers respected them, encouraged and listened to them, challenged and supported them in their learning, and showed they cared for them. The collated information gathered helped build shared understandings about the professional learning and development required to support culturally-responsive pedagogy and the starting points for building knowledge and relationships between schools and iwi.

In the next stage, the focus was on researching, compiling, and reviewing the pre- and post-settlement histories and stories of Rangitāne o Manawatū and generating understanding about local reo, tikanga and kawa. This work provided the  the basis for assembling the curriculum content and developing a framework that clearly identified all the critical elements contributing to effective and culturally-responsive pedagogy. One part focused on te aō Māori at a national level, with the other focused on what te aō Māori means at a local iwi level.

Teachers and schools started to develop more of an understanding of culturally-responsive practice through a Rangitāne perspective. This led into the final phase of the project — action research through teaching as inquiry. Teachers designed, implemented, and evaluated their implementation of the developing iwi curriculum in an ongoing cycle throughout the project, focusing on the elements identified in the framework. Through this, they developed a clear understanding of what effective, culturally-responsive practice looked like and how they could build this into their practice.

Teachers created a collection of resources with planning ideas and frameworks, key stories, examples of student learning, relevant photos and images, and exemplars of learning. They offered opportunities for authentic education outside the classroom through trips to Te Marae o Hine (the ‘Square’ in the centre of Palmerston North, which was the former site of an historical Rangitāne marae).

Teachers also developed a culturally-responsive teacher pedagogy tool, based on the five themes of Te Takanga o te Wā: A Māori History. This included indicators for each theme, with explicit and purposeful examples to guide teaching practice. This provided a practical way to self- and peer-assess teachers’ practice and to conduct teacher observations, helping to build teacher capability in consistent ways across the eight schools. The data collected during evaluation was primarily quantitative (surveys and student and teacher voice).

What happened?

This project created meaningful and sustained connections and relationships between teachers and principals of each school and between each school and Rangitāne o Manawatū. Schools’ connections to kaumātua and other iwi members provided access to authentic opportunities for noho marae at all three marae, kapa haka development, and for teaching and learning about local matauranga, kawa and tikanga to take place within the schools.

Teachers’ knowledge and confidence as culturally responsive practitioners increased substantially and had extensive flow on impacts. For example, there was a more deliberate use of te reo Māori from all staff, including support staff, in an effort to normalise its use and build competence in it.

The framework helped schools identify the elements they needed in their curriculum and that were missing from their practice. The growing capabilities and understandings of the project teachers meant they could share their understandings and resources with all teachers in their schools. This gave all teachers access to the knowledge and tools necessary to start looking at how they could improve their practice and have the confidence to begin designing learning through place-based contexts of importance to mana whenua.

Student and teacher voice gathered through surveys showed high engagement and feelings of success. As teachers became more confident in their culturally-responsive practice, ākonga Māori felt more successful ‘as Māori’., They had more pride in sharing in and better understanding their culture, as well as in celebrating how their learning was displayed to share with others.

Both Māori and non-Māori students felt more engaged and happier in the classroom and all students noticed the change in teachers’ practice. They felt teachers knew them better as a person, valued their culture and ethnicity and made them feel that was important, listened to what they said, respected their opinions and encourage their ideas. All students understood and valued te ao Māori more.

The school and iwi share a commitment to sustain the partnerships that have been formed, to keep working together on the local Rangitāne curriculum, and to continue to build the culturally responsive framework.

What did they learn?

The team discovered that as small elements of to ao Māori became more embedded in their own practice, it had a significant impact on the cultural responsiveness of each of their schools as a whole. The use of karakia, mihi and pepeha, as well as waiata each day, was increasingly integrated into daily programmes as teachers’ confidence and knowledge of the importance of them grew across all the schools. Although student achievement had not increased by the end of the first year of the project’s implementation, it was apparent that the culturally responsive pedagogy had benefited all students in multiple ways.

Developing the pedagogy profile tool proved crucial in developing culturally responsive teachers and a significant part of project teachers’ overall learning. It included clear benchmarks for effective, culturally responsive practice, identified practice indicators and reflected the perspectives of iwi. It enabled teachers to see what culturally responsive practice looked like at a practical, hands-on level. As a result, they were more confident and capable of developing and implementing a culturally responsive pedagogy.

The project schools and Rangitāne iwi built sustainable, educationally-focused relationships to create a localised curriculum. The journey to achieve this was not without complication because of initial differences in understandings between teachers and principals in the project schools, and between project schools and Rangitāne iwi, about what a culturally-responsive pedagogy entails. As understandings grew, these differences faded, resulting in the strong and sustained relationships that exist now. However, it did mean that they abandoned their original plan to share their local curriculum with other schools in the area. The project schools realised that the local curriculum was a taonga gifted to them by Rangitāne iwi, and without the same engagement with iwi, other schools would not have the understanding and knowledge to develop the same depth of understanding and profound changes in practice.

Reference List

Historic Places Manawatu-Horowhenua Inc. (2013). Te Peeti Te Awe Awe Memorial. Sourced: http://www.historicmanawatuhorowhenua.org.nz/Records/Te%20Peeti%20Te%20Awe%20Awe%20Memorial.pdf

Matheson, I. (1993). Te Marae o Hine, The Square. Manawatu Heritage, Palmerston North City Council. Sourced: https://manawatuheritage.pncc.govt.nz/item/c2a5f0b6-3836-4712-a61a-8507fb4f2654

Mills, V. (2013). New Zealand Maori legend of Okatia and the Manawatu Gorge. Sourced: https://writinq.wikinut.com/New-Zealand-Maori-Leqend-of-Okatia-and-the-Manawatu-Gorge/1m-7gru1/

Ministry of Education. (2013). Ka Hikitia: Accelerating success 2013–2017. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media. Sourced: https://www.education.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Ministry/Strategies-and-policies/Ka-Hikitia/KaHikitiaAcceleratinqSuccessEnglish.pdf

Ministry of Education / New Zealand Teachers Council. (2011). Tātaiako: cultural competencies for teachers of Māori learners. Wellington: Ministry of Education.Ministry of Education. (2015). Te Takanga o te Wā — Māori History: Guidelines for Years 1–8. Wellington: Ministry of Education. Sourced: http://maorihistory.tki.org.nz/assets/Uploads/Te-Takanga-o-te-Wa-English.PDF

Ministry of Education & New Zealand School Trustees Association. (2015). Hautū: Māori cultural responsiveness self-review tool for boards of trustees. Wellington: Authors. Sourced: https://www.nzsta.org.nz/assets/Maori-student-achievement/Hautu.pdf

Oranga Tamariki: Ministry for Children. (2016). Guiding Principles for Wellbeing — Te Toka Tumoana. Sourced: https://practice.orangatamariki.govt.nz/practice-standards/working-with-maori-te-toka-tumoana/#how-to-use-the-te-toka-tumoana-framework

Rangtiane o Wairarapa. (n.d.). Rangitane Education — Akonga Rangitāne II. Sourced: http://rangitaneeducation.com/#resources

Rangitane o Wairarapa. (n.d.). Whangaimokopuna. Sourced: http://rangitaneeducation.com/whangaimokopuna/

Royal, T.A.C. (2005). Ngāti Raukawa — Early history, Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Sourced: http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/ngati-raukawa/page-2. Te Ara. (2017).

TVNZ on Demand. (2011). Waitangi — What Really Happened. Te Tiriti o Waitangi: Dramatisation Series. TotalJK, Youtube.com. Sourced: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEOx3QyjxIs&list=PL2PmlWx6M68yxfWu5MZKLz29zXLIKngfD

White, T. (2016). Who was the Daughter of Peace? Manawatu Standard, Stuff. Sourced: https://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/lifestyle/78642162/who-was-the-daughter-of-peace

For further information

If you would like to learn more about this project, please contact the project leader Wayne Jenkins at wjenkins@rossintermediate.school.nz.