Overview

Measures of learning and wellbeing outcomes showed the positive impact of previous work, but there was still a gap. The teachers who led this project believed that a significant reason for this was that relationships with mana whenua tended to be around information sharing, rather than genuine partnerships focused on constructing a meaningful local curriculum.

I would like to see a te ao Maori lens put across the entire curriculum not just what’s happening in the wharenui, not what’s just happening with te reo Māori classes, there is an opportunity to incorporate that ... that thought process, the learnings of Māori into the entire curriculum.

Mana whenua representative

Three teachers from three learning areas united to work with mana whenua to co-construct a localised curriculum intended to foster engagement, achievement, and wellbeing for their Year 10 Māori students. The new curriculum included haerenga led by mana whenua to places of significance to them and their tamariki. Relationships were developed between teachers and mana whenua at a series of hui. The project gradually extended to include more teachers and students and to enable the design and implementation of a whole school unit on the theme of tūrangawaewae.

The approach was successful and led to unexpected learning for teachers as well as for students. Constructing relationships with mana whenua based upon the principle of mana ōrite caused teachers to challenge personal assumptions, to ‘decolonise’, and to recognise and value the knowledge held by whānau, iwi, and hapū and by the students themselves. It has left them with a sense of responsibility to share their learning and discoveries with others.

The inquiry story

This inquiry was led by three teachers who between them taught health and physical education, te reo Māori, and social studies. Its primary focus was on Māori students in their Year 10 classes, but over time, it came to widened to include more teachers and students in the junior school. Mana whenua – Ngāti Hāua, Ngāti Hinerangi, and Raukawa – were valued partners in a journey that took place over 18 months.

What was the focus?

Initially, this project focused upon Māori students in Year 10, with a plan to extend the focus to other teachers in the junior school and later, across the wider school community and beyond, to other schools in the Kāhui Ako. It was founded upon work to implement and embed culturally responsive and relational pedagogy and establish the Te Aka Matua tuakana–teina programme at the college. There had been gains for Māori students in terms of both achievement and wellbeing improvements, but there was a still a gap between them and their non-Māori peers. Furthermore, the school and Kāhui Ako recognised that they were weak in terms of collaboration with home and community. Information was shared with whānau, hapū, iwi, and community, but not within the context of educationally powerful connections that would enable the wider community to have direct and ongoing input into curriculum decision-making.

The project team developed the following innovation statement:

We would like to know if localised curriculum developed in collaboration with mana whenua will have an impact on engagement, achievement, and wellbeing for our year 10 Māori students.

What did the teachers try?

The team gathered baseline data for review with their expert partner. This included gathering the perceptions of students and whānau about Māori students’ experiences at school and what it means to be Māori at Matamata College. The teachers selected focus students and agreed that these students would work as a group on cross-curricular projects. The purpose of this was to develop a sense of whānau and to help create the coherence they were seeking in the curriculum.

The team then held a two-day hui with representatives from all three local iwi: Ngāti Hāua, Ngāti Hinerangi, and Raukawa. This first hui focused upon mana whenua aspirations for Māori students and what they thought a local curriculum should look like. As they worked and learned together, the project team sought to construct relationships with mana whenua founded upon the principle of mana ōrite. Mana whenua decided to lead students and teachers on a haerenga to some of their significant places. The first haerenga would view local history from the perspective of Ngāti Hāua.

Over the course of a year, further hui were held and all three iwi led haerenga. The teachers experimented with local curriculum design in their classes, gathering and responding to student feedback. One teacher from each learning area was brought into the kaupapa, with the new teachers coached by the original three and participating in the hui and haerenga. This wider group took responsibility for the transition of Year 9 students and for teaching a whole school unit of work on the theme of tūrangawaewae.

At the end of 2020, the project team met with the school’s senior leadership team and co-constructed the plan for Term one 2021. This plan includes having all teachers take part in a noho marae to deepen their connection with mana whenua. Mana whenua have also been invited to be a part of planning for students’ transition to Year 9, with a focus on mauri ora (see below), and some of the students who participated in the project have offered to help.

What happened as a result of this innovation?

The project team found evidence that the changes in curriculum and its delivery led to improved student engagement, achievement, and wellbeing. The team found the following shifts for teachers and students.

• Mauri ora: The deliberate acts of teaching and learning in partnership with mana whenua opened up possibilities for Māori students to learn through a Māori worldview. Māori students valued the opportunity to explore their culture, language, and identity and to share this with their non-Māori peers for whom this was also valuable learning.
• The role of mana whenua in school: A space has been opened for partnering with mana whenua that moves beyond the superficial. The stories and histories of mana whenua are becoming part of the curriculum.
• Challenging the status quo: The teachers challenged the colonial ideas that had shaped the school’s curriculum and realised that they had not been connecting to their community and land the way they should. By watching the students’ responses, they could see that the shift towards a localised curriculum was engaging and meaningful for students. Māori students felt ownership of the learning experience and enjoyed sharing knowledge they had with their peers.

What did they learn?

The project’s videographer created a series of videos that capture the journey and learning around the following themes:

• Mauri ora: We must remember the fragility of our ākonga and the need for us to explicitly build their confidence, sense of belonging, and well-being.
• Whose knowledge? In considering a localised curriculum, we must ask whose knowledge is privileged and challenge the assumption that the most valuable knowledge is that with which the teacher is most confident.
• Mana ōrite: We must listen to the perspectives and act on the priorities of mana whenua.
• Tūrangawaewae: We must connect to place and each other through cultural relationships that enable authentic and inclusive learning opportunities.
• Responsive pedagogy: We must acknowledge what students are able to bring to the learning and take their lead to shape and refine the experience.

With knowledge comes responsibilities. Having begun a process of de-colonising the curriculum, we must understand the expectations for future engagements.

Inquiry team

This inquiry was led by Andrew Skipworth. His colleagues on the inquiry team were Jordene Sydney and Katy Wilson.

Initially, Elizabeth Eley (University of Waikato) was the project’s external expert and later, Mere Berryman (Poutama Pounamu, University of Waikato) took on this role. Additional expertise was accessed from Dr. Paul Woller (University of Waikato).

David Copeland (Copeland & Associates) was the project’s videographer.

For further information

If you would like to learn more about this project, please contact the project leader, Andrew Skipworth, at sk@matcol.nz