E tipu ana te mana tāngata : supporting the development of leadership to enhance the quality of Māori students' learning in bicultural schools in New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
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Date
2019
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Massey University
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Abstract
The quality of Māori students’ learning in bicultural schools in New Zealand can be
likened to the skeleton of a great moa in a Canterbury museum depicted in a poem
written by Curnow (1979). Once vibrant and carefree, the moa was now unable to stand
without the support of scaffolding. The egg beside it was cracked and glued together,
devoid of life and hope. Many Māori students experience education like this. Their
innate learning capacity has become extinct. Their learning is propped up by the
scaffolding of remedial supports, their potential cracked and broken. Too few Māori
students stand independently upright in their learning.
Glen Colquhoun (1999) recently wrote a poem, “The trick of standing upright here is to
use both feet” in response to Curnow’s lament. The feet can be likened to cultural
perspectives. Māori in mainstream schools are commonly expected to stand one footed
in a monocultural Eurocentered environment that is unnatural to them. Leaders must
learn to make room for the other foot, the Māori centered understanding of the world on
which Māori students can more naturally lean. This will eliminate the need for support
and prepare students for active learning. Colquhoun (1999) continues “The art of
walking upright here is the art of using both feet. One is for holding on. One is for
letting go”. Leading in this manner, moving between the worlds of each foot, will help
support students experience quality learning. The mana tangata, the power and
authority, or efficacy (H. Tomlins-Jahnke & Mulholland, 2011), of leaders and learners
will grow.
Most mainstream schools are led by Pākehā in New Zealand. Therefore leading Māori
students to first stand and then walk on two feet requires leaders to achieve a high level
of personal cross cultural competency. I am a Pākehā woman working in a bicultural
Christian school. I conducted three phases of action research to support quality
teaching and learning for Māori students. I then used autoethnography to construct an
evocative and analytical account of the research, including the deep reflections needed
for me to make sense of the cultural interactions.
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Keywords
Children, Maori, Education, Educational leadership, Multicultural education, New Zealand, Mātauranga, Akonga, Kaiako