A red-tipped dawn : teaching and learning about indigeneity and the implications for citizenship education : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Massey University, Palmerston North, Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

The politics of Indigeneity and reconceptualisations of citizenship education present both challenges and opportunities to those of us engaged in teaching and learning about Indigeneity and citizenship in settler colonial societies. Utilising Kaupapa Māori (Indigenous, decolonising, critical) practitioner ethnography, this project investigated 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦-𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘺? 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯? by examining existing literature and interviewing senior Indigenous, expert Indigeneity educators from Turtle Island (mainland USA and Canada), Hawai’i, Australia and Aotearoa. The findings from these interviews in particular offer significant guidelines for Indigeneity educators into the future: (1) best evidence-based practices in teaching and learning about Indigeneity, including the specific outcomes sought, the challenges that may be encountered with learners, and then curricula and pedagogical considerations to overcome these particular challenges; (2) citizenship as a site of Indigeneity struggles and the subsequent implications of Indigeneity for citizenship education, including what might be some initial curricula elements of transformative citizenship education in settler colonial societies, and; (3) the implications of best evidence-based practices in teaching and learning about Indigeneity for citizenship education generally in the areas of praxis, curricula and pedagogy.