Abstract
This study posited that intersectionality shapes the lived experiences of kaiako Māori and that additional responsibilities and expectations add to their workloads. Through a Kaupapa Māori approach, this research explored how intersecting factors like ethnicity, gender, professional role, and cultural identity converge for kaiako Māori within English-medium secondary schools in Aotearoa New Zealand. The korowai metaphor underpins this study by weaving together pūkōrero, theory, and context to privilege the complexity and resilience of kaiako Māori negotiating intersectional realities in English-medium schools. Using qualitative methods of wānanga and a single case study, this study honours the experiences of kaiako Māori, drawing on pro-Indigenous approaches that uphold Māori ways of knowing, being, and relating.
The findings in this rangahau reveal that cultural taxation in English-medium secondary schools is extensive, intersectional and normalised. These added responsibilities intersect with systemic inequities and contribute to emotional, cultural, and professional burden. However, kaiako Māori re-design and continuously resist colonial educational systems through relational practices and innovation, grounded in Kaupapa Māori principles and values. This dual cultural and pedagogical labour ensures Māori ways of knowing and doing are visible for the ākonga and communities they serve, but it also exposes kaiako Māori to inequitable and potentially unsustainable workloads.
This research offers critical insights that challenge the dominant educational model and contributes to the growing call for systemic change by offering recommendations to mitigate cultural taxation and affirm kaiako Māori in education through policy, professional learning, and relational practice. On a personal level, the korowai metaphor has also enabled me to begin to reconnect with my own cultural identity and critically reflect on, and reframe, my position within systems of power and privilege.