Māori Knowledge in Mainstream Secondary Schools: Issues of Responsibility, Engagement and Validation

Abstract

Māori pupils' rate of academic success is far lower than their Pākehā (New Zealanders of predominantly European descent) counterparts. Schools' active engagement with Māori knowledge has been shown to improve the social, cultural and academic wellbeing of Māori students. This study interrogates the premise that teachers of te reo Māori (the Māori language) feel a burden of responsibility for their schools' engagement with Māori knowledge. Secondly, it explores the relationship between a school's willingness to share cultural responsibility, and its consequent interaction with, and validation of, Māori knowledge. This qualitative study draws on the experiences and knowledge of five teachers of te reo Māori, each of whom had a pre-existing relationship with the author. The culturally- appropriate approaches of 'friendship as method' and whakawhānaungatanga (the process of establishing and maintaining relationships) are drawn upon. Semi-structured interviews are used as a data gathering tool, and deductive thematic analysis is used in grouping and understanding findings. Short, fictional narratives and direct quotations from interviews help relay findings. This study finds that despite their diverse understandings of 'Māori knowledge,' all five teachers feel a significant sense of responsibility for guiding and implementing their schools' engagement with this knowledge system. This is found to be reflective of the discourse of individual responsibility for Māori cultural issues that permeates New Zealand's field of education. This study argues that a lack of funding, space, and visibility contributes to the marginalised position of Māori knowledge within schools. Hidden discourses within local curricula also compound this issue. Schools' formal, informal, and structural initiatives can however help facilitate cultural engagement. A connection is found between structural support for Māori knowledge, the legitimisation of Māori knowledge, and the level of cultural accountability reported by the teachers.