Whakaritea te pārekereke: How prepared are teachers to teach te reo Māori speaking tamariki in mainstream primary schools?

Abstract

Kohikohia ngā kākano, whakaritea te pārekereke, kia puāwai ngā hua. Gather the seeds, prepare the seedbed carefully, and you will be gifted with an abundance of food.

This thesis presents a study about teacher preparedness to teach te reo Māori (Māori language) speaking children in mainstream primary schools. The investigation involved hui (meetings) with ten participants. A total of five hui took place; three with individuals and two with groups. The participants were made up of seven kaiako (teachers) and three tauira (students). Key findings include an awareness of how language and culture impact on identity and educational outcomes. Furthermore, tikanga Māori (Māori customs) is a more comfortable space to be in than te reo Māori as there are clear connections to own values. There are several barriers to implementing te reo Māori thus, teachers are often challenged by the language levels of some tamariki (children) in their classrooms. The implications and recommendations offered are based on the key findings with the intention of supporting initial teacher education (ITE) providers. This will help student teachers to feel more confident and competent to teach te reo Māori speaking children in mainstream settings.

This research is grounded in mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) and positioned within indigenous, interpretive paradigms. Kaupapa Māori (Māori approach) theory informed the methodologies and associated methods. Tikanga Māori principles guided the research through an integrated model called, Te Tuamaka. This model informed the hui method applied to obtain participant perspectives. The kaupapa Māori approach applied to this rangahau (research) journey also influenced the structure of the thesis. This approach was chosen due to my Māori heritage and the kaupapa (topic) of the research. There was an organic connection to this approach and was therefore appropriate to apply to this research project.