EDITOR
It is no secret that Aotearoa New Zealand has a long history of racism and inequity. Like so many colonised countries, the real intention of colonisation was not so much to protect the rights of indigenous peoples, their language, culture and lands, but to assume power and sovereignty over them.
of Māori would be to work in Despite the 1840 signing servile labour rather than pursue of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, which academic aspirations. Māori believed gave them With Māori children exposed all the rights of Pākehā, to low educational expectations without ceding sovereignty, and having their identity, culture the settlers didn’t interpret the and language stripped from agreement in the same way. them, it is not surprising that They believed that the Treaty over a hundred and eighty years gave them full sovereignty later, Māori still sit at the bottom and proceeded to colonise the end of every educational, health, country accordingly. mental health and social statistic. One way to ensure As the years ticked by, teachers intergenerational power and Former NZPF President, Whetu Cormick, introduced and principals became more sovereignty over indigenous Keri Milne-Ihimaera who delivered a keynote address to the aware that racism and denying peoples is through education. conference tamariki their human rights to It is indisputable that this was the case for Aotearoa New Zealand. The Native Schools Act culture and language was contributing to the low educational 1867 established the first Native schools for Māori. The priority expectations of schools and thus the lower achievement of was to teach English with the intention of assimilating Māori tamariki Māori. In 2011, Keri Milne-Ihimaera and Peter Witana, both into the Pākehā system. It wasn’t long before it was forbidden for Māori children to speak their first language at school. Alongside principals of Far North schools, and members of the NZPF teaching only in English, came an expectation that the future role national executive, began a journey to develop a PLD option for
MAC team facilitators stand in acknowledgement of Hoana Pearson’s address
A powerful family making a difference. L to R Keri Milne-Ihimaera, Hoana Pearson QSM, Ann Milne, Hayley Milne
Dr Awanui Te Huia is introduced by Damon Ritai
Associate Minister of Education (Māori Education) Hon Kelvin Davis was on hand to deliver his message about the Government’s direction for Māori education
principals which by 2012 would become the ‘Māori Achievement Collaborations’(MACs). A short time later Whetu Cormick was elected to the executive and joined Keri and Peter to push the MAC out the gate. The MAC was all about lifting the achievement of Māori tamariki through principals exploring their own identity, language and culture and through that process coming to appreciate that a Māori world view was just as valid and valuable as their own. With this knowledge and understanding, they would transform the culture of their own schools to allow tamariki Māori to feel included and know that their culture was valued alongside others. Hoana Pearson, the first Te Pitau Mātauranga (programme coordinator), said at the outset, this is about changing hearts and minds. ‘Our actions are determined by our thinking which is determined by our perceptions, our beliefs, our assumptions, and our values. Even if they are based on myths and mistruths.’ She went on to quote Sergiovanni (1992) saying that, ‘Transformation requires new knowledge – to change our thinking and therefore our perceptions, beliefs, assumptions and values – from the head to the heart, to the hand.’ This is what we call transformational work. It is about conscientisation, or consciousness raising, a concept adopted from the work of Paulo Freire, a Brazilian educational theorist, – bringing racism and discrimination into consciousness and critically recognizing it for what it is. This is a confronting experience and requires skilled facilitation and the support of a caring, collaborative group. That is the work of the MACs.
By 2012, the first MACs were up and running. The Ministry of Education had agreed to fund the first tranche, providing the release time for principals to train as facilitators, to guide the principals in the MACs, who in turn had volunteered to undertake this journey of consciousness raising. The governance of the MACs represented a partnership between NZPF, Te Akatea (Māori Principals’ Association) and the Ministry of Education. As is often the case with a new venture, those early facilitators, led by Hoana Pearson, worked tirelessly to establish the kaupapa, whilst continuing to lead their own schools. An accomplished scholar herself, Hoana was determined to secure a sustainable funding stream for the MACs and knew that to do so would require verifiable evidence of the success of the programme. A group of education researchers from Auckland University came to her aid. Led by Dr Melinda Webber, they undertook an independent study of the schools from the first three MACs established. The results were glowing. The research study was able to link the changes in attitude of the principals through to changes in the culture of their schools which resulted in a substantial lift in the academic achievements of tamariki Māori. More and more principals were observing how successful the MAC PLD was and they too wanted to join the ‘coalition of the willing’. Their numbers far exceeded the number of trained facilitators. The existing facilitators, not wanting to turn away eager principals, stretched themselves close to breaking point and Hoana, who was by now full time employed by the MAC
The completed whāre
Essence statements that underpin the philosophy of Te Whare Tapu O Te Ngākau Māori
NZ Principal | March 2 0 2 3
The book was launched at the MAC conference
The team that created the book and kitset for Te Whare Tapu O Te Ngākau Māori – Ki te wheiao, ki te ao Mārama
Board, took leadership of several MACs herself. It is from this thinking that Te Whare Tapu O Te Ngākau It was time for facilitators to be full time employed by the Māori was built. Authored, or architecturally designed by a MAC, to do the important work only they could do, and it was group experienced in the MAC, including Hoana Pearson time to relieve Hoana of all the administration work to be free QSM (Ngāi Tūāhūriri, Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga, Ngāti to train new facilitators. Rangiwewehi), Leanne Otene, NZPF The Ministry recognized the power President for 2023 (Te Rarawa, Ngāti of the MAC to be transformational Wairupe rāua ko Ngāti Kuri), Damon and established a funding stream so Ritai (Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Mutunga, it could expand, and facilitators could Taranaki, Ngāti Ruanui, Ngāruahine, be employed to work full time. With Te Ātiawa ki Te Tauihu, Ngāti no advertising, principals flocked to Rārua, Ngāti Koata), Te Ringakaha the MAC which grew from serving Tia-Ward (Ngāti Toki, Ngā Puhi) 49 schools in 2013 to 428 in 2022. and Hayley Read (Ngāti Pākehā), the Principals continue to queue today. book is a framework to support the October 31–2 November 2022 growth of a new education system to marked the first conference the Māori support all learners (akonga). Achievement Collaboratives (MACs) It adopts the structures of marae had staged. There had always been which mirror the way knowledge of an enthusiastically attended annual Te Ao Māori, Te Reo Māori me ona wānanga, usually hosted on a marae, tikanga, develops over time. The book but the numbers registered to attend is not only a narrative of this process in 2022 outstripped capacity for a towards biculturalism, it comes with Te Pītau Mātauranga (National Coordinator – MACS), marae-based event. a kitset marae. This allows akonga Hoana Pearson, gives a potted history of the Hoana Pearson summed it up in to engage in the physical process of transformational PLD her address to the conference saying, building a model marae to better ‘The role of the education system and the educators within it is to understand all the different concepts and how they fit together. maximise the cultural capital of the Māori learner as foundational Akonga can immediately see the interdependencies of the to enhancing their mana, success and achievement culturally as different pieces of the structure if the marae is to hold up. Any well as academically.’ missing or misplaced pieces and the marae will not stand. Each She quoted McKenzie & Singleton, 2009, p.5 saying, ‘The essential piece of the model is labelled and described in the book. culture of the child cannot enter the classroom if it has not It is an ingenious approach and immediately appealing. To use entered the consciousness of the teacher.’ Expanding on the quote the book to advantage requires PLD for principals and staff, and she said, ‘It certainly won’t enter the school gate if it is not in the this is offered by the MAC facilitators. consciousness of the school principal . . . So, it requires deliberate Te Whare Tapu O Te Ngākau Māori was launched at the MAC and planned action . . . not just left to chance.’ conference. Delegates enjoyed a firsthand demonstration of the marae model building project, while Hoana Pearson provided a Launch of Te Whare Tapu O Te Ngākau Māori – Ki te commentary. She described how the framework has been built whai ao, ki te ao Mārama and how Te Ao Māori can be developed in schools as an equal and For true biculturalism to thrive in our schools, which is the aim valued world view in which all akonga can immerse themselves of the MAC, the culture of schools needs to change. Culture and be successful learners. change requires a new way of thinking and a new framework within which biculturalism can succeed.