Some would say that the MACs are the most effective way principals can change their school culture so their Māori students can succeed as Māori. Last year the Minister gave the PLD programme the big tick. She increased the funding which cleared the way for Hoana Pearson to be appointed national co-ordinator or Te Pītau Mātauranga. That meant expansion of the programme could be managed. This year ERO has also endorsed the MACs. These are not the most important reasons that the MACs are the best gig in town. It is because they evolved from concerns expressed by principals themselves about the academic progress of Māori children. This was not a new issue. Many had grappled with it before, mostly from a ‘deficit-thinking’ perspective, assuming that there was some sort of gap for Māori kids that prevented them from succeeding. Needless to say, there was no progress made on that front. Back in 2013 a whole new enlightened way of thinking was
cultivated. This concept was led by Peter Witana, Keri MilneIhimaera and Whetu Cormick of the NZPF executive and the leadership of Te Akatea, the Māori Principals Association. The thinking was about recognising two completely separate and valid world views and allowing them to coexist in our schools. Each has their own set of values. Each has their own cultural beliefs and practices. Both are heading in the same direction. That direction is success for all children. There is no room for deficit thinking in this new environment. The MACs are winners and within the first two years of getting the first six collaborations off the ground, an independent evaluation of the PLD showed that Māori children were already benefitting. It is therefore not surprising that principals all over the country are lining up to take advantage of the new PLD. The MACs programme was initiated by principals in response to a shared challenge. The programme is administered by principals and collaborations are facilitated by principals. It is a
The MAC Board members (left to right): Rose Carpenter, Liz Hawes, Leanne Otene, Iain Taylor, Hoana Pearson, Whetu Cormick, Kiritina Johnstone, Myles Ferris
Discussions over lunch at the MAC hui
programme run by principals for principals. There is complete these are racist behaviours,’ she said, ‘because they are so trust and ownership of the initiative and therein lies the key to embedded.’ She made no secret of the fact that transforming its success. the system would not be easy. ‘The education system was set up I travelled to Whangarei to observe a MAC hui in action. to undermine Māori success,’ she explained, ‘and to keep Māori MAC facilitator, Pat Newman, principal of Hora Hora School at the lower end of the social ladder. You can’t overcome all of in Whangarei, was the day’s host. He had several of his MAC that overnight.’ principals in attendance and had invited twenty-three more What Hoana could offer however, was the very best start to principals from secondary, intermediate and primary schools from throughout the Te Tai Tokerau region. These principals had already registered interest in joining the MAC but wanted more information before committing to the kaupapa. Te Pītau Mātauranga, Hoana Pearson, gave a stirring presentation demonstrating how awareness and acknowledgement of ethnocentric belief systems can lead to a willingness to open up to accepting alternative world views and thus beginning a bicultural journey. She presented compelling examples of how a dominant culture can unwittingly create racism and prejudice through ignorance. She told the story of the Māori child who went to school with her Māori name and came home with the Pākehā name ‘Jane’, because her real name was too difficult for the other children to pronounce. ‘People don’t understand that Peter Witana, whose inspiration drove the development of the MACs and Hoana Pearson Te Pītau Mātauranga, Co-ordinator of the programme
turning this situation around and set principals off on a journey to make our schools a place where Māori children not only feel they belong, but feel valued equally alongside their Pākehā student peers. Principals were visibly affected by Hoana’s powerful presentation. For some it was their first experience of having the subtleties of racism and ethnocentricity so starkly exposed. Uneasiness was apparent on the faces of many, yet the support and unity of the wider group created a safe haven within which these new ideas could percolate. Next it was time to hear the experiences of MAC principals who had been actively participating in the PLD for a year or more. Here is a sample of the commentary.
for her as she was beginning to think strategically about how she might address her school culture to better accommodate her high Māori student population. Inspiration came in the form of Dr Melinda Webber and her description of the five sources of mana. These were Mana Whānau or identifying the family as a key to Māori children’s success; Mana Motuhake or sense of identity; Mana Tangatarua or navigating success in two or more worlds; Mana Tū referring to courage, humility, tenaciousness and selfefficacy; and Mana Ukaipou or the place of learning. ‘The Board and I reflected on these five sources of mana and decided that we wanted to build pride in our area through stories. We met with our local kaumatua and the kaumatua from the wider region,’ she said,’ because we wanted stories that were broader than our immediate area. We wanted stories that challenged people.’
Secondary Principals from Whangarei Boys High and Tikipunga High School discuss how the MAC might help them
Principal of Whangarei Intermediate Hayley Read shares a cup of tea with Leanne Otene from Manaia View School
Hayley Read, principal of Whangarei Intermediate School, talked of how her school’s commitment to whānaungatanga and manaakitanga marked the beginning of a major turn-around. ‘We first had to practise these values with each other as a staff before we could expect that the kids would share them,’ she said. Then we established a Māori Development Team, drawing all our Māori teachers together. ‘We agreed that every Māori teacher would teach Te Reo Māori,’ said Hayley, ‘and we set some minimum expectations, even though we would have preferred maximums. Every student learned to present their own tikanga pepeha (introducing themselves in Māori) and we began work on creating our own school waiata. A year later and these things are not negotiable. They are just normal common practice, along with opening and closing hui with a karakia and adhering to our school kawa. Staging powhiri to welcome visitors is also common practice in our school now and our aim is to have all of our students capable of leading a powhiri, not just our whānau group. The powerful transformation that Hayley described to the group was the ‘normalising’ of Tikanga Māori in her school such that the status and importance of Māori culture and practices was equally as important as those of Pākehā. There was no doubt that Hayley was expecting to expand on these beginnings and create an even richer tradition of biculturalism in her school in the future.
The idea of the stories was to make connections and build relationships which Lana and her Board had identified as a key starting point. The Kaumatua had advised that success was about school and community working together. ‘We are making progress in small steps,’ she said. Robyn Posthumus, principal of Hurupaki school had a similar story. ‘We looked at the Treaty, land wars and other historic events that had significance for us,’ she said. Although her school roll is 25 per cent Māori, school culture change means taking everyone with you and for Hurupaki school it is important that everyone knows what it is to be Māori. ‘Our whole school participates in KapaHaka and we have a separate performance group as well,’ she said. The second focus for Hurupaki school is engagement with whānau. ‘We consult annually with whānau and last year trialled some on-line consultation too. We want whānau to contribute their ideas and we want to share what we are doing,’ she said. ‘We want to try and do what our Māori parents have asked for, like taking our kids out to the marae and introducing school-wide karakia,’ she said. Like Totara Grove School, it is small steps, but significant ones.
Lana Wolfgram, principal of Totara Grove School in Kamo, was new to the MAC PLD programme when she first attended the MAC conference at the Waitara Marae. As leader of a school with 80 per cent Māori students, she said the hui was perfect timing
Leanne Otene from Manaia View School also has a high Māori population and said, ‘Things like introducing karakia do not tick the box for us.’ It is pedagogical change that she wants and that means a constant whānau voice. ‘We are not the only ones giving information,’ she said, ‘we are receiving it too.’ At Manaia View, everything they do is ‘Mahitahi’ (working together as one) and strategically planned. That includes the whānau influence in the school. ‘We use the MAC ‘measurable gains framework’ to give us
A new principal shares her expectation of the MAC PLD with the group
a picture of the shifts in staff thinking and this becomes part of their appraisal,’ she said. She explained that the MAC PLD is all about changing the whole culture of the school, understanding the importance of whānau and extending those changes to activities outside the school gate too, like EOTC programmes. Host of the hui Pat Newman pulled it all together after the MAC speakers, making some pertinent points: It’s all about relationships and challenging our own thinking as a staff, and staff are likely to be the slowest to change ■■ It is our role as leaders to get that change and we may feel threatened in the process so reassurance from the MAC group is important ■■ When looking at our graduate profiles we must also consider questions like ‘How do we demonstrate whānaungatanga and manaakitanga? Manaakitanga is after all giving away power, to boost the mana of our visitors ■■ We are a bicultural nation irrespective of whether our school’s Māori population is 1 per cent or 99 per cent ■■ Bringing the community into your school to be in true partnership is critical to success and connecting through ■■
stories is a good way to support this process. An holistic approach is best ■■ If our parents will not engage with us, we must ask why? The answers are within us and our own school cultures ■■ There are entrenched negative attitudes towards Māori which are hard to shift and will take time. Even some Māori grandparents still tell their mokopuna to enrol as Pākehā because they will have a better chance in school. The MACs help us address those issues ■■ The registered teacher criteria state that each will learn to use Te Reo in context. It is a professional accountability factor so we must take this seriously (Hoana Pearson)
Breaks during the hui gave participants a chance to meet each other and the visitors an opportunity to ask the more in depth questions of those already experienced in the MAC PLD. From the level of interest shown, I have no doubt that the Te Tai Tokerau MAC is about to accommodate a whole new expansion process and without doubt we will see secondary school participation for the first time.
Xero Accounting Software for Schools Leading Edge are experts in providing services to schools for the implemention, training and support of Xero Accounting Software Features of Xero: Cloud based gives easy access Daily bank imports for ease of coding Creditors and Debtor efficient processing Bank link for creditor payments Report links to excel and pdf
With over 100 implementations in schools we can provide you with the expertise needed for the education sector Contact: Kerry Dean, Managing Director Website: www.edgeservices.co.nz Email: kdean@edgeservices.co.nz