Understanding the implications

All school leaders and teachers in New Zealand are expected to understand the principles that underpin Ka Hikitia and to work toward the central vision of this strategy.

However, from discussions with school leaders involved in Kia Eke Panuku: Building on Success, a professional development school reform initiative to raise Māori student achievement, it was evident that the phrase “enjoying and achieving success as Māori” has been the catalyst for many new discussions within schools.

Therefore, as part of the ongoing critical inquiry to gain a better understanding of what is meant by ‘success as Māori’, the Kia Eke Panuku team asked a number of people for their understanding of the Ka Hikitia phrase. We began with a group of Māori and non-Māori academic and education experts. This group included:

• Distinguished Professor Graham Smith
• Professor Te Ahukaramu Charles Royal
• Professor Wally Penetito
• Associate Professor Margie Hohepa
• Professor Janice Wearmouth
• Professor Carolyn Shields
• Professor Lorna Earl
• New Zealand School Trustees Association – Lorraine Kerr
• Secondary Principals Association of New Zealand – Elizabeth Forgie.

At their first meeting, members of this group sought to understand the vision of Ka Hikitia and how their advice might effectively support Kia Eke Panuku schools in these endeavours.

The group concluded that while a definitive answer was not what they should be promoting, it could be useful to provide a set of ideas as starting points for deep reflection and on-going sense making. To this end they proposed some thoughts on what success as Māori might look like and agreed to have their ideas put on a chart. Māori speakers within the Kia Eke Panuku team then added Māori metaphors and words to the original ideas.

Kia Eke Panuku then facilitated a series of Hui Whakaako with "successful" senior Māori students as identified by their schools. The purpose of these hui was to give Māori students an opportunity to share their successes, how they had been supported in their own success and how they viewed "success as Māori". Their voices provide us with an opportunity to understand what "enjoying and achieving success as Māori" means from the perspectives of these students, and what the implications are for educators, other students, their families and communities.

Nine marae-based hui, located throughout New Zealand, were hosted by Kia Eke Panuku at the end of term 4, 2015. Schools were invited to send one school leader (most frequently this was the Principal or a Deputy Principal) and up to three Māori students from Year 12 or 13.

The hui were held in December after these students had finished their NCEA external assessments and most had officially left school. Given the time of year, the uptake of attendance was surprisingly positive – students from 58 schools attended the hui (over two thirds of the Kia Eke Panuku schools). These schools brought 154 Māori students and another two students who were not Māori. One other Māori student from a non Kia Eke Panuku school also attended. These students were accompanied by teachers, senior leaders and principals and also whānau, hapū and iwi members. The hui were also attended by Ministry of Education officials, both regional and national.

Kia Eke Panuku team members greeted with students and teachers at the gate prior to being welcomed onto the marae. The marae took responsibility for the pōwhiri which was followed by the sharing of food. At this time Kia Eke Panuku members outlined how the rest of the hui would unfold including how we would gather their responses to the following questions.

• As a senior Māori student, what have been your successes in this school?
• Who has helped you in your success?
• In your experience, what does ‘Māori students enjoying and achieving success as Māori’ mean?

Elders led the cultural rituals within the wharenui to ensure that individual identity and experiences would be respected and remain confidential once we departed. A group photograph and whanaungatanga preceded the posing of questions by each school’s accompanying adult and the videoing of students’ answers.

What was noted at every venue was the respect and support shown by schools to each other throughout this process.

After all schools had shared their responses, cross-school groups were asked to provide feedback on the Expert Advisory Groups Chart on “What is Success as Māori”.

The students' views were transcribed, themes were analysed and publication formats discussed. This initial analysis was shared with Strategic Change Leadership Teams (SCLT) at nine wānanga held in March 2016 throughout the country. The presentations were well received, and ideas were generated as to how resources might look if SCLTs were to fully engage others with the voices of these students to consider their implications for school and community.

Concurrently, a quantitative analysis was undertaken to identify the numbers of schools and students who attended each hui. Transcriptions were further analysed to identify sub-themes across the questions. The number of times these themes were represented allowed us to identify what experiences the students had prioritised for sharing.

Importantly there was a high level of consistency and reliability with common themes being identified from one hui to the next. This indicates that Māori students across the country share common experiences and understandings about what “enjoying and achieving success as Māori” means for them. This in turn means that we can be confident that the themes will be present within all our schools. Rather than schools repeating the process of interviewing their own students, we can immediately respond to what these students are telling us in order to promote greater likelihood of success for others.

With moral purpose we have the will to change so that collectively we are working for equity and excellence.

These resources are designed to help create the change.

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The students were very aware of negative stereotypes expressed through societal racism that are held by members of wider society in regard to Māori. This continues to influence Māori education success (or lack of success).

For these students it was important to actively resist and overcome those negative stereotypes, to prove that Māori are capable, and to also become role models for other Māori students.

This student articulated that strong Māori identity was something that could support success rather than being something, as perceived by wider society, that contributes to lack of success by Māori.

Activating our own agency by engaging others

E kore taku moe e riro i a koe.
My dream cannot be taken by you

• What about these quotes is familiar to you? Why?
• What about these quotes surprises you? Why?

When we consider what students have told us about being able to resist the negative stereotypes about being Māori, what are the implications for:

• leaders and teachers in the school?
• Other students? Māori and non-Māori?
• Family and home community?
• The wider community

Consider

• what might an effective response to the negative stereotyping look like?
• What is the role of schools to spread shared-understandings and more effective responses so that Māori students do not have to reject negative stereotyping on their own?

see: all student comments on this theme.

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On one marae students believed schools could help them in being able to resist the negative stereotypes about being Māori by having Māori culture and values celebrated at school.

They highlighted the effort some Pākehā boys made to learn te reo. They went on to express how “cool” it was to share conversations in te reo with Pākehā, the Treaty partner, thus normalising and valuing the status of te reo Māori.

They explained that when non-Māori prioritised and modelled Māori cultural practices and understandings themselves, then as a nation, we could have the best of both worlds.

Activating our own agency by engaging others

He tangata ano mā te mauī, he tangata ano mā te katau.
People on my left, people on my right.
A community can use the skills of all of its people (Mead & Grove, 2003

Developing resilience against the prevalence of negative stereotyping involves challenging the status quo within our schools and communities, as well as providing direct support to students.

• Undertake an audit of your school.
• How would you know you are part of bi-cultural New Zealand?

In order to support this work, this video offers an example of what one Kia Eke Panuku teacher developed to take the conversation about negative stereotypes to her colleagues and her community

• What can you share?

Consider the approach taken by two principals from two very different contexts in the videos "Māori Succeeding as Māori", and 'Deliberate Acts of Leadership'.

view: the Leadership video kete
see: all student comments on this theme

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© KEP. All rights reserved. Enquiries to the publisher.

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Māori students clearly articulated that strong cultural identity was both a foundation for success and a tool for future success. Importantly they saw strong cultural identity as something that supported their ability to succeed in a wide range of activities and challenges.

They expressed that strong cultural identity also related to strong self-esteem.

Māori students understood the benefits of being able to draw on two world-views rather than seeing this as a forced choice.

Māori students articulated the connection between strong cultural identity and education success; not just success by the individual but success for other Māori as well.

Being able to engage with te ao Māori through their involvement in kapa haka was important to many of these Māori students.

For some of them, kapa haka was a way of finding out about their cultural heritage and for these students, engaging with their cultural heritage was what they saw as “success as Māori”.

For this student, involvement in kapa haka was a turning point in their ability and willingness to engage successfully in the education system.

Activating our own agency by engaging others

Kia tū māia ki runga i a rātou ake ahurea tuakiri.
Remain bold in accordance with their own cultural identity.
Live confidently - with affinity to whakapapa and at ease with a growing cultural competence in language, tikanga and identity.

Consider the guiding principles of Ka Hikitia:

• Treaty of Waitangi - ensuring Māori students enjoy and achieve education success as Māori is a shared responsibility
• Māori potential approach – high expectations for Māori students to achieve
• Ako – a reciprocal, two-way teaching and learning approach
• Identity, language and culture count – Māori students benefit from seeing their experiences and knowledge reflected in teaching and learning
• Productive partnerships with key stakeholders – ongoing exchange of knowledge and information and the involvement of parents and whānau.

Which of these guiding principles from Ka Hikitia requires us to address the theme of cultural identity?
How do we provide opportunities for students to explore and develop their own cultural identity?

What opportunities are there for the following groups to contribute:

• leaders and teachers in the school?
• Other students? Māori and non-Māori?
• Family and home community?
• Iwi?

Consider

• What have been the results to date?
• What new possibilities would strengthen Māori students' cultural identity in our school?

Recognising the importance of cultural identity and promoting and celebrating it requires deliberate acts by both Treaty partners if it is to become understood, authentic and embedded. Two Kia Eke Panuku schools share their perspectives in the videos 'Māori Succeeding as Māori' and 'Deliberate Acts of Leadership'.

• view: the Leadership video kete

The first video in the Cultural Identity kete features Māori considering the significance of cultural identity. You may wish to watch the other two videos in this kete that reflect one school's experience of providing opportunities to realise Māori succeeding as Māori.

view: the Cultural Identity video kete
see: all student comments on this theme

Download this analysis (PDF)
© KEP. All rights reserved. Enquiries to the publisher.

Download this analysis (PDF)

These students clearly articulated that success was part of who they were as Māori, not something they achieved “despite” being Māori.

Māori students were quick to recognise that they can be successful in a ‘Europeanised education system’ even when they have multiple identities. They understand that the future must accommodate Māori success as Māori across cultural and academic contexts

Activating our own agency by engaging others

Kia mau ki tō Māoritanga, tōku reo tōku ohooho.
Hold on to our Māoritanga/iwitanga, our language our inspiration.

How does/could your school recognise and promote this new stereotype of multi-dimensional success?

View the videos 4 and 5 in the Culturally Responsive and Relational Pedagogy video kete and consider how does the application of culturally responsive and relational pedagogy support the belief in students that they can aspire to this new stereotype?

• view: the Culturally Responsive and Relational Pedagogy video kete

You may also wish to see how one school has responded by explicitly supporting Māori students to achieve their goals.

view: the Manutaki Māori video in the Educationally Powerful Connections kete
see: all student comments on this theme

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© KEP. All rights reserved. Enquiries to the publisher.

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The students spoke about the importance of developing and maintaining both emotional and spiritual strength.

This thinking relates to the concept of Mauri.

Durie (2016) describes Mauri as the “vitality, integrity, and energy within a person, and the nature of relationships in the wider environment”. These aspects are demonstrated by “an enlightened spirit; an alert and inquiring mind; a fit-for-purpose and pain-free body” and importantly “a set of relationships that are nurturing and mutually beneficial” (Durie, 2015). Successful Māori students exhibited what has been termed by Mason Durie (2015; 2016) as “Mauri Ora”.

Durie (2015, 2016) also discusses mauri noho, a state where the individual is languishing and is restricted by a loss of hope, a clouded mind and “relationships that are dis-empowering and humiliating”.

Māori students were aware that being in a positive and supportive environment would assist them in maintaining their well-being and advancing them on their education journey.

In addition, Māori students acknowledged the need to be open to learning, open to the potential to grow and develop.

This student cautioned that while others could provide support; ultimately the motivation to succeed was something that came from within.

Activating our own agency by engaging others

Ka oho te wairua, ka mataora te tinana, he aroha ki te aroha, ka rere te māramatanga.
When the spirit is awoken, the body alive, affection prominent, enlightenment follows.

Developing and maintaining emotional and spiritual strength is part of one’s holistic well-being. This has always been important to schools and yet national reports by ERO show that while student well-being is considered very important, school leaders and teachers can do more to improve the way they promote and respond to student well-being.

Review the ERO document Effective Practices to Promote and Respond to Well-being and consider how this document can inform your school’s promotion of Māori students’ well-being (or in Durie’s terms, the mauri ora of your students).

In the video Making Space for the Community Ann Butcher says: “We need to know they are going to fall before they fall”. Watch this video to see how the school does this, and consider the implications for your own school.

view: the Making Space for the Community video in the Educationally Powerful Connections video kete
see: all students comments on this theme

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© KEP. All rights reserved. Enquiries to the publisher.

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In an education system that focuses on individual success, these Māori students were clear that for them, success wasn’t just about personal success. They expressed an obligation and a willingness to support the success of others by contributing to the success and motivation of other Māori students and Māori in general.

For this student the focus on contributing to others was an important part of Māori cultural values and therefore Māori identity.

A number of students explained how their schools already had some effective and enduring mechanisms to foster learning relationships between students. These relationships persisted beyond school entry orientation procedures.

Evidence in a number of the senior Māori students’ comments showed that they saw their leadership roles as providing an opportunity to ‘give back’.

From a Māori worldview, being able to contribute to the success of others comes from a position of understanding that success, be it knowledge and/or skills, is not something that is acquired by an individual alone. Indeed, when such a state has been achieved, it has usually been achieved through a space of shared endeavour or mahi tahi. While Māori students are often incorrectly cited as being embarrassed or whakamā when they are singled out for their achievements this could come down to how we as educators sometimes model and undertake these processes ourselves.

The students interviewed shared their stories of success with great humility, but were definitely proud of their own achievements and the achievements of others. They understood their own success had come with support and they in turn had a responsibility to pass that support onto others.

They understood that when you as an individual receive success it comes with the responsibility of paying it forward - and they welcomed the opportunities to do this.

Activating our own agency by engaging others

Manaaki atu, manaaki mai, me haere whakamua.
By helping one another we can move forward

The cultural relationship within tuakana/teina provides a mechanism for paying it forward.

• What do we understand by this cultural relationship?
• Where could we find out more about it?
• What does/could that look like in our school?
• How could we actively encourage tuakana teina relationships to endure?

View the Roopu Tautoko video in the Cultural Identity video kete and watch the videos in the Leadership video kete.

Consider:

• what do the institutions for celebrating success look like in our school?
• To what extent do these institutions address the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi?
• How are the schools’ responses understood by Māori students and their community?
• What are the implications for other cultural groups?

see: all student comments on this theme

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© KEP. All rights reserved. Enquiries to the publisher.

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Māori students explained that strong relationships were an important reason for their success as Māori. They described these relationships in terms of the Māori cultural value of whanaungatanga, ie family-like connections or relationships through shared experiences and working together in ways that provide a sense of belonging. These types of relationships extended to both whānau and others.

For some, their most important support came from their parents and other immediate family members.

Often this support came from parents and siblings who had not been able to achieve academically.

Activating our own agency by engaging others

Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini.
My strength is not mine alone, but comes from the many.
My successes are not due to my own efforts but are the result of input from many others

What do we understand by the following terms and their possible inter-relationships:

• au, including its relationship to the following terms:
  • whānau, as metaphoric whānau e.g. the school as a whānau and whānau as family
  • whanaungatanga
  • whakawhanaungatanga?

• How do/could we explicitly understand and utilise these concepts in our school and community?

Whanaungatanga can help us to develop stronger relationships with staff, with students and with our community. What are the implications for our own understandings when:

• Māori students and their whānau are not present?
• when they can contribute as equal partners?

If we are to become more strategic in our use and understanding of Māori metaphors, how might we do this?

• Who might we need to help us?

Work with a group to present your developing understandings in the following chart format. Respond to the existing examples, fill in the gaps, and add your own examples.

Watch the videos in the Educationally Powerful Connections video kete and consider how these schools have understood whanaungatanga to strengthen educationally powerful connections.

In general terms, what do we know about:

• the support that each of our students needs and receives?
• how we could more effectively connect and strengthen that support?

see: all student comments on this theme

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© KEP. All rights reserved. Enquiries to the publisher.

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The students acknowledged and understood the importance of the support that they received on their journeys to academic success as Māori.

Activating our own agency by engaging others

Kaua e rangiruatia te hāpai o te hoe; e kore tō tātou waka e ū ki uta.
Do not lift the paddle out of unison or our canoe will never reach the shore

When we listened to the voices at the Hui Whakaako and later undertook the analysis of the transcripts, it became clear that students understood these themes to be inextricably interrelated. Clear understandings of the complexity of these cultural relationships and how they can play out in practice is foundational work if we are to more effectively respond to what students are telling us about "Māori students enjoying and achieving education success as Māori".

Consider what students are telling us in this and the previous two themes - Being Able to Contribute to the Success of Others and Experiencing the Power of Whanaungatanga)

• How do these understandings relate to what we are doing at school?

You may wish to watch the Roopu Tautoko video in the Cultural Identity video kete where a student support group enables enduring teina/tuakana relationship.

Work through the Mahi Tahi: Making the difference model and make links to the students’ perspectives to further develop new praxis within this model.

Try linking other themes and connecting to the Mahi Tahi model to give greater clarity and purpose moving forward.

see: all student comments on this theme

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© KEP. All rights reserved. Enquiries to the publisher.

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While strong relationships with people were important, Māori students also gave examples of the specific actions that they required and had received to achieve their academic success.

Others discussed the cultural support that they received.

A number of the students inferred that once they got to know their teachers they realised that they could and would provide the specific support and guidance that they needed.

A number of Māori students believed they had been especially fortunate that some teachers had gone beyond the call of duty to provide support. This had changed student perceptions about the impact teachers could have, and on their own ability to succeed.

Students have shared the importance and strength of working together, they shared how they had benefited from a range of different people who were prepared to help them.

From the comments above one of the issues that did arise occurred when students believed one thing which was understood or responded to differently by their teachers. This is particularly pertinent when students perceive that the teacher/student relationship didn’t provide or encourage them to seek clarification. Students told us that when their relationship enabled clear and open communication, the learning requirements became more visible and success was much more attainable.

Activating our own agency by engaging others

Mā te tuakana ko tōtika te teina, mō te teina ko tōtika te tuakana.
Everyone has responsibilities to fulfil, the younger as well as the elder

How does this play out in your own school? Is talking past each other (such as shown in this example) a reality in your school?

Consider what this former student had to say about his experience of the initial positioning of students and teachers

• Note: this clip, together with a question framework, is available as the last video in the Culturally Responsive and Relational Pedagogy video kete.

Discuss the importance of learning and unlearning and their relevance to both teachers and students who might be experiencing this situation.

• If a culture of learning and unlearning was not happening in your own school, what advice would you give, and to whom?
• How could you spread and collect related ideas from others in your school to ensure we initiate positive learning relationships and actions from the outset?

see: all student comments on this theme

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© KEP. All rights reserved. Enquiries to the publisher.

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Students told us that their prior experiences were useful for both motivation and completion of learning tasks. They understood that they needed to take a positive stance and that whānau were important motivators and supports to their achieving success as Māori.

They also understood teachers as well as whānau being equally important in this process of being able to build on their own experiences and the experiences of others.

Activating our own agency by engaging others

Me hoki whakamuri. Kia anga whakamua.
Look to your past experiences in order to forge the future

From a socio-cultural perspective, the learning relationships and interactions between teachers and students, or between students and students, or between students and whānau, are important mediators of how students will come to understand the world of school, and see themselves as learners or not.

From this perspective, those who hold more knowledge, skills or experience, have a role in supporting learners to appropriate new knowledge, through the use of resources or artifacts as tools to enable sense-making and new learning.

Part of the Te Mana collection of resources shows how a teacher who adapts her lesson to better link to student and whānau's prior knowledge. It provides an example of the potential for creating contexts that allow for the prior learning of students and whānau to be valued and contribute to higher levels of engagement and learning outcomes.

• View: Culture Counts 1 video

Use the video to discuss what you understand about ako, where the roles of both the teacher and learner can play out reciprocally within the socio-cultural contexts for learning, and how this occurs within this video.

• What are the implications for you, and your school and community?

see: all student comments on this theme.

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© KEP. All rights reserved. Enquiries to the publisher.