Alternative Mori education Talking back talking forward talking

‘Alternative’ Māori education? Talking back, talking forward, talking through hegemonic sites of power ‘ Hine Waitere Director Indigenous Leadership Centre National Institute of Maori Education Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi hine. waitere@wananga. ac. nz

To begin – some images … In hallowed school halls, rows of tired sometimes splintered always uncomfortable and unforgiving forms coldly delineate formal protocols, limiting boundaries of possibility …. deflecting challenge, resisting change … But here, now assaulted doors succumb to low riders in Grey Shorts kilted skirts, l o n g trousers, blazers, monogrammed school jerseys, branded sweat shirts, pleated pinafores, A-lined skirts, number ones and travelling trackies spilling across the breached divide - down the aisle students and supporters surge peeling left, tracking right successive waves of bodies spilling into contested seats. A marauding mass, tightly packed, moving as one. Old bodies, young vessels, gumboots snotty noses designer coats competitors, supporters and spectators all jockey for space they sit on seats, stand in aisles and lean against walls in the co-opted school hall.

Scraping metal chafes wooden floors, creaking seats groan submission to shifting bodies. There’s a shuffle of regulation shoes and the drone of expectant whispers oozing anxiety, quiet confidence, self-doubt and nervousness … adrenalin rushing through sweaty palms as the latest group of manu kōrero anchor to their entourages. They are different. Different schools. Different programmes. Different levels of linguistic competency. Different tribal affiliations. Different. Yet they are all the same. Each competitor must claim Māori whakapapa or competence in te reo Māori, to be eligible to compete at Ngā Manu Kōrero. A rising wave of silence subdues the last resistant whisperer, quietens shuffling shoes and stills the heaving sea of bodies into a montage of green and tints of red, shades of blue, hues of yellow, pockets of brown, tinges of beige – colours demarcating boundaries that separate yet unify Māori and students of Māori encased within. Tihei Mauri Ora!

There, in that hallowed school hall, standing, sitting or shuffling forward, are students drawn from Māori boarding schools (missionary schools predating the Treaty of Waitangi), who sit alongside those that represent the biggest political win of all – Kura Kaupapa Māori (immersion Māori medium schools) - both tribal and pantribal kura. These students, one group from the oldest and the other from the newest form of educational provision (since colonial contact) nudge their peers in general-stream state schools. Some of these students are in linguistic and cultural enclaves rumaki or total immersion programmes in larger schools bilingual programmes others hail from schools where students take reo Māori as a foreign language much as they would French or Japanese still others, taking Māori as a single subject, are required to enrol in correspondence school and still more who may not have the opportunity or inclination to take Māori language at all… They come from State, co-ed, single sex, Church based and private schools. All decile ranked, marked and rated 110 all here ready to compete, to debate, to provide their social critique of topical issues confronting te ao Māori in contemporary society.

He aha tenei? – What is this? Maori Education as Alternative Alter-native education (Alter)native education Alternative education

He aha Tenei: what is this, what is Maori education? Maori Non-Maori Immigrant

Whereas one hundred years ago the main problem facing Maori was one of biological survival, the challenge today is to survive as Maori, to retain a Maori identity, while still being able to participate fully in society, and in the communities of the world. Although the 1996 census has confirmed that any probability of genocide is remote … there is some justified concern that mere survival will achieve little if it is not linked to a secure identity, and a Maori centred approach to development, and a wider access than currently exists to the range of disciplines necessary for advancement in today's world (Professor Mason Durie 1997: 1).

Written on, written over but refusing be written off: the self study of an indigenous alien The Politics of Healing in Uneven Worlds MANU TUKU Politics of Knowledge Nga hau e wha colonisation Maori in the centre Class Power Gender Politics of Method Politics of Praxis

‘Alternative’ Māori education? Talking back, talking forward, talking through hegemonic sites of power Kotahi te kōhao o te ngira, E kuhuna ai te miro mā, te miro pango, te miro whero. A muri i a au Kia mau ki te aroha, ki te ture, me te whakapono There is but one eye of the needle through which the white the black and the red threads must pass. After I am gone hold fast to love, to the law and to all we belief in. Potatau Te Wherowhero 1858

Before the eye Black White Red In the eye Beyond the eye

Engaging the whakatauki: Te Wherowhero leadership in new time Before the eye The threads As peoples as philosophic principles – black, white and red Education for or with whom? In the eye The eye as the context the portal through which all must pass Education in what Context? Beyond the eye What is the changed state having passed through the eye. What is the desired effect of Education? Education for what purpose?

A Second Reading, seeing the colour of the threads with a philosophic eye The threads as ways of seeing the world - as Black, White and Red The implication for Leadership drawn from the white thread requires a consideration of purpose The implication for Leadership drawn from the Black thread requires a consideration of potential The implication for Leadership in the Red thread (Rangatira line) requires a consideration of praxis

Engaging the whakatauki: Te Wherowhero leadership in new time Before the eye In the eye Beyond the eye The threads As peoples, The eye as the context the portal through which all must pass Education for or with whom? Leadership in what Context? What is the changed state having passed through the eye. What is the desired effect of Leadership? Leadership for what purpose? Leadership in the white Education as the Black thread – thread situatesa State or requires a consideration of realm of purpose potential Leadership in the Rangatira, Red thread – requires praxis

Mean performance in reading literacy. New Zealand’s Overall Performance High Average and Large Variance 560 540 High quality Low equity Finland New Zealand 520 Belgium Germany r = 0. 04 460 440 Canada Ireland United Kingdom Luxembourg Low quality Low equity 420 150 Australia Sweden Austria Iceland United States Norway Denmark Czech Republic Switzerland Italy Poland Hungary Greece Portugal 500 480 High quality High equity 125 Japan Korea Spain Low quality Mexico High equity 100 75 Variation expressed as percentage of average variation across the OECD 50

Reading Curve

from Years 9 to 11 within the Central North Region, 2008 Retention of Maori Students Region Retention of Maori Students from Years 9 to 11 within the Central North 2008 Not attending school by the end of Year 11 Attending school by the end of Year 11 40% 60%

Year 11 Maori Students Achieving the Literacy Requirement 2008 (as a percentage of the original cohort)

Year 11 Maori Students Achieving NCEA Level 1 2008 (as a percentage of the original cohort)

Narrative Activity 10 B Unit Ideas “Can we start with the basics? They come to school without bags 1, without books 2, without equipment 3, without pencils 4, without anything that can assist them in learning 5. That’s not just a few but a substantial number of our students. Not only Māori students but certainly Māori students. The first thing you notice is the lack of equipment when they turn up in the form room and accompanying that, often, a great big chip on the shoulder. ” What do you mean by that? A lack of desire to learn – for some reason ‘agro’ between some Māori students and some teachers. Values! We don’t know them and they don’t know us, a barrier seems to come with them from somewhere and it’s already there when they walk in the door. ”

Narrative Activity 10 B Unit Ideas “Can we start with the basics? They come to school without bags 1, without books 2, without equipment 3, without pencils 4, without anything that can assist them in learning 5. That’s not just a few but a substantial number of our students. Not only Māori students but certainly Māori students. The first thing you notice is the lack of equipment when they turn up in the form room and accompanying that, often, a great big chip on the shoulder. ” What do you mean by that? A lack of desire to learn – for some reason ‘agro’ between some Māori students and some teachers. Values! We don’t know them and they don’t know us, a barrier seems to come with them from somewhere and it’s already there when they walk in the door. ”

The Narratives of Experience from Culture Speaks • Students (engaged and non engaged Māori students) • Whānau • Principals • Teachers (Outside the school within Māori communities) (Outside the classroom but within the School or schooling) (Within classrooms)

Tally of discursive unit ideas showed Discourses Explaining Māori Achievement: Students, Whānau, Principals and Teachers © 2003 Ministry of Education

Teacher types Low implementer Caring implementer Learning implementer High implementer Caring No Yes Learning No No Yes What does this look & sound like to Māori students? He’s not a good teacher Who said he is a good teacher? He’s just good at teaching. Yeah he is all about teaching and not about actually connecting with the students. She’s dedicated to what we do in our class I think it’s just her passion, that she likes seeing kids achieving instead of failing Feels cool, that we’ve got someone who’s gonna help us get through school. Oh, she’s always nice to us with our marks and our He’s not reports, she says exciting I’m going to be strict He’s boring, just this report. Get our the way he reports … teaches us is Excellence, boring Excellence, Excellence. So do you think you’ve earned that excellence? I think I’d get a Non Achieved and she’s given me a Merit, it’s like, I didn’t deserve this.

The Five D’s • • • Deficit Deprivation Disadvantage Difference Diversity