Maori aspirations in education have not been served by past national policies. It is hard to extinguish the influence of monoculturalism, whereby schools were used to colonise Maori by enforcing linguistic and cultural assimilation. The history of debate on Innovative Learning Environments (ILE) and Flexible Learning Spaces (FLS) demonstrates the…

Five early childhood teacher educators in Aotearoa New Zealand explored a range of literature to respond to the question: What does literature tell us about Maori leadership and how are our findings relevant to leadership in early childhood education (ECE) in Aotearoa? The process of finding and reviewing literature sources about Maori leadership…

This article stems from participation in a TLRI research study, Renewing Participatory Democracy: Walking with Young Children to Story and Read the Land. It presents an account of the growing awareness of the place-based environmental and cultural relationship between Maunganui Kindergarten and Mauao.

In this paper we discuss ongoing challenges for Maori-medium initial teacher education in addressing conceptual, linguistic and pedagogical tensions that impact on developing mathematics education programmes. These include the small pool of applicants with the necessary linguistic and cultural knowledge required to teach in Maori-medium settings.…

In this article, I traverse Maori positionality informing Maori worldviews, alongside geohistorical navigational trajectories of knowledge. Drawing on ancestral travel which utilized sophisticated readings of stars, currents, winds, clouds, contexts and colours of the biodiversity to navigate, the concept of wayfinding as methodology and method is…

Despite increasing representation in higher education, Maori leaders are still seeking to overcome historical inequities and racial discrimination. This study investigates the circumstances of Maori leadership in higher education from a strength-based standpoint, highlighting the critical role Maori academics fulfil in senior leadership positions…

Wellbeing is fundamental to an individual's ability to function and live well. Maori have some of the worst wellbeing statistics in New Zealand (Chalmers & Williams, 2018). From a te ao Maori perspective mana (power, authority) and kaitiakitanga (guardianship) encapsulate the critical relationships inherent in Maori understandings of…

In this article, Holly Bodman shares the journey she embarked on as a fourth-generation middle-class Pakeha to decolonise her practice. Bodman began by reading the work of local scholars and educators to discover her unconscious bias, which led to deepening cultural relationships with her students, their whanau, and the community. Armed with a new…

This article draws from a Teaching and Learning Research Initiative research project that aimed to explore how three early childhood centres support children to experience and learn about their local area, including its stories, geology, biodiversity, and cultural meanings. The project helps children envision socioecological futures. This article…

This study explores how Pacific cultural values can be of critical significance in the completion of a tertiary learning journey, particularly as students navigate neoliberal mind-sets of individuated learning. As a case study, the paper draws on the "talanoa" (conversation) with a Niuean graduate, as he shares reflections on the…

"Nga Patu Korero: Walls That Talk" (2019) is a documentary theatre production staged by incarcerated men at Unit 8 Te Piriti at Auckland Prison in Aotearoa New Zealand. The performance was built around Te Whare Tapa Wha (The House of Four Sides) -- a model of Maori health that participants engaged with as part of their therapy for being…

The Ministry of Education's recent changes to NCEA to incorporate mana orite mo te matauranga Maori has become the source of consternation for many kaiako in secondary schools in Aotearoa New Zealand. Kaiako are struggling to understand what integrating mana orite and matauranga Maori into their programmes looks like. This article is intended as a…

"Washday at the Pa" ('pa' is used colloquially by Pakeha to refer to a Maori settlement) is the title of an old schoolbook, a picture reading book for younger schoolchildren, which was produced in 1964 by the state education system in Aotearoa-New Zealand in 1964, written and photographed by Ans Westra, who later became one of the most…

This article draws from a 2-year TLRI-funded research project looking at how four early childhood centres constructed positive outcomes for children from migrant families. The research questions focused on how the people, places, and practices in early childhood settings support a sense of bicultural belonging to Aotearoa New Zealand, sustain…

Before the arrival of Europeans in Aotearoa, New Zealand and their subsequent settlement in the 1800s, there was no concept of a Maori identity. Over time, however, as a result of rapid colonisation, Maori became a minority population in New Zealand. Consequently, the term Maori as normal or usual, began to lose its meaning (Webber, 2008), and…