There is much to celebrate about the liberal-progressive approach championed by New Zealand, which continues to be a prized feature of New Zealand education. Many liberal-progressive practices developed in New Zealand and contextualised for New Zealand students that sought to expand and enrich education were borrowed from Native Schools, Maori teachers, and Pakeha perceptions of preferred Maori pedagogies, giving rise to the perception that New Zealand education is bi-cultural in nature. This article offers critique of the key philosophies that have underpinned New Zealand education for the past 100 years to consider some of the challenges of liberal-progressive education for Maori. The philosophical foundations of a cutting-edge, creative, student-centred schooling system remain problematic for Maori and have been largely unsuccessful in expanding or enriching schooling for many Maori. A te ao Maori perspective of the foundational education philosophies highlights that the negative socio-political and educational positioning of Maori in New Zealand has been purposeful and well-coordinated.