Ngā Whanaketanga: Minimising contradictions and maximising opportunities for teacher learning.

In 2010 the assessment of student progress and achievement against National Standards became mandatory in English medium schooling in Aotearoa New Zealand. In that same year information gathering and revision work was carried out on the then draft Whanaketanga, developed in 2009. The Whanaketanga are deemed to be the equivalent to National Standards for classrooms implementing Te Marautanga o Aotearoa, the curriculum for immersion Māori medium settings. The information gathering and revision work was carried out in readiness for mandatory implementation of the Whanaketanga in 2011. The work also provided important opportunities for Māori medium teacher professional learning and development. The introduction of National Standards has been controversial. The development of Whanaketanga has also been controversial and challenging in nature. The first half of this paper provides an overview of Whanaketanga development and the challenges its developers worked hard to address. The second part discusses implications for Māori medium teacher professional learning and development, drawn from findings from research case studies of the information gathering and revision work

Kia matatau ki te reo: Factors influencing the development of proficiency in te reo Māori with adult learners

This thesis sought to answer the question: what factors help or hinder adult Māori second language learners to become proficient speakers of te reo Māori? I ask this question at a moment in history when te reo, like other indigenous languages, sits on the edge of a precipice in terms of its survival as a living language. Ambivalence and inaction will almost certainly constitute a push towards oblivion. Nothing less than concerted effort can pull te reo back from the brink. But what kind of concerted effort is needed and how can individual learners optimise their efforts to learn te reo? Te reo must survive because, as Sir James Henare put it, ‘ko te reo te hā o te Māoritanga’, meaning ‘the language is the essence of Māori culture.’ Without te reo the very survival of Māori people as Māori is in doubt. My questions and the thesis occupy a multidisciplinary space, drawing on research from adult second language acquisition, teaching pedagogy and language revitalisation. The thesis makes an original contribution to all three bodies of literature by examining data from a previously untapped source; successful adult Māori language learners. I interviewed 17 participants. All highly proficient second language speakers of te reo. All learned te reo as adults. Adult second language learning of endangered languages is broadly acknowledged in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) as essential to re-establishing Intergenerational Transmission of Language (ITL) in the home to ensure an endangered language is passed on to future generations. The interview questionnaire was based loosely on 10 help/hinder factors I identified through a review of the literature from the three research fields (adult second language acquisition, teaching pedagogy and language revitalisation). The ten factors identified in the review were; language aptitude, age, learner attitudes and motivation, learning strategies, instruction, agency and anxiety, wairua (the spiritual dimension), demography, language status, and language planning

Beyond ethics to morality: Choices and relationships in bicultural research settings

Knowledge of ourselves as cultural beings, of the values and beliefs of those with whom we work, and of the history of relations among those in our work settings are essential for community and applied social psychologists. In New Zealand, research by non-Maori involving Maori has often mirrored the harmful colonising practices of the nation’s wider history. In response, several frameworks have been developed setting out conditions and guidelines in which non-Maori might conduct research in Maori settings responsibly and usefully. Nevertheless, views differ on the ways, and extent to which, non-Maori might be involved. Most guidelines do not provide answers to ethical nuances that may arise. This article discusses the experiences of a non-Maori community psychologist engaging in research with Maori participants in a bicultural, but predominantly Maori, school-based community education setting. Insight is provided into how kaupapa Maori approaches were applied in research that was valuable to the community

Taonga, Rights and Interests: Some Observations on WAI 262 and the Framework of Protections for the Māori Language

In October 2010 the Waitangi Tribunal released the first chapter of its long-awaited report of the WAI 262 enquiry into indigenous flora and fauna and Māori intellectual property. This chapter focuses on aspects of the claim relating to the Māori language and critiques the development of Māori and Crown generated initiatives to protect and revitalise te reo Māori, including the Māori Language Strategy (Te Rautaki Reo Māori). The Tribunal argues that the Crown must ultimately become Māori speaking. Consideration of this report and the legal protections in place for the Māori language reveals a framework that is incoherent, and largely incapable of achieving the Tribunal's goal, or even of fully protecting what the Tribunal described as "a taonga of quite transcendent importance"

A culturally-focused life cycle sustainability assessment: Analysis of forestry value chain options with Māori land owners : A thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Doctor of Philosophy in Life Cycle Management At Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

The purpose of this research was to 1) explore the potential for the more distinctive representation of Māori culture in Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA), and 2) understand the relationship between culturally-focused LCSA and the Māori decisionmaking process. These two interrelated aspects were investigated through participatory engagement with three members of the Ngāti Porou iwi (tribe), and through collaborative development of three forestry LCSA scenarios (radiata pine, rimu, and mānuka). Aligning with principles of kaupapa Māori research, a participatory LCSA methodology approach was created which encapsulated five phases: 1) understand Ngāti Porou aspirations and concerns, 2) co-develop options for forestry scenarios, 3) co-develop and select LCSA indicators (including a cultural indicator), 4) LCSA indicator data collection and modelling, and 5) communication of results. The methodology utilised a mixed methods approach as Stage 1, 2, 3, and 5 are predominantly qualitative while Stage 4 is predominantly quantitative. Culture was represented in the participatory LCSA in two ways. Firstly, a bespoke cultural indicator (Cultural Indicator Matrix) was co-developed to distinctly include culture within LCSA. The Cultural Indicator Matrix was based on and adapted an existing cultural decision-making framework (i.e. the Mauri Model) in order to ensure its capability to represent both Ngāti Porou aspirations and the forestry value chains explored in this research. The Cultural Indicator Matrix was completed by each participant and subjectively measured the impact they perceived each forestry process or product had upon a range of Ngāti Porou aspirations. Secondly, a participatory research approach was utilised that itself made the LCSA process more culturally-focused. The participatory approach relied on active engagement with the research participants throughout the LCSA study, primarily with the utilisation of semi-structured interviews. Such collaborative participatory engagement with the research participants allowed for their cultural input, preferences, and knowledge at each stage of the LCSA process. This research has yielded several original and meaningful results: 1. The Cultural Indicator Matrix is a new culturally-focused mechanism which can be used to support the Māori decision-making process. The participants viewed the Cultural Indicator Matrix as an effective method for gathering community impressions of how potential forestry life cycle processes could impact upon their cultural aspirations. 2. The participants felt the participatory LCSA aspect was crucially important; the open and consistent communication between themselves and the LCSA practitioner provided them with more control, access to information, understanding of the LCSA process, and enhanced their acceptance of the final results. They considered that the results of the culturally-focused LCSA gave them “validation” and “direction”, and justified their interests in pursuing forestry options for their land. 3. The participatory LCSA process led to the identification of a need to formally include a Cultural Compliance process with the LCSA. The Cultural Compliance process is comprised of six cultural components occurring throughout the forestry life cycle. Recognition of these components helps to ensure that appropriate and necessary cultural considerations are taken into account during relevant forestry life cycle processes. It is unlikely that this insight would have been reached if not for the participatory engagement focus of this LCSA research. 4. The development and analysis of three forestry scenarios using a range of sustainability indicators generated distinctive datasets on the life cycles of radiata pine, rimu, and mānuka. As the rimu and mānuka scenarios are particularly underrepresented in forestry-life cycle literature, this research has provided a contribution to knowledge regarding these two forestry options. For the first time, indigenous culture has been represented alongside economic, social, and environmental impacts in LCSA. This comprehensive presentation of results facilitates the decision-making process by providing the decision maker(s) with information about the “big picture”, thus supporting educated and informed decisions. Furthermore, a culturally-focused LCSA approach helps to ensure that culture is not lost during the decision-making process, but rather is an active component. Finally, of critical importance, both the culturally-focused LCSA process and associated results will further enable the recognition cultural groups, including their values and aspirations. The explicit acknowledgement of culture in LCSA will engender more awareness and protection for culture, lessen the isolation and marginalisation of culture, and empower cultural groups to develop and pursue brave choices

Reclaiming the Māori language for future generations: Flax root perspectives. Tīkina te mana o te reo Māori: Te pūtaketanga o te pā harakeke

Using a combination of semi-structured interviews, focus group discussion and questionnaires (designed to elicit as many comments as possible), this thesis explores, through their own voices, the attitudes and practices of a group of people, mainly Māori but including a few Pākehā (non-Māori) who are attempting to reclaim te reo Māori (the Māori language), for themselves, their families and, above all, their children and grandchildren. Many of them were brought up in a context in which one or more parents, caregivers or relatives spoke te reo Māori fluently but few were given the opportunity to acquire the language naturally in infancy, generally because of a desire to protect them from the discrimination suffered by their elders. Those who were brought up to speak te reo Māori often suffered from language attrition at a time when the English language began to feature prominently in their lives. A few have attended kōhanga reo and kura kaupapa Māori. Many have attended courses in the Māori language and culture, often at considerable personal cost. Some have achieved their dream of becoming fluent speakers of the language; some have suffered frustration and disappointment. Whatever their own experiences, almost all of them want their children and grandchildren to be fluent speakers of the language, believing that this will give them confidence and a genuine sense of identity and belonging. Although the majority are committed to using te reo Māori as much as possible at home, especially when speaking to their children and grandchildren, most experience difficulties in doing so. These difficulties relate, in general, to their own lack of confidence and/or limited competence in the language, the fact that some of their friends and/or members of their immediate or extended family are monolingual in English, and resistance from some of the children, particularly as they grow older and are increasingly influenced by the dominant language and culture. Among those involved in this research project, there was widespread awareness of the importance of inter-generational transmission of te reo Māori and evidence of considerable commitment to learning the language and/or improving their existing competence in it. However, although the attempts of these adults to use te reo Māori in the home are clearly of considerable importance, they often, where they lacked a high level of oral proficiency, met with confusion, frustration, tension and resistance as their children grew older. This, combined with the fact that there are currently so few domains in society at large in which the language can be used naturally, has led many of them to develop strategies aimed at ensuring that their children and grandchildren, as they grow towards adulthood (a) appreciate the sacrifices made by so many in order to give them the opportunity to learn the language and the responsibilities associated with these sacrifices, (b) are recognised and rewarded for their linguistic achievements, and (c) are encouraged and assisted to involve themselves in contexts where they can use the language. This includes encouraging them to become involved in kapa haka and other culturally significant activities in which the language plays a prominent part, promoting as much engagement as possible with friends and whānau who have a high level of proficiency in the language (including involving them and their friends in marae-based activities), and inviting into their homes people who are fluent speakers (which sometimes involves a conscious effort on the part of the adults to cement friendships with fluent speakers and to encourage them to interact with their children). These are things which all parents and caregivers can do, irrespective of their own language competence. In doing these things, those who currently feel that they have little to offer in relation to the revitalization of the language can experience a genuine sense of involvement and empowerment. Accepting that there are currently many parents and caregivers who cannot realistically become involved in genuine inter-generational transmission of the language in the home does not mean accepting that they have nothing to offer. Mā te kōwhiringa o ngā uiuitanga hangā ngāwari, te whiriwhiri ā rōpū kanohi, me te puka patapātai (hei tōngia mai ngā kōrero whānui kē atu o tēnā, o tēnā), ka whakatewhatewha te tuhinga nei i ngā waiaro me ngā ritenga o tētehi rōpū e ngana ana ki te haumanu i te reo Māori hei taonga mō rātou ko ō rātou whānau, ā, mō ā rātou tamariki, mokopuna hoki. Te nuinga o te hunga nei he Māori; he tokoiti anō he Pākehā. He tokomaha o rātou i tipu ake i roto i te horopaki o te reo Māori, arā, kotahi neke atu o ō rātou mātua rānei, kaitiaki rānei, whanaunga rānei he matatau ki te reo Māori. Ahakoa rā, kāore te nuinga i whāngaihia ki te reo i ā rātou e pēpi ana, kei whakapai kanohitia pērā i ō rātou tūpuna. Ko rātou te hunga i tipu reo Māori mai, ka memeha haere tō rātou reo nō te tino putanga ake o te reo Pākehā ki ō rātou ao. He tokoiti o tēnei rōpu i kuraina ki te kōhanga reo me te kura kaupapa Māori; he tokomaha anō i whai wāhi ki ngā akoranga reo Māori me ōna tikanga, hāunga rā te nui o te nama. Ko ētehi, kua ea ngā wawata, kua matatau ki te reo; ko ētehi atu anō, kua pāngia kētia e te hōhā me te hēmanawatanga. Heoi, ahakoa ngā wheako ake o tēnā, o tēnā, he hiahia nō te nuinga kia matatau ā rātou tamariki me ā rātou mokopuna ki te reo, kia tū pakari ai, kia tū Māori ai ki tēnei ao. Te nuinga o tēnei rōpū he manawanui ki te kōrero Māori i te kāinga i te nuinga o te wā, koia anō rā i ā rātou e kōrero ana ki ā rātou tamariki me ā rātou mokopuna. Heoi anō, kei reira anō ngā papatoieketanga, e pā ana ki ō rātou ake tītengi rānei, ki te takarepatanga o tō rātou reo rānei, me te mōhio anō ko ētahi o ō rātou hoa, whānau, whānau whānui anō hoki, he reo tahi kē, arā, ko te reo Pākehā te reo kawe. Anō hoki, ko ētahi o ngā tamariki, i ā rātou e pakeke haere ana ka kaha papare i te reo Māori, ka whakawaia kētia rātou e te reo Pākehā me ōna tikanga. I waenganui i te hunga i whai wāhi ki tēnei kaupapa rangahau kua kitea he mārama pū te nuinga ki te tino hiranga o te tuku ihotanga o te reo; kua kitea hoki tō rātou kaingākau nui ki te ako i te reo, ki te whakapakari rānei i tō rātou reo. Hāunga tērā, me ō rātou ngana anō ki te kawe i te reo Māori i te kāinga, ko ngā mātua kāore anō kia tino eke te reo ā-waha ka mate i te pōraruraru, te pōkaikaha, te āwangawanga, me te kaha papare a ngā tamariki e pakeke haere ana. Nā runga i tērā, me te take anō hoki he ruarua noa iho ngā wāhi o te hapori whānui i ēnei rā kia taea te reo Māori te rere noa, kua whakapuāwaitia e te tokomaha o tēnei rōpū ētahi rautaki hei ārahi i ngā tamariki me ngā mokopuna i ā rātou e pakeke haere ana, kia mārama rātou ki ngā whakahere tinana a te marea kia whai wāhi ai rātou ki te ako i te reo, me ngā here e haere kōtui ana ki ērā āhuatanga, kia whakanuia, kia utua hoki ngā tamariki i runga anō i ngā whakatutukitanga reo, kia manaakitia hoki rātou ki te whai wāhi anō ki ngā horopaki reo Māori. Hei konei ka ākina rātou ki te uru ki ngā kapa haka me ngā tino kaupapa anō o te ao Māori e whakatairanga nei i te reo. Anō hoki, ka whakahauhautia kia piritata ki ā rātou hoa me ō rātou whanaunga e tino mōhio ki te reo, me te whakauru hoki ki ngā mahinga marae. Waihoki, ka pōwhiritia te hunga matatau ki te reo ki te toro mai ki ō rātou kāinga (nā reira, me whakapau kaha anō ngā mātua ki te whakahoahoa, ki te patipati, ērā tāngata kia whakaae mai ki te noho ki te taha o ngā tamariki whakaputa kōrero ai). Koinei ngā mea ka taea ai e ngā mātua katoa, e ngā kaitiaki katoa, ahakoa kei hea te tohungatanga o tō rātou reo. Mā reira, ka whai wāhi tonu, ka whakamanahia tonu tēnei hunga e pōhēhē nei pea he iti noa iho tā rātou hei koha atu ki te whakarauoratanga o te reo. Nō reira, hāunga rā te whakaaro he nui ngā mātua me ngā kaitiaki tamariki i tēnei wā e kore e tino whai wāhi ki te tukunga iho o te reo i te kāinga, ehara i te mea he kore noa iho tā rātou hei koha atu ki tēnei kaupapa whakahirahira

Contrasting statistical indicators of Māori language revitalization: Conversational ability, speaking proficiency, and first language

Is it possible to track the revitalization of the Māori language statistically? Different large-scale statistical collections (censuses and surveys) in New Zealand effectively have different definitions of speaker because they ask different questions. This paper compares trends in numbers of Māori speakers as estimated from responses to questions about conversational ability, first language, and level of speaking proficiency, with particular reference to the 2013 Census and Te Kupenga (Māori social survey) 2013. One might expect estimates based on these responses to align closely, but they do not. This paper explores the relationships between the different estimates for different birth cohorts. Data on first language from at least four surveys provide strong evidence of a resurgence in intergenerational language transmission, which is not clearly apparent from the other indicators. Patterns of response to conversational ability and speaking proficiency questions are found to vary according to first language and birth cohort. It is argued that the apparent inconsistencies between the indicators reflect the real complexity of revitalization processes, as well as varying interpretations of the language questions, and that the New Zealand census language question on conversational ability is of questionable value as an indicator for tracking Māori language revitalization.National Foreign Language Resource Cente