Listening to the Winds of Change: Assessing culturally responsive and relational pedagogy

Abstract

This thesis examines how the Rongohia te Hau tools were used to capture a snapshot of the extent that culturally responsive and relational pedagogies were occurring within classrooms in two English-medium secondary schools in Aotearoa, New Zealand. In this study, school leaders used Rongohia te Hau to measure changes in the educational experiences of Māori learners over twelve to eighteen-months, to prioritise next steps in addressing the educational inequities that were evident.

With the contribution of teachers, leaders and kaitoro (Kia Eke Panuku facilitators), this research investigates the purpose and place of Rongohia te Hau within the Kia Eke Panuku professional learning and development context. It also presents and discusses the pedagogical shifts that occurred in these two schools over the period of this research, as evidenced by quantitative and qualitative Rongohia te Hau data. Furthermore, the learning implications that arose out of this research are analysed to help generate new questions and considerations, to enable continuing conversations for these schools, other schools, professional learning and development providers and researchers.