Decolonising professional learning: Weaving a whānau of interest

Abstract

Raranga (weaving) has been described as an act of decolonisation and resistance. In my experience, learning to weave was more than an act of learning the tikanga (rituals) and methods with which to weave flax and tukutuku (lattice work); it was learning about learning and learning about living, life and all the things that make us who we are. As I experienced and began to understand Māori metaphors such as whanaungatanga, kaupapa, ako and manaakitanga I found that learning the art of weaving shaped me as I shaped the weaving. This thesis ideates a metaphor of weaving to describe a model of cultural and structural school reform that emerged from a school’s teaching and learning collaborations over time. It calls for the weaving of a new, decolonised model of education.