Manaaki whenua. Manaaki tangata: Care for the land, care for the people: Leading critical school reform with mana whenua and whānau Māori

Abstract

Education disparities between Māori and Pākehā students in Aotearoa, have their origins in colonial education policies and practices which considerably advantaged Pākehā students and compromised the ability of Māori students to engage with learning and succeed. Despite the promises of equality inherent in the Treaty of Waitangi, this historical foundation has, for over 150 years, perpetuated intergenerational cycles of education failure for Māori resulting in high levels of endemic social and economic disadvantage in many Māori communities. This thesis examines the leadership praxis of two Pākehā principals, to understand how, with more respectful connections with Māori communities, they were able to address education disparities and facilitate success for Māori students as Māori. Culturally responsive research methodologies guided two, in-depth case studies which employed mixed methods. Two collaborative stories, with the voices of mana whenua and whānau Māori, identified the importance of school leaders developing critical levels of consciousness, through authentic, bidirectional relationships with Māori communities. These relationships enabled the principals to understand the authentic local, pre-colonial iwi histories of the land. This in turn fostered connections between the schools and local Māori communities that enabled them to collaboratively respond to the implications of colonisation. The thesis challenges the monocultural, monolingual, unidirectional policies and practices that characterise the current model of colonial education. It presents instead a decolonising model of critical school reform and a framework for implementation and evaluation. It contends that honouring the Treaty of Waitangi requires an equity focused response with power sharing relationships, critically led by principals alongside Māori communities.