What does it take to make us listen? The experiences of those leading whole school reform to improve outcomes for indigenous minority students

Abstract

This thesis examines how the Kia Eke Panuku: Building on Success school reform initiative shaped the experiences of groups of educators within mainstream New Zealand secondary schools. These experiences are analysed against a setting of colonisation and historic educational policies of assimilation and integration that have created a situation of education debt. The lack of power for Māori in education is evident. This study highlights the role of the Strategic Change Leadership Team in deconstructing power hierarchies within schools so that educational outcomes can be improved for Māori students. It presents the Strategic Change Leadership Team as the vehicle for conscientisation, resistance and transformative praxis within schools. It shows that in schools where power hierarchies were deconstructed, Māori students were able to enjoy educational success as Māori.