Te tātari i te kaupapa

Abstract

The primary objective of this thesis focuses on the linking of the National Qualifications Framework and standards-based assessment as an emancipatory mechanism for Māori in Kaupapa Māori schooling and the wider Māori community in New Zealand.

Argued from an eclectic theoretical approach incorporating Kaupapa Māori theory, it espouses a position which rejects structural inequalities that perpetuate the subordinate positioning of Māori people through the development of culturally responsive assessment theories and practices in written language for teachers and children in Kura Kaupapa Māori which purport a culturally responsive pedagogy.

The thesis also links curriculum, assessment and pedagogy using Kaupapa Māori theory which provides insights into Māori views of emancipation in education.