'Ākono'anga Māori: Practices that enable education success for Cook Islands Māori learners

Abstract

Within the context of education research, our stories as Cook Islands Māori living in Aotearoa New Zealand are rarely told from our own lived experiences, even more so in Tokoroa. I see this lack of representation as significant, given our migration from the 1950s onwards in search of a better life, as well as our contribution to the economic development of this country. Our experiences are often absorbed into broader Pasifika-Pacific narratives, which overlook our distinct ways of being and knowing, as well as our histories and aspirations. Being positioned under this umbrella further generalises our experiences, specific needs, and understandings of education success as defined by our own communities. This has significantly impacted on how we have experienced education, and what it has been to experience success. In this thesis, I investigate the practice traditions that have enabled education success for Cook Islands Māori students in Tokoroa. My aim was to understand how success is created by examining the conditions that shape students' experiences, relationships, and opportunities for learning. To do this, I draw on a theoretical framework grounded in 'Ākono'anga Māori (Cook Islands Māori way of life), bringing together Vā and the Theory of Practice Architectures to understand these conditions. I am guided by a Tivaivai methodology, which weaves together the stories, histories, and practices of Cook Islands Māori families in Tokoroa over time. Within this methodology, I use Patu Tuatua as the method to gather stories from participants, through culturally grounded ways of sharing knowledge.

My exploration of education policy, curriculum, pedagogical practices, assessment practices, and definitions of success across four time periods, the pre-missionary period in the Cook Islands, the missionary period, the colonial period, and the period of migration to Aotearoa New Zealand, demonstrates that education success for Cook Islands Māori learners is contingent on four significant conditions. I found that our learners experience success when their aspirations and needs are reflected in education policy, their identities are visible in the curriculum, their ways of learning are supported through culturally relational and sustaining practices, and their progress is recognised through forms of measurement that reflect their strengths. I also found that the resilience of our learners enables them to continue to experience education success by remaining grounded in their practice traditions, despite enduring constraints within education. I argue that, in order to reverse the deficit positioning that continues to underserve Cook Islands Māori learners, schools need to recognise, support, and strengthen these practices if they are to create conditions where our learners succeed. I maintain that it is imperative for strong connections between home, Church, community, and the school to be sustained, as education success is enabled when sites of learning values the practices that collectively enable our learners to experience education success.