Maori-medium education: current issues and challenges.

Abstract

This paper summarises the key issues and challenges that have emerged from a recent major report by the authors on Maori-medium education in Aotearoa/New Zealand. The discussion is situated within a wider international analysis of bilingual/immersion programmes, including heritage language programmes for indigenous peoples. Key issues explored in the paper include the negotiation of, and occasional tension between, the wider goals of indigenous Maori language revitalisation and the successful achievement of bilingualism and biliteracy in Maori-medium educational contexts. Issues to do with current pedagogy, staffing and resourcing of Maori-medium programmes are also examined. The paper concludes with suggestions for the ongoing development and extension of Maori-medium education.