Ensuring Māori student success and inclusion of te aō Māori through initial teacher education

Hiria McRae; Robin Averill

doi:10.26686/nzaroe.v24i0.6336

Authors

Hiria McRae Victoria University of Wellington http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5340-5421
Robin Averill Victoria University of Wellington http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8941-5565

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26686/nzaroe.v24i0.6336

Keywords:

Māori education, teacher education, education policy, culturally sustaining teacher practice

Abstract

Teacher commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi is emphasised within the latest Code of Professional Responsibility and Standards for the Teaching Profession (Education Council, 2017). Teachers must explicitly demonstrate commitment to tangata whenuatanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi. This mandate is encouraging for Māori education needs and aspirations. We describe the use of a culturally sustaining teacher practice framework to examine Māori education policy implementation implications within an initial teacher education te ao Māori course. We explain how course content, delivery and assessment aspects can be critiqued and policy implications identified to illustrate the usefulness of the framework for teacher educators and practising teachers. We demonstrate how the framework can be a useful tool for teacher educators to examine culturally sustaining practice in preparing themselves and student teachers to work effectively with indigenous learners.

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Author Biographies

Hiria McRae, Victoria University of Wellington

Hiria McRae is a senior lecturer at Te Puna o Ako Pai, Te Herenga Waka, Victoria University of Wellington. She specialises in teaching pre-service teachers in the areas of mātauranga Māori, te reo Māori, science and technology. Her broad research interests include Māori education, place-based education and education for sustainability. Current projects include examining Māori and Pacific Island tertiary student experience of initial teacher education and culturally sustaining practices for Māori.

Robin Averill, Victoria University of Wellington

Robin Averill is an associate professor at Te Puna o Ako Pai, Te Herenga Waka, Victoria University of Wellington. With a background in secondary teaching and assessment, initial teacher education and teacher professional development, Robin’s research focuses on culturally sustaining practice and ways to improve equity of access to achievement, particularly for Indigenous and marginalised learners.

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