Iti noa ana, he pito mata: A critical analysis of educational success through a Māori lens and two case studies of whānau within Ngāti Awa and Ngāti Tūwharetoa

Abstract

The educational success of Māori students is of high national interest and priority in New Zealand. A plethora of educational research exists on how to lift student achievement and the need for indigenous views in transforming outcomes for Māori (Macfarlane, 2015). This presentation shines a spotlight on Māori whānau (families’) perspectives of the challenges and barriers to academic success they encountered on their educational journey in mainstream schooling. Insights yielded from this doctoral research by Māori whānau offer an opportunity to rethink the overall role and purpose of educational success for future generations of Māori whānau. The research draws upon Western theories merged with Indigenous methodologies, such as Kaupapa Māori Theory (Smith, 2012) and Pūrakau (story telling) (Lee, 2009), to unravel the narratives of the past and present. Two case studies of whānau from Ngāti Awa and Ngāti Tūwharetoa provided insight into the interconnected relationship between cultural trauma and educational success. Interviews with these whānau uncover themes that informed the creation of a model called ‘He rere pepepe ki te anuhe Framework’ – Transforming pathways for whānau through educational success. This model offers restorative solutions that offer optimism for a new future. It is a critical response to the issues facing Māori in New Zealand’s education system within the Eastern Bay of Plenty. The research findings affirm that systemic bias exists in New Zealand’s education system and has had a detrimental impact on the educational success of tamariki Māori (Māori children) and whānau across many successive generations.  A major finding identified from the two case studies is that Māori have not recovered from colonisation, particularly the impact of 204 years of historical and cultural trauma experienced across successive generations of whānau that has resulted in the loss of language, culture and identity.