Our Work with Māori Educators and Learners
From Ako Aotearoa's Annual Report for 2009
Developing our Māori strategy to provide the best value for Māori in tertiary education
Te Rūnanga Māori – The Māori Caucus
Ako Aotearoa has underlined its commitment to Māori educators and learners by providing substantial funding toward Māori projects. This funding totals $1.011 million.
The priority in 2009 was to lay the groundwork for a more integrated approach to the development of a Māori strategy with a view to providing the best value for Māori in tertiary education. Several projects that began in 2009, and that will conclude in the new financial year, are fundamental to achieving this aim.
Ako Aotearoa’s Māori Caucus, the driving force behind this initiative, is the only standing committee of Ako Aotearoa. As such, it has a vital governance function where matters relating to Māori tertiary education are considered by the caucus. The Māori Caucus met regularly over 2009 and subsequent sections in this annual report are testimony to its vision and commitment to achieving the best possible outcomes for Māori learners.
Te Tauākī Ako – Ako Framework Development
The Māori Caucus maintained that for Ako Aotearoa to work effectively with Māori organisations, it must have its own kaupapa Māori (Māori dimension) framework. The caucus headed the process of developing that framework – Te Tauākī Ako – and approved the final version in October. This was adopted by the Ako Aotearoa Board at its meeting in November.
Te Tauākī Ako underpins how Ako Aotearoa supports Māori learners and educators, but also informs how Ako Aotearoa works for all learners. The framework is essential to Ako Aotearoa realising its bicultural commitment as the basis for delivery of a professional development programme for Ako Aotearoa staff. The programme will start in the first quarter of 2010 and focus on the expression of the strong principles in the framework in our service for Māori learners. It is intended Te Tauākī Ako be a living document that is continually referred to and reviewed in the operation and development of Ako
Aotearoa’s service.
He Huarahi Hou – New Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards Criteria
Ako Aotearoa has managed the national Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards since 2008. Despite clarification of the criteria in 2009, concern remained that the Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards were not fully inclusive of Māori. Since 2002, only five of over one hundred awardees have been Māori. No applications have been received from wānanga in the past four years.
After a meeting of the Ako Aotearoa Māori Caucus with representatives of the Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards Committee to discuss the issue, a working group was established to explore available options. The findings of the working group were reviewed by both the award panel and Māori Caucus.
A final paper was endorsed by the Ako Aotearoa Board and submitted to the Hon Anne Tolley, Minister of Education, for consideration. The paper recommended that:
- the number of Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards be increased to 12 for 2010
- a set of complementary criteria be established for tertiary teachers who exhibit sustained excellence in their contribution to a Māori context of teaching and learning
- a minimum of two national awards be available for tertiary teachers who wish to apply under these proposed new criteria.
The recommendations were approved by the minister in November 2009 for the 2010 awards round.
Hei Tauira: Teaching and Learning for Success for Māori in Tertiary Settings
Hei Tauira is a research project undertaken by Associate Professor Janinka Greenwood and Lynne-Harata Te Aika, funded initially by the Ministry of Education under the Teaching Matters Forum. The project investigated “tauira”, exemplars of success for Māori in tertiary education. Much of the previous research about Māori in education focused on the under-achievement of Māori. Hei Tauira focuses on examples of success and shares these with the tertiary education whānau to help improve outcomes for Māori and all learners. This work was launched by the Associate Minister of Education, the Hon Dr Pita Sharples, in February 2010. (More information about this publication is on page 55.)
National Project Fund – Te Tuku Pūtea
Some exciting projects have been supported through the Māori Initiative Projects stream and general stream of the National Project Fund. These projects address aspects of teaching and learning at different levels and parts of the sector. Funded projects in the 2009 round of the National Project Fund relevant to Māori include the following.
This project aims to build the research capability and capacity of Māori learners by supporting them through using advanced digital technologies. The project will pilot a comprehensive suite of interactive teaching and learning techniques across multiple sites. Best practice techniques will be developed to support the teaching and learning of te reo Māori at postgraduate level. In combination with this, the project also seeks to develop a cohort of Māori speaking supervisors to supervise students through to completion who elect to write their theses in te reo Māori. Increased collaboration will result in the development of a shared postgraduate programme in te reo Māori, enhancing the digital literacy of learners and lecturers in te reo Māori.
An Ako Aotearoa Collaboration Project that has recently been completed, Te Hononga Mātauranga is a collaboration between Victoria University of Wellington, Te Wānanga o Raukawa and Massey University. Through the innovative use of technology, this project has resulted in the production of web-based audio-visual resources that are designed to support Māori postdoctoral students with their research (further details are provided on page 47).
Assessing Hauora Māori in Medical Students in Clinical Settings
An Ako Aotearoa National Project Fund Research and Implementation Project, this work aims to identify valid and reliable assessment methods and staff development processes that can be used to effectively assess the hauora Māori domain within clinical settings. The assessment tasks will focus on the development of cultural competence among New Zealand’s future doctors, and be tested across two intervention sites using clinical staff and learner feedback.
An Ako Aotearoa National Project Fund Māori Initiative Project, this work seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of marae and community-based Mātauranga Māori programmes provided through community education in the Taranaki region. A kaupapa Māori research approach is being adopted, which includes data collection through focus groups at hui. The results of this project will enhance our understanding of the effectiveness of community-based education for Mātauranga
Māori programmes (see also feature on page 27).
This Ako Aotearoa National Project Fund Māori Initiative Project focuses on improving Māori student success in health professional degree-level programmes, and examines the ways in which non-lecture teaching and learning helps or hinders Māori success in degree-level education. The project also explores what “success” means in health professional degree-level study from a Māori perspective.
From using the Critical Incident Technique, a Quality Tertiary Teaching Profile will be developed that will describe the characteristics of teaching and learning that support Māori learner success in non-lecture settings.
Te Pūtea ā-Rohe – Regional Hub Funded Projects
A total of 15 projects related to Māori learners have been supported through the Ako Aotearoa Regional Hub Project Fund, with a total value of almost $150,000. Newly commissioned projects include the following and illustrate the diverse range of work supported.
- Improving Participation, Retention and Progression of Māori Tertiary Learners in the Whanganui Region. Gail Harrison, Whanganui Learning Centre Trust; George Marshall and Aroha Beckham, Tupoho Whānau Trust.
- Embedded Integrated Assessment – An Action Research Project that Aims to Increase Achievement for Māori Youth Learners Entering Tertiary Education for the First Time. Hannah Hohapata, Matapuna Training Centre.
- An Affective Mobile Learning Support System for Māori Students. Tiong Goh, Victoria University of Wellington.
- Taking Science to Tangata Whenua (in their Rohe and on their Marae). Paul Kayes, Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi.
- Cultural Confluence and Capacity in Training Providers Intending to Work Cross Culturally within Māori and Pasifika Contexts. Andrew Smith, Bethlehem Tertiary Institute.
Ētahi Kaupapa Anō – Other Work
An investigative study into mentoring models for Māori in tertiary education is near to completion. The published report from this joint project between Ako Aotearoa and Te Puni Kōkiri is to be launched in early 2010.
Ako Aotearoa was also a sponsor of the annual Māori tertiary conference, Te Toi Tauira mō te Matariki held in November at The University of Auckland. This continues the tradition of supporting initiatives for Māori in tertiary education that add to the discussion around teaching and learning.
Several Good Practice Publication Grants involving Māori are also under way. These include the following.
- Te Puawaitanga o Te Kakano: ACE – Nurturing the Seeds of Learning Within Rural Māori Women. Faithe Hanrahan, Opotiki District Community Activities Office.
- He Moana Pukepuke E Kengia E Te Waka (A Choppy Sea Can Be Navigated). Ellen Catherine Dickey, Manukau Institute of Technology.
- Case Study of Student Engagement at Solomon Group (An Innovative Māori Private Training Establishment). Kiri Solomon, Solomon Group Education and Training Academy.
- Enhancing Learning and Confidence for Māori through Community Participation. Therese Humphries and Sharlene Pene, Gracelands Insight Learning.
Te Waihanga Rautaki Māori – Māori Strategy Development
From October to December, Ako Aotearoa embarked on a series of visits to Māori educators throughout the country. We interviewed 30 educators and leaders from different parts of the tertiary sector. The information gathered will be used to develop Ako Aotearoa’s Māori strategy from 2010 onwards. It was also an important opportunity to introduce Ako Aotearoa to the Māori sector and establish the foundations of what we hope will be enduring relationships. The visits will continue over the first quarter of 2010 and the draft Māori strategy will be available before the inaugural Ako Aotearoa Māori tertiary educators hui, Tuia Te Ako, planned for August.
Te Titiro Whakamua – Looking Forward
Since the initial meeting of Ako Aotearoa’s Māori Caucus in 2009, there has been discussion about the need to establish hui for Māori tertiary educators to come together to discuss and share knowledge about aspects of tertiary teaching and learning. While there had been agreement on the merits of the hui, discussion centred on whether it should be regional or national.
Tui , tui , tuituia !
A planning committee, made up of Māori Caucus representatives and a cross-sector advisory group of Māori tertiary educators, has been established to plan and market the national Māori tertiary educators hui. This group comprises:
- Dr Kathie Irwin, Ako Aoteaora Māori Caucus
- Lee Cooper (chair), Te Tira Whakahaere
- Trevor Moeke, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa
- Willis Katene, Te Kupenga, Whitireia Community Polytechnic
- Associate Professor Maaka Laws, Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi
- Hana O’Regan, Te Puna Wāānaka, Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology
- Paula Cuff, independent consultant.
The planning committee has given the name Tuia Te Ako to the hui, which will be held 12–13 August at Pipitea Marae in Wellington. Four key themes have been identified: Leadership in the Tertiary Sector, Māori/Iwi Advancement, Discussion of Māori Tertiary Issues, and Whakawhanaungatanga. Leading Māori educators have been approached to make presentations at the hui. Tuia Te Ako promises to be a major event on the tertiary conference calendar and one that will go a long way to assisting Ako Aotearoa to achieve its goals for Māori learners and its commitment to learning from kaupapa Māori.