The Centrality of Relationships for Pedagogy for Indigenous Students

• In Event: Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: Immigrant and Indigenous Students in European Contexts

Abstract

The Te Kotahitanga project is operating in 49 secondary schools in New Zealand. A formal observation supports teachers to implement what has been identified as a teaching profile for teaching Maori students effectively. These observations are used for both formative and summative purposes. From more the 3500 classroom observations, this paper addresses two main questions: 1) To what degree can the data gathered by Te Kotahitanga be used as a measure of pedagogical quality? and, 2) Does this data support the hypothesis that ‘relationships,’ Whakawhanaungatanga, are a central necessary component of overall pedagogical quality? Findings from this analysis are consistent with the theoretical perspective put forward by Te Kotahitanga and the centrality it places on relationships in pedagogy.

Authors

• James G. Ladwig, The University of Newcastle

• Alan Russell Bishop, University of Waikato

• Mere Berryman, University of Waikato