Mātauranga Tiriti: Teaching Responsibility Through Education

• In Event: Accepting Educational Responsibility: Indigenous Models of Innovation and Collaborative Research

Abstract

A lack of education about the Treaty of Waitangi in schools has seen poor understanding amongst our citizenry about their responsibilities as Treaty partners. This paper examines new/beginning social science teachers’ experiences of delivering Treaty education in New Zealand secondary schools. Research conducted with six new/ beginning social science teachers explored, from their perspective, their ability to deliver Treaty education based on teacher training, the New Zealand Curriculum, teaching resources, and professional development. Mōteatea and whakatauāki and critical education formed a theoretical base for this work. Research findings revealed that Treaty education fails to educate our citizenry about their responsibilities as Treaty partners, exasperating the colonising dialect where people avoid drinking from the ‘poison chalice’ of our history.

Author

• Hona Black, Massey University