Examining Practice in a Kura Kaupapa Indigenous Maori School

• In Event: Roundtable Session 121
  In Roundtable Session: Culturally Responsive Pedagogies

Abstract

Schools are failing to meet the learning needs of indigenous students when comparing levels of achievement between indigenous and non-indigenous students. This collaborative research project examined culturally responsive ways of working with indigenous Maori students in a New Zealand indigenous Māori immersion schooling system (Kura Kaupapa Māori). Two tertiary educators - one Māori (Indigenous New Zealander) male and one Pakeha (non-Māori, European) female - worked collaboratively with 18 Year 9 students to devise a community performance. This case study presents findings from three teachers’ interviews and extracts from students’ art work and journals. Insights into processes and protocols required to work in a Kura Kaupapa Māori inform other researchers undertaking collaborative studies in pursuit of culturally responsive pedagogies and strategies.

Author

• Delia Jane Baskerville, Victoria University of Wellington