Session Information
WERA SES 03 D, Towards Socio-Political Transformation in Education World-Wide
Paper Session
Contribution
Despite the existence of a treaty (Tiriti o Waitangi/Treaty of Waitangi, 1840) in Aotearoa New Zealand that promised the indigenous Māori that their language and culture would be protected, these rights to autonomy and self-determination have not been fully realised. Recent research indicates that the edcuation system does not well serve the majority of Māori children and youth (Education and Science Committee, 2011). Though international assessments indicate that many children do well in comparison to students from other countries, Aotearoa New Zealand nevertheless continues to have a ‘long-tail’ of underachievment for Māori and Pasifika students (Education and Science Committee, 2008). This persistent gap in the education system’s responsiveness to Māori educational aspirations and well-being poses a significant social justice challenge to educators, in particular teacher educators. In order to successfully respond to the educational needs of Māori as tangata whenua (the indigenous peoples of Aotearoa New Zealnd) teacher educators must develop the necessary sociocultural knoweldge and culturally-responsive pedagogy to enact the fullness of their professional responsibilties as treaty partners with Māori.
Teacher educators in Aotearoa New Zealand are not alone in this need to address the particular professional and social justice considerations of working in partnership with indigenous communities. While teacher educators world-wide seek to be responsive to the increasing cultural and linguistic diversity of students, those working in indigenous contexts around the globe must also engage with a set of unique considerations that raise particular complexities and possibilities. By focusing on the indigenous context of teacher education in Aotearoa New Zealand, this paper seeks to illuminate a particular aspect of this complexity as a means to extend and problematise the discourse around international teacher educator knowledge and practice with respect to issues of diversity, culturally responsive practice, and social justice.
A series of national policy guidelines and requirements provide an interloacking set of criteria for initial teacher education (ITE) programmes and graduating teachers. Within these criteria is the explicit requirement that all teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand be cognisant of the Treaty of Waitangi and of the equal status and rights extended to both Māori and Pākehā (New Zealander of European descent) by the Treaty. Nevertheless, consistent non-compliance with the Treaty is viewed by some researchers as a major cause for the disparity in educational outcomes for Māori children (Bertanees & Thornley, 2004; Ritchie & Rau, 2012). Others (Smith, 2000) refer to the ongoing impact of colonisation and also the impact of curriculum decisions made by teachers. The avoidence of this curricula content means that teachers are not fulfilling their legal, ethical and moral responsibilities to Māori. Initial teacher education holds a vital role in the implementation of Treaty resonsibilities. However, teacher educators not only require adequate Treaty knowledge. Resarch suggests they must also develop sociocultural consciousness (Villegas & Lucas, 2002) in order to inform a culturally–relevant pedagogy.
The paper draws from a larger qualitiative investigation examining the perspectives of a small group of teacher educators regarding their understandings of the treaty in relation to their educational practice. We draw on critical theory (Giroux, 2007; Kincheloe, 2008) and the notion of ‘teachers as gatekeepers” (Thornton, 1991, p 238) in undertaking this analysis. By entering into this more focused inquiry we have sought to illuminate the ways in which teacher educators’ understandings can, as Rarere-Briggs & Stark (2011) have previously argued, serve to both silence and privelege content, perspectives, and pedagogical practices within initial teacher education programmes.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Bell, J. (2005). Doing your research project. A quide for first-time researchers in education, health and social science (4th ed.). Maidenhead, England: Open University Press. Bertanees, C. & Thornley, C. (2004). Negotiating colonial structures: challenging the views of Pākehā student teachers. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 32, 2. Giroux, H. A. (2007). Democracy, Education, and the Politics of Critical Pedagogy. In P. McLaren & J. L. Kincheloe (Eds.), Critical Pedagogy: Where Are We Now? pp. 1-5, New York: Peter Lang. Kincheloe, J. L. (2008). Critical theory pedagogy primer. (2nd ed.). New York: Peter Lang Publishing. Ladson-Billings, G.J. (1997). The dreamkeepers: Successful teachers of African-American children. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Rarere-Briggs, B. and Stark, R. (2011) Shaking our complacency: Reflections of our silencing and privileging of the Treaty of Waitangi-te Tiriti o Waitangi within a teacher education course. Melbourne, Australia: Honoring the Child, Honoring Equity 11, 18-19 Nov 2011. (Conference Contributions - Oral presentations). Ritchie, J. & Rau, C.(2006). Enacting a whakawhanaungatanga approach in early childhood education. Early childhood folio, 10, 16-20. Smith, G. H. (2000). Maori education: Revolution and transformative action. Canadian Journal of Native Education, 24, (1), 57-72. Thornton, S. (1991). Teacher as curricular-instructional gatekeeper in social studies. In J. P. Shaver, J. P. (Ed.). (1991). Handbook of research on social studies teaching and learning. New York: Maxwell Macmillan International. Villegas, A. M., & Lucas, T. (2002). Educating culturally responsive teachers. Albany,NY: State University of New York Press.
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