Social-emotional wellbeing at school is related to students’ connectedness to their cultural selves, their sense of ethnic group belonging and pride, and the ways they participate confidently as critical citizens who recognise and protect the rights, beliefs, values and identities of others.  Using a Kaupapa Māori approach, this chapter discusses the social-psychological conditions for cultural connectedness and ethnic group belonging for primary school students (n = 2149) aged 5–12 years and secondary school students (n = 584) aged 13–18 years in Aotearoa, New Zealand.

Few empirical studies have examined the affective and social-psychological drivers of cultural connectedness and ethnic group belonging to the social-emotional wellbeing of diverse students. In this paper, I contribute to this the discussion by focusing on how self-perceptions about the value of cultural identity (as it relates to ethnic group membership) affects the social-emotional wellbeing of students in schools in New Zealand. This paper explores the ways diverse students “act and make choices, are acted upon, and relate to each other in a variety of ways” based on their understandings of cultural identity and sense of cultural connectedness. Using a Kaupapa Māori approach, this study examined the social-psychological conditions for cultural connectedness and ethnic group belonging for primary school students (n = 2149) aged 5–12 years, and secondary school students (n = 584) aged 13–18 years, from one regional cluster of schools (n = 16) in the northern region of Aotearoa, New Zealand. This paper evidences the ways social-emotional wellbeing at school is related to students’ connectedness to their cultural selves, their sense of ethnic group belonging and pride, and the ways they participate confidently as critical citizens who recognise and protect the rights, beliefs, values and identities of culturally-diverse ‘others’ in a rapidly changing national context.

A critical consideration  in the New Zealand's progressive curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2015), which stipulates that schools should provide all students with opportunities to “create an Aotearoa New Zealand in which Māori and Pākehā recognise each other as full Treaty partners, and in which all cultures are valued for the contributions they bring” (p.10). The New Zealand Curriculum puts students’ culture at the center of teaching and learning, asserting that: a) students should experience a curriculum that acknowledges the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi, and the bicultural foundations of Aotearoa New Zealand, and b) that the curriculum should reflect New Zealand’s cultural diversity and values the histories and traditions of all its people. The New Zealand curriculum asserts that all children should feel proud of who they are, where they come from, and what their culture has to offer the world. As the world around us diversifies, it will become more important to be aware of the values and practices of our own culture/s, in order to have an appreciation and willingness to learn about other cultures.

Not only are schools’ central places for forming ethnic identities, but the way teachers and students talk, interact and act in school, both reflects and helps shape developing understandings about ethnic hierarchies. Evidently, students’ experiences at school can influence how they choose to culturally or ethnically self-categorise, how boundaries between their ethnic groups are formed, negotiated and interpreted, and how the processes of racialisation and boundary-forming affect students’ interactions and opportunities.

This study employed mixed-methods surveys to gather quantitative and qualitative data from students over a two-year period. A concurrent nested qualitative/quantitative design was selected in the form of a survey, meaning that, although all data were collected simultaneously, there was an initial emphasis on quantitative data, while the qualitative data were embedded in the study. The rationale behind this approach was to fulfil the research objective of triangulation: “seeking convergence of findings” (Onwuegbuzie & Collins, 2007, p. 284). Therefore, both qualitative and quantitative data were deemed equally important. The survey comprised a combination of 49 open-ended and closed questions. Initially students were asked to provide demographic data and, then, complete multiple-choice questions, Likert scale items and open-ended questions. The 16 schools involved in the project had been working collaboratively for the past two years as part of regional cluster. The current study is a small component of that wider research project and is focused on examining the social-psychological conditions for cultural connectedness and belonging for primary school students (n = 2149) aged 5–12 years, and secondary school students (n = 584) aged 13–18 years, from one regional cluster of schools (n = 16) in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Thirteen primary schools and three secondary schools from a northern region of Aotearoa, New Zealand were part of the regional cluster. Data collection: The student survey took between 15-20 minutes for students to complete. The students were not asked to write their names on the surveys and any information they provided was made unidentifiable. I attended school staff meetings and parent meetings to explain the project and answered any questions about the project. After permission from the school principal and Board of Trustees was granted, parents were informed of their child’s invitation to be involved in the project. Both students and parents had two opportunities to withdraw from, or decline participating in the study. I then distributed participant information sheets, or an electronic link to the online questionnaire, for all students at the school, inviting them to participate. Open-ended question analysis: Participant answers to one open-ended question were coded and analysed for this particular study in order to answer the question - “What aspect of your culture are you most proud of?” Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six phase thematic analysis process was subsequently followed.

Five key components concerning the personal, familial, school and community conditions for secure cultural identity were identified in the student data. Connectedness to Others: Students placed high importance on their connections to a collective, including their wider community ‘families’. The students’ cultural identities were nurtured and encouraged by their family and teachers, and they consequently felt socially capable and had a sense of connectedness and efficacy across a range of contexts. Belonging to Place: Students were proud of their ethnic group membership and wanted to express their cultural identities across multiple contexts. They articulated that the value systems of their ethnic groups were crucial to anchoring a person to their homelands and genealogy. Students were keen to share their cultural knowledge, and many mentioned the places that felt connected to. Being familiar with where their families originated from seemed to help students to anchor themselves to people, place and histories associated with those places. Positive Identity Markers: Students were able to articulate a strong sense of cultural efficacy, connection and belonging. Feeling a strong connection to their culture and other members of their ethnic group meant that they knew how to engage meaningfully with relevant cultural practices and protocols. Cultural Protective Factors: Students associated positive self-efficacy, knowledge of heritage languages, resilience, and a hard-working attitude as key elements of their cultural identity. Cultural Navigation Skills: A strong understanding of one’s own cultural identity, alongside a respect for the cultural identities of others is fundamental to students’ sense of cultural connectedness and ethnic group pride. Cultural connectedness and ethnic group belonging are crucial because they are a profoundly powerful social-psychological constructs that affirm and advance student connectedness and belonging in the school context and beyond.

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