Te Kotahitanga: A model for Educational Reform

1. Te Kotahitanga: A model for Educational Reform Professor Russell Bishop PhD University of Waikato, New Zealand. Rural Schools Conference, Vancouver, Canada. 24th October, 2008.

2. Our project partnership • Maori Education Research, School of Education, University of Waikato, • Mere Berryman, Manager, Poutama Pounamu Research and Development Centre, Group Special Education, Ministry of Education, Tauranga. • The Te Kotahitanga schools and their communities.

4. This project is funded and supported by • The New Zealand Ministry of Education, • The students, parents, teachers and principals of the Te Kotahitanga schools. • School Support Services, • Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour, • CWA New Media Ltd. • Nga Pae o Te Maramatanga.

14. Years ago, in the mystic isle of Hawaiki, there dwelt a laughing brown-skinned race of people. In the waters of the great Pacific they bathed and fished; in the earth they planted their crops of taro and yam, and always they were careful to keep their fires burning, for they had neither matches nor flint and steel, and could kindle a fresh flame only by the troublesome method of rubbing two sticks together.

15. Before 1820, visiting journal writers commented on the fact that not many half-castes were to be seen among the Maori villagers. Infanticide was assumed to be the reasons for this. Even by the 1840s there were only 300-400 known half-castes in Maori settlements. However they represented the beginnings of the cultural dilution that has continued up to the present.

16. What assumptions do these authors have about Maori students? • What impact would such stories have upon Maori students? • Are we as teachers aware of the impact of our assumptions? • Please discuss these questions.

18. We began Te Kotahitanga in 2001 by speaking with Maori students: • Their whanau (extended family) • Their principals • Their teachers

20. Child and the home • Structures and systems • Relationships

21. Frequency counts for unit ideas. Te Kotahitanga, 2001.

22. Discourses Explaining Maori Achievement: Students, Whanau, Principals and Teachers © 2003 Ministry of Education

23. Years 4 and 5 project, 2006/07

24. What the narratives said Discourses Explaining Māori Achievement: Students, Whānau, Principals and Teachers

28. We identified that among teachers, the most pervasive explanation for underachievement of Maori students was that they are the victims of pathological lifestyles that hinder their chances of benefiting from schooling.

33. Culturally appropriate and responsive teachers possess the following understandings: • They positively reject deficit theorising b) They are committed to and know how to bring about change in educational achievement

34. And teachers demonstrate those understandings in the following ways: 1)Manaakitanga: teachers care for the students as culturally- located human beings 2)Mana Motuhake: teachers care for the performance of the students 3)Ngā Whakapiringatanga: teachers create a secure, well-managed learning environment 4)Wānanga: teachers can engage in effective teaching interactions 5)Ako: teachers can use strategies to promote change 6)Kotahitanga: student outcomes inform teachers’ and students’ critical reflection

35. The implementation of the Effective Teaching Profile in 12 schools from 2004 saw these outcomes for students in 2006.

38. What is the pattern of achievement for indigenous students in your schools? How could you go about improving their achievement? What impact would raising their achievement have upon the students and the community?

39. GPILSEO: a model for sustainability at three levels. • How do we implement effective teaching at all levels? classroom, school, system.

40. Goal: Focusing on improving target student’s participation and achievement Taking Ownership Developing a new Pedagogy of Relations to depth Developing new Institutions and Structures Developing Leadership that is responsive and proactive Spreading the reform to include others Evaluating the progress of the reform in the school

42. establishes and develops specific measurable goals in order that progress can be shown, monitored over time and acted upon, • supports the development and implementation of new pedagogic relationships and interactions in the classroom,

43. changes the institution, its organisation and structures to support changes in the classrooms, • spreads the reform to include staff, parents, community, reform developers and policy makers so that a new school culture is developed and embedded,

44. develops the capacity of people and systems to produce and use evidence of student progress to inform change, • promotes and ensures that the ownership of the reform shifts to be within the school.

47. G: National policy focus needs to be on removing the long-term education debt. • P: Pedagogy of Relations in schools needs to be the focus of pre and in-service education. • I: Funding needs to be allocated to successful schools on a long-term basis.

48. L: Leadership needs national policy support. • S: Spread needs to include researchers, professional developers and policy makers. • E: National level support for RIDE type development. • O: Ownership. Our nation needs to own the problem and invest sufficient funds for long-term solutions.

50. When I grow up I want to be something like a lawyer or a doctor. I want to go to university I want to do something in my life I don’t want to be a nobody I want to be a somebody.