Literacy, achievement and success in a Māori tourism certificate programme: reading the world in order to read the word

ABSTRACT

This article critiques international assessment of adult literacy using research findings from students completing a Māori tourism certificate who achieved significant gains in assessment. It is argued that the focus of literacy assessments potentially forces educators to narrow their teaching and learning approaches, manoeuvring them into teaching toward singular or convergent literacy. This leads to utilising teaching and learning strategies drawn from the cultural and social capital of the dominant culture, which is problematic for students without abundance of such capital.

Blending Kaupapa Māori research theory with appreciative inquiry, research revealed that students made significant gains in assessment scores because their educators acknowledged and utilised ways in which they made sense and meaning of their world. Educators drew upon the social and cultural capital of students and engaged them as partners in culturally based teaching and learning processes. Relating to students’ multiple literacies, and the contexts with which they bring meaning to their world in this way, is referred to as drawing from divergent literacies.

This study proposes a need to develop and research alternative ways for improving convergent literacy outcomes. It is suggested that multiple interventions using multi-modal and 360° approaches need to occur simultaneously for best outcomes.

KEYWORDS:

• Divergent literacies
• convergent literacies
• dominant culture
• literacy assessment
• Kaupapa Māori

Glossary of Māori terms

Aotearoa ‘New Zealand’

kaiako ‘teacher(s), learner(s)’

kaupapa ‘platform, basis, foundation, philosophy’

kina ‘sea urchin(s)’ (a prime delicacy)

kōwhaiwhai ‘symmetrical patterned rafter paintings’

mana ‘spiritual authority, standing’

manaaki ‘care for guests, provide hospitality, share, support’

manaakitanga ‘caring, hospitality, sharing, support’

manuhiri ‘visitor(s), guests(s)’

marae ‘Māori-defined space(s) for community gatherings following Māori-defined procedures’

mātauranga ‘knowledge, education’

reo ‘voice, language’

te ao Māori ‘the Māori (cultural) world’

wairua ‘spirit, spirituality’

wairua tau ‘settling and ease of the spirit, feeling settled, at ease and comfortable’

waka ‘boat, transport, one of the ocean-traversing vessels that specific Māori ancestors sailed to Aotearoa, descendants of those ancestors’

whakataukī ‘pithy expression(s) of traditional wisdom, maxim(s), saying(s), often connected to a particular ancestor, kinship group or place’

whānau ‘extended family’

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Kaiako ‘teacher, learner’; manaaki ‘care for guests, provide hospitality, share, support’. Hei Manaaki expresses the Māori cultural imperative of manaakitanga ‘caring, hospitality, sharing, support’. For other Māori expressions used in this paper, see the glossary of Māori terms.

2. The Conceptual Model is discussed in more detail on page.

3. Since this research was undertaken, new versions of the LNAAT have been released that are more contextualised to young people and to Māori learners.

4. whānau in its narrowest sense means family. Whānau in this sense means all people who surround a student – be they those who have passed on, those who are related, those who students form bonds with and more.

5. This research predates the release of Assessment Tool options tailored to youth and to Māori.

6. Graphs and tables displaying this data can be found in the following link, along with an A3 summary of the report. https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/80898/literacy,-achievement-and-success-reading-the-world-in-order-to-read-the-word .

7. In the New Zealand Qualifications Framework, Level 4 is the standard level for vocational trade certificates, while Level 3 corresponds to the highest secondary school qualification.

8. The Ministry participants in this research project were interested in gaining a broader view of literacy and numeracy, and possible alternative perspectives.

9. Language learning nest for babies to 5 year-olds.

10. Māori immersion schools for 5–13 year-olds.

11. Senior secondary schools for 13–18 year-olds.

12. When referring solely to the New Zealand Ministry of Education, rather than the tertiary sector team, the term – the Ministry will be used.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the New Zealand Ministry of Education [The Ministry].

Notes on contributors

Pania Te Maro

Pania Te Maro is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Undergraduate Studies at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. Her research interests draw from critical, cultural, and kaupapa Māori theory for understanding how political, pedagogical, and socio-economic factors influence teaching and learning in Māori/Indigenous immersion settings. Her PhD focuses on mathematics education in Māori immersion compulsory schooling. Pania has taught in Kōhanga Reo⁹, Kura¹⁰, Wharekura¹¹, English medium Universities and Wānanga.

Chris Lane

Chris Lane is an independent researcher with a PhD in linguistics and a BSc in mathematics from the University of Auckland. He was formerly a Senior Lecturer in linguistics at Victoria University of Wellington, specialising in sociolinguistics, and has also worked for twelve years as a researcher and statistical analyst for several New Zealand government agencies, including six years as a Senior Research Analyst in the Ministry of Education specialising in data on adult literacy, language and numeracy.

Vaughan Bidois

Vaughan Bidois is the Acting Head of School, for the School of Undergraduate Studies at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. Vaughan completed his PhD in Māori Studies through the University of Otago in 2012, and Master of Indigenous Studies in 2008. Vaughan’s research areas include Education, Critical Pedagogy, Critical Theory, Cultural Studies, Identity Politics and Theory, and Kaupapa Māori Theory. Vaughan has a background in secondary and tertiary teaching.

David Earle

David Earle is a Chief Research Analyst at the New Zealand Ministry of Education¹². His work includes leading research and analysis on adult skills. He has a professional background in research, data analysis, evaluation and policy. He holds a Master of Arts in Pacific Studies from the University of Hawai’i.