Indigenous Rights in Aotearoa/New Zealand—Inakitia rawatia hei kakano mō āpōpō: Students' Encounters With Bicultural Commitment

Abstract

Teacher quality and the preparation of quality teachers have been at the center of debates and discussions related to improving educational outcomes among diverse student populations across the world. In New Zealand, the education system emphasizes high-quality, bicultural practice among teachers through regulations and curriculum that call for adequate teacher preparation on bicultural pedagogical practice. This article sheds light on the gap between the policy goals and the reality of primarily monolingual and monocultural paradigms within the school system; it also brings forth the need to promote culturally inclusive understanding, knowledge, and skills among preservice teachers. The issues discussed in this article address concerns about education structures and processes that deny equity of educational opportunities to linguistically and culturally marginal student populations.

Notes

¹ A partnership model “is a true expression of Crown-Māori partnership” (Waitangi Tribunal, 2010, p. 53), with shared and valued relationships between peoples.

² A total of 1,182 early childhood services are considered to be Māori language immersion or bilingual services. Staff in 710 of these services speak te reo Māori between 12-80% of their teaching time. The other 472 services are considered immersion, which means that Māori language is spoken over 81% of the time during the programme (www.educationcounts.govt.nz/statistics/ece/55282). To look at the figures another way, 27% of staff in services speak over 12% of the time in te reo Māori, 18% speak between 12 to 80% of the time, and 72% speak under 12% of the time. These services could be operating monolingually (no Māori is spoken) or they could be using single words, such as those relating to numbers, colours, and directives. But what is particularly concerning is the position of our mainstream services, where only 18% of services achieve a bilingual status.

³ Christchurch experienced a 6.3 earthquake the day questionaires were to be delivered to students at one of our institutions (22 February 2011). Despite numerous efforts to engage students in the study, we were unsuccessful. Hence, the first round of responses have been used to inform a pilot project; the responses have aided in further developing the questionnnaire for the project proper.