Te Tiriti and Identity in Education

This reflective statement follows a simple framework that offers three approaches to understanding Te Tiriti o Waitangi in education. The as a means of analysing and critically evaluating the discipline or learning area in relation to the treaty:

• in relation to oneself
• in relation to the discipline
• in relation to the wider institution/industry

Relating to oneself

- what is my positionality and identity?
- where am I in relation to Te Tiriti?
- how well do I understand the treaty – its history, context, articles, provisions, and principles?

Ko wai au? Who am I in this context?

Understanding oneself is the starting point of examining the role of Te Tiriti in my education context. Everything in education is situated, and both teachers and learners each approach their mahi from their own cultural, social, and political contexts (Wilson & Meyers, 2000). Reflecting on my own identity and positionality:

I was born in Ōtepoti/Dunedin and trace my tīpuna, on both my mother and father’s sides, back to Scotland. My mother’s family have lived in Aotearoa New Zealand, as far as I can tell, since the late 1800’s; in examining my whakapapa, I realised that my mother’s side goes back three generations before me in this country – further than I have always thought.

I am Pākehā, male, almost 50 years old, heterosexual, the de-facto married father of two teenaged children. My identity is influenced by these contexts which, though relational and complex, are not necessarily fixed (Martin & Van Gunten, 2002). My idea of the ‘self’ is transient, and open to including new possibilities.

My narrative identity in Education

The story of my experience (McAdams, 2011) in educational institutions in Aotearoa is one of success – I have always felt that I was smart enough to do well, both as a student and professional.

I always felt that I belonged within any educational institution I participated in. I received my schooling in mainstream, predominantly Pākehā institutions in the 1980’s and early 1990’s. The teachers looked like my parents, learning content spoke to my world of experience and prepared me for the big wide world, which was also mine.

I heard very little reo Māori, learned nothing of the marae, tikanga, or kawa. Mātauranga Māori was barely reflected in teaching and learning content throughout my whole education experience. Up until Teacher’s College, I did not learn anything about Te Tiriti o Waitangi until my post-graduate diploma in teaching.

As a professional in education, I worked in the non-profit sector for 9 years before joining Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa in 2019. My current roles in the university include work as a Senior Curriculum Developer, Team Lead, and Kaiārahi Tiriti. I have been studying towards a master’s degree for the last two years.

Over the years, I have moved towards a critical consciousness. I moved from the magical consciousness of primary and high school through to a naive consciousness (Freire, 2000) that began to form during my early tertiary education. Even then, I felt this system was for me, and it rarely occurred to me that anyone would feel they did not belong within it, were not reflected in the teaching and learning.

Counternarrative & critical consciousness

As I continue learning, a critical awareness has been creeping in. I am “developing, strengthening and changing (my) consciousness” (Montero, 2014, p. 296) and increasingly understanding the effects of this education system on others who do not feel they belong, who do not see their worldview or cultural understanding of knowledge reflected in the teaching approaches, the learning content, learning outcomes, or assessment practices.

I now see myself as part of the Pākehā hegemony, and I recognise that I am a beneficiary of “Pākehā structural advantage” (Shaw, 2024), an education system that ignored promises made in Te Tiriti o Waitangi and concentrated on educating people like me – at the expense of the aspirations and inclusion of Māori (Walker, 2016).

I am increasingly aware of my obligations as Tangata Tiriti in this country. My narrative identity has been reimagined (McAdams, 2011) to view myself as actively attempting to honour the obligations and commitments made by my ancestors, specifically through my changes to my teaching praxis. Moving from conscientization to transformative praxis (Smith, 2005; Freire, 2000) requires me to engage - intellectually and physically, emotionally, and even spiritually - in a kaupapa that sits outside the worldview that has been reflected at me throughout the entirety of my educational experience.  As a Pākehā in Aotearoa New Zealand, I need to ask “what is the nature of the obligation incumbent upon those of us who have benefited from colonisation?” (Shaw, 2021, p. 11)

I feel I am in the process of being conscientized, but have I been conscientized enough? I have moved away from a magical or naive consciousness (Freire, 2005), but there is always more to learn. I recognise in myself the non-linear, layered nature of moving into a critical consciousness and towards transformative praxis (Smith, 2005). Even as I learn, I continue to be oblivious to what I do not know in this space, through the Johari window of my awareness (Luft & Ingham,1961). Maintaining an awareness that there are blind spots in my understanding is essential in moving carefully forward, careful not to trample on or inadvertently colonise the kaupapa with my customary Pākehā-dominant mindset (Smith, 2012). Instead, I reimagine my fluid identity as being in resistance to the hegemony that I am a part of, reframing the narrative of myself to becoming the intentional opposite of an oppressor of Māori in the education space (Freire, 2005).

Relating to the discipline

- where can Te Tiriti provisions and principles be realised is this learning area/topic?
- what does equity look like in this space?
- what are hapū and iwi aspirations in this area?

Pedagogy, curriculum & assessment

My role in the university as Kaiārahi Tiriti (Tiriti o Waitangi mentor) has been a privilege. While not always a comfortable process, it has been instrumental to my conscientisation. This role has given me the time to gain a solid understanding of Te Tiriti, the context in which it was created, the intentions and aspirations behind its Articles, and some understanding of how the provisions and principles of the treaty may be applied in contemporary contexts.

Through my work as a Kaiārahi Tiriti and Curriculum Developer, across the university to develop courses and learning programmes. In my mahi, I have uncovered two useful questions to use when working alongside teaching teams:

• -        Where is Te Tiriti present?
• -        Do we have equity between Māori and non-Māori in these spaces?

Specifically, within teaching and learning practices, I am beginning to understand how Te Tiriti can be realised in the education space through the different questions relating to Tiriti provisions and principles that can be put to the practice.

For example, we might ask: what does the provision of ‘kāwanatanga’ in Article 1 of Te Tiriti look like in tertiary education?

Implementing the treaty principle of good ‘governance’ (from translations of the Māori text completed by Kawharu 1989, and Mutu, 2011), kāwanatanga might mean ensuring Māori are involved with the development of programmes and courses, that teachers work with Māori to co-create a new future of education. Another example of kāwanatanga – the treaty principle of both governance and partnership (Jones, 2024) – is ensuring that course content concerning Māori and Māori collectives is developed in consultation with Māori experts to ensure it represents authoritative, strengths-based perspectives (Bishop & Berryman, 2006; Te Hurihanganui, 2020).

What does Tino rangatiratanga (Article 2) look like in teaching practice? This might consist of ensuring the “legacies of indigenous resistance and resilience on the lands you are teaching on” (Tawhai, 2024, p. 49) are a distinct part of the teaching and learning experience for students; that the pūrākau, perspectives, and aspirations of mana whenua are considered and embedded in the learning material.

A foundational concept of realising Te Tiriti within education is understanding that Māori students are taonga (Article 2), and teaching teams should concentrate, first and foremost, on developing positive relationships and interactions with Māori learners and their wider communities (Bishop & Berryman, 2007).

There are plenty more prompts and provocations we can use to continue this mahi: What do Māori pedagogies look like in this space?

• -        What are hapū and iwi aspirations in this area?
• -        What would equity between western and indigenous knowledge look like in this space?
• -        Where do Māori learners see themselves reflected in the teaching and learning?
  

This type of questioning of Te Tiriti’s place within a given subject can lead to transformative change, becoming a means of meaningfully realising the ambitions of Te Tiriti in teaching and learning practice (Smith, 2005). Overall, the intention of these interrogations is to build an education practice in which Māori learners have equity with other learners, where Māori feel a sense of belonging and a positive emotional engagement with their learning, teachers, and peers (Kahu, 2014). 

Connections to Western teaching and learning theory

It is easy to look at the what good, Te Tiriti-led teaching and learning might look like and make connections to established Western teaching and learning theories for effective practice.

For instance, teaching and learning that provides authentic learning experiences and authentic contexts for Māori to learn as Māori (Bishop & Berryman, 2007), or engage in tasks, activities, and assessments that hold meaning for them (Herrington, 2014), relates to the treaty principles of equity and equitable outcomes (Article 3 of Te Tiriti) as well as tino rangatiratanga (Article 2).

The idea of tino rangatiratanga – self-determination (Tawhai, 2024) – aligns with constructivist approaches, where learners are encouraged to have agency over their learning, exploring content and tasks that are authentic for the learner and allow them to create meaning for themselves (Ng, 2015). One example of how this might be realised is by creating allowances for student agency in completing assessment tasks, encouraging learners to evidence their understanding of learning in ways that are relevant to their experience, reflect their culture and utilise their strengths.

Research interviews conducted by Bishop and Berryman (2007) stressed the importance of relationships on learners, reflecting foundational learning theories of effective engagement outlined in the 1980’s by Moore, who noted the importance of considering how learners interacted in three distinct ways: with their teachers, the learning content, and their peers. Māori learners and their whānau identified the absolute importance of creating positive interactions between teacher and their students, an idea that is confirmed in other research stressing the importance of catering to the emotional elements of learning (Delahunty et al., 2013; Kahu, 2014) for building learner engagement and success.

Based on teaching and learning theory, many across the university already provide learning experiences and engage with their students in ways that reflect the principles and provisions of Te Tiriti. Creating an awareness of how such practices explicitly relate to the principles and provisions of Te Tiriti will allow teaching teams to do this intentionally, and to build on their practice in meaningful ways.

 

Relating to the Institution

- what might Te Tiriti look like in the future of this industry/ this institution?

While Te Tiriti is a blueprint for transforming teaching, it can also be the foundation for reimagining our educational institutions. This change occurs as we become critically conscious of the way students engage with the learning we provide, how they feel a sense welcome and of belonging, how the learning content reflects their aspirations and those of their communities.

The context that frames this reflective statement is the university that I work within as a curriculum developer. In our 2022-2027 strategic plan, the institution announced that it would become Te Tiriti o Waitangi-led, determined to uphold the provisions and principles of this founding document of the nation in all aspects of teaching and learning (Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University Strategy, 2022).

Any collective identity exists without a real, tangible foundation except the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves (Deltis & Maneval, 2019). Making the public statement that we aspire to be Tiriti-led is the beginning of retelling the story of ourselves (McAdams, 2011) as an institute, and asserting our place in the tertiary education landscape of Aotearoa New Zealand, reimagining our collective identity as one of being leaders in this cultural space.

Enacting such change at an institutional level is no mean feat. In the same way that individuals carry levels of critical awareness, so too do the institutions that we work within. Organisational processes and systemic ways of operating that sit at a magical or naïve level often create a hidden curriculum, the “unstated rules” (Anderson, 2001, p. 30) for achieving success within that institution. Historically, in many education institutions in Aotearoa New Zealand, these rules have heavily favoured Pākehā/Western learners while disadvantaging Māori (Walker, 2016). This type of hidden curriculum is still present and embedded in many institutions, making it challenging and at times even impossible for Māori to succeed as Māori (Bishop & Berryman, 2007) within that educational setting.

To affect change, education institutions need to move from a collective magical or naïve consciousness to becoming collectively conscientized (Freire, 2005) through the interrogation of our own practices. This requires reimaging our institutional identity, creating a counter -hegemony that resists the historic and entrenched practices (Adkin, 2022) that disadvantage Māori learners.

Smith (2005) suggested that Māori were a part of the struggle against the Pākehā hegemony “whether they liked it or not, whether they knew it or not” (p. 39); this in turn means that Pākehā, as wielders of that hegemony, are a part of the struggle also - whether they know it or not, whether they like it or not. What does it take for members of the cultural (Pākehā) hegemony to challenge and change a system that so heavily favours them? 
Transformation might begin with a mindset shift, away from the individualistic identities encouraged in Western/Pākehā spaces towards prioritising the collective, aligning more with Kaupapa Māori approaches to teaching and learning (Smith, 2005).

This aspiration to become Te Tiriti-led requires us to reimagine ourselves within the hegemonic imagination of our society (Paris, 2016), both as an educational institution and as individuals within that institution. Ibrahim (2017) identifies three steps for inducing social change: conscientizing individuals, supporting acts of collective agency through conciliation, and promoting reform through collaboration. A Te Tiriti-led approach asks individuals to develop critical consciousness on “their personal role in disrupting racism and discriminatory practices (Te Hurihanganui, 2020), a ‘resistant imagination’ that allows for the possibility of change by undoing our social understanding of ourselves and others (Paris, 2016).

The learning and developing awareness of individuals, such as myself, around Te Tiriti in education as part of the Kairārahi Tiriti initiative leads to change that permeates all areas of the institution and will lead to a steadily growing positive impact for Māori learners. The conscientisation of an institution will occur like this, through changes to the critical consciousness and awareness of one individual at a time. 

References

Adkin, L., 2022 Hegemony and counter hegemony in Showing Theory to Know Theory  https://doi.org/10.22215/stkt/al18 https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/showingtheory/chapter/hegemony-and-counter-hegemony/

Anderson, T. (2001). The Hidden Curriculum in Distance Education: An Updated View. Change, 33(6), 28-35.

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Bishop, R., Berryman, M., Cavanagh, T., & Teddy, L. (2007). Te Kōtahitanga Phase 3 Whānaungatanga: Establishing a culturally responsive pedagogy of relations in mainstream secondary school classrooms. Wellington: Ministry of Education, 81-90.

Delahunty, J., Verenikina, I., & Jones, P. (2013). Socio-emotional connections: identity, belonging and learning in online interactions. A literature review. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 23(2), 243-265. https://doi.org/10.1080/1475939x.2013.813405

Delits, H., & Maneval, S. (2019). The “hidden kings”, or hegemonic imaginaries: Analytical perspective of post-foundational social thought. Societes, 146(4), 25-41.

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Herrington, J., Mitchell, V., Rowe, M., & Titus, S. (2014). The case studies - Authentic learning. In V. Bozalek, D. Ng’ambi, D. Wood, J. Herrington, J. Hardman, & A. Amory (Eds.), Activity theory, authentic learning and emerging technologies: Towards a transformative higher education pedagogy (pp. 192-210). Taylor and Francis. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/massey/reader.action?docID=1783964&ppg=219

Ibrahim, S. (2017). How to Build Collective Capabilities: The 3C-Model for Grassroots-Led Development. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 18(2), 197–222.

Jones, C. Treaty principles a principle of good government. Waateanews.com https://waateanews.com/2024/03/19/treaty-principles-a-principle-of-good-government/

Kahu, E. (2014) Increasing the emotional engagement of first year mature-aged distance students: Interest and belonging The International Journal of the First Year in Higher Education 5(2), 45-55

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Ng, W. (2015). Theories Underpinning Learning with Digital Technologies. In New Digital Technology in Education (pp. 73-94). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05822-1_4        

Paris, W. M. (2016). Assata Shakur, Mamphela Ramphele, and the Developing of Resistant Imaginations. Critical Philosophy of Race, 4(2), 205–220. https://doi.org/10.5325/critphilrace.4.2.0205

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Shaw, R., 2024, Richard Shaw: The Unsettled, RNZ National https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018933146

Smith, G. H. (2005). Beyond Political Literacy: From Conscientization to Transformative Praxis. Counterpoints, 275, 29-42

Smith, G.H. (2012). Kaupapa Māori - the dangers of domestication. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, 47(2), 10-21 https://www.jstor.org/stable/42978775

Tawhai, V. (2024) Mā te ihu o te waka – Te Tiriti as our guide in educational settings. In Maro, P. Te; Averill, R (Eds.) Ki Te Hoe! Education for Aotearoa NZCER Press, 2023. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/massey/detail.action?docID=30371475

Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University Strategy, 2022 -2027 (2022) https://www.massey.ac.nz/documents/806/Massey_University_Strategy_WEB_EN.pdf

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