E tipu ana te mana tāngata : supporting the development of leadership to enhance the quality of Māori students' learning in bicultural schools in New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand

Abstract

The quality of Māori students’ learning in bicultural schools in New Zealand can be likened to the skeleton of a great moa in a Canterbury museum depicted in a poem written by Curnow (1979). Once vibrant and carefree, the moa was now unable to stand without the support of scaffolding. The egg beside it was cracked and glued together, devoid of life and hope. Many Māori students experience education like this. Their innate learning capacity has become extinct. Their learning is propped up by the scaffolding of remedial supports, their potential cracked and broken. Too few Māori students stand independently upright in their learning. Glen Colquhoun (1999) recently wrote a poem, “The trick of standing upright here is to use both feet” in response to Curnow’s lament. The feet can be likened to cultural perspectives. Māori in mainstream schools are commonly expected to stand one footed in a monocultural Eurocentered environment that is unnatural to them. Leaders must learn to make room for the other foot, the Māori centered understanding of the world on which Māori students can more naturally lean. This will eliminate the need for support and prepare students for active learning. Colquhoun (1999) continues “The art of walking upright here is the art of using both feet. One is for holding on. One is for letting go”. Leading in this manner, moving between the worlds of each foot, will help support students experience quality learning. The mana tangata, the power and authority, or efficacy (H. Tomlins-Jahnke & Mulholland, 2011), of leaders and learners will grow. Most mainstream schools are led by Pākehā in New Zealand. Therefore leading Māori students to first stand and then walk on two feet requires leaders to achieve a high level of personal cross cultural competency. I am a Pākehā woman working in a bicultural Christian school. I conducted three phases of action research to support quality teaching and learning for Māori students. I then used autoethnography to construct an evocative and analytical account of the research, including the deep reflections needed for me to make sense of the cultural interactions.