Our partner
Pūrangakura, an independent Kaupapa Māori research centre based in Te Rangi Matarau (Point Chevalier) partners with our local Māori-medium secondary school, Ngā Puna o Waiōrea (Waiorea), Western Springs College. Waiōrea is a kura grounded in te reo and tikanga Māori, whānau, and strives for cultural and educational excellence. With strong leadership and Te Tiriti-based co-governance, Waiōrea seeks to nurture rangatahi success while upholding mana motuhake and sustaining a distinctive, high-performing Māori-medium pathway.
Project description
The title of this project ‘Ngā wai o Orea’ literally means the waterways of the Orea (longfin eel). The Orea are known for their ability to make their way inland in most river systems despite the barriers, similarly the students and whānau of Waiōrea make their way to this renowned Māori-medium secondary school from across the Tāmaki region. This project investigates the ‘journeys’ of students and their whānau through the tool of GIS mapping.
This one-year project responds to the aspiration of the Waiorea to leverage new technologies ie. geospatial data (GIS), to enhance their decision-making processes and strengthen student learning and success. This study will provide a practical exemplar for other kura, and demonstrate how this technology can be used to enable targeted and culturally responsive strategies. The research positions the kura and whānau at the centre of the inquiry, ensuring the collective experience and knowledge of the community is at the forefront of understanding and utilising their data.
Aims
The aim of this project is to support Waiōrea to use GIS to enhance decision-making processes and strengthen student learning and success. The research seeks to understand patterns and relationships between students, resources, and outcomes, and support evidence-based decision-making. The project will also build research and GIS with the goal of providing a sustainable approach to data use for the kura itself after the completion of the research.
Why is this research important?
This research utilises GIS to visually represent data and tell ‘new’ stories and insights, assisting to identify patterns, possible correlations and relationships between students, resources, activities and outcomes. This research is important because it further supports kura to make informed decision making based on their available data, alongside their knowledge and the lived experiences of students, whānau and kaiako.
What we plan to do
Delivered over the course of one year, a Kaupapa Māori approach grounded in whanaungatanga, that begins with formalisation of our partnership through a Kawenata (MOU). The project begins with co-design, where the research team, including our school-based research (Naomi Cusack, DP Waiōrea), and Waiōrea Advisory Group (WAG) identify and confirm relevant datasets, including student, whānau, resource, environmental, and historical data. The project then moves into configuring the GIS platform, integrating data, and developing layers and visualisations. Through iterative analysis, the research will explore patterns and relationships between variables to support evidence-based decision-making and targeted, culturally responsive strategies. The project concludes with evaluation of the tool and its impact, alongside internal and external dissemination, ensuring the GIS platform is embedded as a sustainable resource for ongoing analysis and student success.
