Intro / Project description
This project is a longitudinal study designed to investigate best practices for the inclusion of relevant mātauranga Māori into an integrated programme for pouako and ākonga Māori in an English-medium school. This project involves the trialling and documenting of different approaches to curriculum integration and the inclusion of mātauranga Māori into curricula for pouako and ākonga Māori. Narratives of experience will be collated from pouako, ākonga, whānau, and iwi/hapū members, with the intention of analysing the opportunities, highlights and challenges of incorporating localised mātauranga Māori into an integrated curriculum for pouako and ākonga Māori.
Aims
In this project, we aim to investigate the strengths and challenges of incorporating localised mātauranga Māori within an integrated curriculum for pouako and ākonga Māori in an English-medium primary school.
Research questions
- What mātauranga Māori or mātauranga-ā-iwi/hapū do pouako think is appropriate and relevant when designing (with ākonga, whānau, iwi/hapū members) a localised integrated curriculum?
- What sorts of outcomes do pouako envisage when they integrate mātauranga Māori across subject areas (i.e., what are reasons for doing what they did)?
- What sorts of kaupapa do pouako envisage should be considered when integrating mātauranga Māori across learning areas (with an emphasis on kaupapa Māori derived learning and teaching opportunities)?
- How can mātauranga Māori integration across learning areas be achieved?
- How can curriculum achievement objectives be authentically aligned with the chosen ākonga Māori learning and teaching?
- What is learned and understood about how mātauranga Māori, ā-iwi, ā-hapū can authentically be incorporated across traditional school learning areas?
- What effective learning and teaching opportunities does the incorporation of mātauranga Māori into an integrated curriculum offer pouako and ākonga Māori?
Why is this research important?
There has been a considerable shift in policy by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) and the Ministry of Education (MoE) to acknowledge mana ōrite mō te mātauranga Māori (MoE, 2020) in Aotearoa. Incorporating mātauranga Māori (Karaka-Clarke, T. H. 2022) across learning areas in a localised marau-ā-kura can be a challenging process (Henry, 2021; Mead, 2022; Ross, 2022). There is research available about the implementation of curriculum integration in New Zealand secondary schools (McDowall & Hipkins, 2019), however there is limited research available regarding curriculum integration alongside incorporating mātauranga Māori across a purposefully designed programme. This project aims to bridge this gap into how it is possible to implement a localised-integrated-curriculum that also privileges the use of relevant mātauranga Māori in its design.
What we plan to do
Data
The dual focus of this project is to:
- document the experiences of pouako, ākonga, whānau, and iwi/hapū members when integrating mātauranga Māori into a localised-integrated-curriculum: and
- draw on a mixed methods methodology to investigate the opportunities, highlights and challenges of incorporating localised mātauranga Māori into an integrated curriculum for pouako and ākonga Māori in an English-medium primary school
Data will be collated through surveys, video (i.e. Tiktok, instagram) or through wānanga observational notes, semi-structured individual or group interviews, vlogging or blogging, and photo-elicitation interviews.
Analysis
Ngā pou whakaaro (Heaton, 2023), a conceptual, theoretical, and analytical approach will be used as a framing, to conceptualise, analyse and (re)present narratives of experience from ākonga, whānau, pouako, and iwi/hapū members.
