TITLE:
Understanding Power Relations through Attempts at Self-Determination by Indigenous Māori Learners over Time
AUTHORS:
Mere Berryman, Jay Haydon-Howard, Margaret Egan
KEYWORDS:
Indigenous Māori, Colonization, Power Relations, Self-Determination, Tolerance
JOURNAL NAME:
Creative Education,
Vol.15 No.6,
June
25,
2024
ABSTRACT: The racialized, historical legacy of colonization has resulted in intergenerational disparities for disproportionate numbers of Indigenous students across the globe including Māori learners in Aotearoa New Zealand. In this paper, we consider two secondary-school reform initiatives aimed at improving the schooling system for Māori learners. Evidence gathered in 2001, using group-focused, interviews as conversation, reveals the experiences of Māori learners and families in Te Kotahitanga. Almost two decades later, evidence from survey tools that allow for the experiences of Māori learners and families to be triangulated alongside the experiences of their educators, are also considered. Consistent with historical literature, these voices provide examples of power relations that undermine their education success as Māori. Māori learners believe that to succeed they must either tolerate this situation or remove themselves from schooling. The potential for Māori led solutions and shared humanity is silenced and overpowered through the positionality of colonial power and privilege.