INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE AND EDUCATION POLICY FOR TEACHERS OF MĀORI LEARNERS
INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE AND EDUCATION POLICY FOR TEACHERS OF MĀORI LEARNERS

Summary/Abstract: This article uses critical policy discourse analysis to examine the inclusion of indigenous Māori knowledge within contemporary Māori education policy, by comparing two Māori education polices written 40 years apart: Māori children and the teacher (MC&T, 1971) and Tātaiako: Cultural competencies for teachers of Māori learners (2011). Both documents were considered innovative when they first appeared, and the purpose of both is to provide guidelines for teachers of Māori students. Many messages are similar in both, but only the 21st-century policy includes the idea of teacher practice being guided by ethical principles derived from traditional Māori knowledge. The analysis in this article troubles the success of this particular policy innovation, and suggests that questions may need to be raised about how Māori knowledge has been included in this policy document, and what may have been lost in the process.

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